Can Culinary Arts Be Taught Online? Yes it Can!

Culinary Arts Online: “a success story”

Using technology to facilitate distance learning is not a new concept. Culinary arts, a hands-on career and technical education field may seem to be a different story but does not necessarily need to be so to enable students to learn practical skills for a trade, career advancement and potential for further degree attainment.

Scottsdale Community College has proven through effective use of technology using Sous Chef and KP Compass combined with designed curriculum that culinary arts can be taught online to provide an opportunity for students to obtain a certificate of completion while enabling those that are outside the usual student profile to go forward with a degree. SCC students receive the instruction on the necessary skills through computer access and produce products required to show skills established.

By adopting an online model of instruction, schools can now provide an opportunity for students who otherwise would not have access due to time or geographical constraints to learn culinary arts. The direct result of this for SCC was a significant increase in their Full-Time Student Equivalent (FTSE).

KP Culinary Arts with KP Compass enables post-secondary institutions to create online and hybrid classes for trades-orientated curricula. Students in this hybrid model come to class with the base skills in place and ready to refine their skills because they review content assigned by the instructor, complete assignments and take tests outside of class. Instructors then used their instructional time in the online classroom to take the student to a higher knowledge level and address any additional refinements.

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Can Culinary Arts Be Taught Online?

Yes it Can! A School Success Story.

Using technology to facilitate distance learning is not a new concept. Since the early 80s, learning over the computer has been the solution for students who lived in isolate, rural areas with limited educational resources.  Academic subjects such as science, math and language can easily be taught through a computer-based medium.  

For culinary arts, a hands-on career and technical education field, it is a different story.  Students are learning practical skills for a trade and they need to practice those techniques, often under the supervision of a master craftsperson.  In CTE fields, learners can’t just read about a subject and master it; they have to be shown the skills by a teacher. Technology has augmented education over the years and it has application even in a hands-on CTE subject. 

Scottsdale Community College (SCC), located in Scottsdale, AZ, has proven, through effective use of technology and a very thorough curriculum, that culinary arts can be taught online. SCC students received the instruction on the necessary skills at home or in a computer lab. 

For the past three years, SCC has been piloting KP Culinary Arts Online for their culinary arts courses.  Using the Sous Chef and KP Compass, instructors designed courses that fit their 101-104 class structure.  The digital “books” were custom created to fit the needs of the institution with text, video, activities, and tests. 

Karen Chalmers, Program Director for Culinary Arts at SCC envisioned classes without borders.  "By adopting an online model of instruction, we can now provide an opportunity for students who otherwise would not have access due to time or geographical constraints to learn culinary arts.  The direct result of this for SCC was a significant increase in our Full-Time Student Equivalent (FTSE).

KP Culinary Arts with KP Compass enables post-secondary institutions to create online and hybrid classes for trades-orientated curricula.  Students in this hybrid model come to class with the base skills in place and ready to refine their skills because they review content assigned by the instructor, complete assignments and take tests outside of class.  Instructors then used their instructional time in the classroom to take the student to a higher knowledge level and address any additional refinements.

Upon completing a module, the students will know which concepts they have mastered and which areas they need to work on to gain the next level of mastery.  The program can be used by any device with a web browser, such as laptops, iPads and smart phones.

“Access is key.  Providing access through technology increases the pace of skills development and helps teachers focus on taking students to the next level of understanding.  The precious time instructors have with their students can be used to create those key aha moments rather than to address material that students can and should learn on their own,” said Nai Wang, founder and president of KP Education Systems.

Vegas Schools Bet on Technology

Las Vegas High Schools' Clark County School District: Leaders and innovators in culinary arts education.

Clark County School District (CCSD), located in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada, is a leader in educational innovation. CCSD is answering a question that faces educators today: How do teachers and administrators reach the modern millennial learners in a multimedia driven world? Students today spend most of their time 'plugged in'. They communicate, interact, and learn differently than any other generation. CCSD used this theme as the guideline for redesigning and reinvigorating their high school culinary arts programs.

Las Vegas is home to a booming restaurant industry. The cheap all-you-can-eat buffets on the Vegas strip are being replaced by fine dining establishments that boast renowned chefs and unique cuisine. Just as the change is occurring to the Vegas facade, the educational landscape is undergoing a "makeover" as well. For Clark County, the top priority is designing curricula that will engage today's millennial learners and develop tomorrow's industry professionals.

Led by Nancy Hamilton, CCSD's forward-thinking Career & Technical Education (CTE) Director, CCSD has pioneered the integration of the latest technologies, trends, equipment and methodologies into their culinary arts classroom. With Hamilton's guidance and support, every Clark County culinary arts teacher worked together to create joint lesson plans that would be integrated at a district-wide level. These lessons were built using the same computer-based culinary arts resource.

The process was simple and ingenious. CCSD took the 28 units of study that directly correlate to Nevada’s competencies for the Hospitality and Tourism Career Cluster and distributed them among 24 of their teachers to write a complete lesson plan for their assigned unit. In less than six months, the team had completed the entire process of developing unit plans, lessons, worksheets and activities. Then, they took the information from each teacher and fully integrated them into a culinary arts computer program in less than a week.

Now CCSD has a cohesive and unified culinary curriculum. Every teacher is on the same page and is teaching the same material. Furthermore, by fully utilizing a computer-based educational framework, teachers in CCSD schools now access all of their tools and materials from one convenient location. The software integration has fostered a media-rich curriculum that is ideal for administrators, teachers, and students:

• For administrators, CCSD is presently realizing the benefits and measuring the results of a successful program.
• For teachers, the transition is a dream come true, and it has never been easier to train culinary arts professionals from a high school classroom.
• For students, the CTE classroom has never been more dynamic, enjoyable, and relevant to the needs of the food service industry.

Technology and education change as rapidly as the Las Vegas skyline. As the culture of the city, its students, and its industries evolve, it is clear that CCSD will continue to lead the charge.