Mobile Learning Trailer Offers New Way to Explore Sandburg
Aaron Frey
Wednesday, June 21, 2017 11:27 AM
Campus News
Galesburg, IL
Instead of you coming to visit Carl Sandburg College, it may be coming to visit you.
The College recently unveiled its new mobile learning trailer, which can be used as a classroom and recruiting tool. The original idea of transforming a school bus into a hands-on way to show off Sandburg’s programs was brought about last year by Linda Lee, former associate director of technology services. It evolved into the purchase of a 24-foot-by-8-foot trailer from K&C Enterprises in LaHarpe.
Instructors and recruiters can take the trailer to area schools, events and festivals to give prospective students and the public a way to see what Sandburg offers without them needing to make a trip to the College. Sandburg faculty and staff got a first look at the trailer during the College’s Tech Connect event last month, and it got rave reviews from K-12 educators who toured it last week during a conference on campus.
“We explained to (K-12 educators) our vision of bringing our programs and resources on the road as a marketing and recruiting tool,” Drew Witherell, director of technology services, said. “I probably gave out 20 to 30 business cards to people who plan to contact me about it. It was really well received.”
“It’s an opportunity for us to market-recruit. I want to be out there at these places,” said Dave Kellogg, coordinator of criminal justice. “The accessibility and mobility of it is what stands out. If we can’t bring you out to campus, we can bring campus to them.”
Kellogg, for example, can use the trailer to set up a mobile crime lab, a pint-sized version of the classroom lab he has on the College’s Main Campus. With it, he can show people how to perform criminal investigation skills such as studying fingerprints, examining blood splatter and more.
“I want to be able to show them all the things that we can do in a classroom,” Kellogg said, “but have it right there at their fingertips.”
The outside of the trailer is adorned with large photos displaying several of the College’s career, technical and health education programs. The inside is furnished with cabinets, fold-down countertops, a dry-erase board and a flat-screen TV. Electric inside the trailer can run on generator power, and it even can produce a Wi-Fi connection.
Nearly all the items that went into renovating the trailer were purchased at discounted prices from businesses in the Sandburg’s district. Paint for the outside and tile for the floor came from Sherwin-Williams in Galesburg. The generator, countertops and cabinets were purchased from Lowe’s, and lighting inside the trailer was bought from Galesburg Electric.
While the trailer can be used to showcase Sandburg as a whole, Kellogg said it’s an especially valuable recruiting tool for career programs such as his, which tend to be more hands-on and have more targeted recruiting audiences.
“It’s really about programs and geared toward the career and technical fields,” Kellogg said. “We’re always going to have that group of students who come in to get their associate degree and transfer, but this is a way to showcase some of the other programs we offer.”