The goal is development of an open collaborative veterinary education framework. That framework should provide tools, practices and a business model for self-perpetuating development of Shared Digital Curriculum and Continuous Education products for all categories of veterinary, para-veterinary and pre-veterinary groups.
The framework should be very flexible, so it can provide high-quality support for all aspects of collaboration during execution of the NAVMEC action plan, both on national and local levels, yet very robust to ensure centralized oversight and quality control.
Four ideas of Web 2.0 success. To ensure long-lasting success, constructive mass collaboration, fast development and continuous quality control, the framework should be based on four ideas of Web 2.0 success: Openness, Peering, Sharing, and Acting Globally.
The basic components of the framework should be:
- Virtual Learning Environment (VLE/LMS) that supports sharing, selling or renting of courses, collaborative course development, single-sign-in and roaming of users (students, teachers) from one school VLE to another, while letting each school or association have absolute control over their local settings and who is using courses in what way.
- Social networking and collaborative applications should support:
- Development of a dynamic learning veterinary community and sub-communities (regional, subjects, schools . . . )
- Prompt coordinated actions in case of emergencies like pandemic zoonosis.
- ePortfolio system should:
- Allow students to create and maintain a digital portfolio of their learning, achievements and skills from the first moment when they showed interest in veterinary medicine to advanced skills, rewards or board certification they received long after graduation.
- Provide teacher with tools to monitor and guide students’ intra- and extra-curricular activities.
- Allow recruiters to look for and attract the most appropriate candidates.
Human component. Because administrators and faculty members willing and skilled to use technologies are a ‘must-have’ component of such a framework, well-designed proactive collaborative educational programs should be prepared for faculty and administrators.
Case Studies
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VetEd.Net – What is possible now?Teachers’ perspective is described in the Veterinary Education Consortium example, so in this case study, we will be focused on benefits students can gain from this framework. Student Jessica. ...Full Story
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WikiVet.NetWikiVet.Net is a Web site and Community of Practice developed by MediaWiki--the same software as Wikipedia but focused solely on veterinary medicine and with a more robust quality control system (medev.ac.uk,...Full Story
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The Open University UK: creating a win-win situation by sharing code and contentThe Open University (OU) UK, one of world's largest distance-learning universities (200,000-plus students) started implementing Moodle Virtual Learning Environment during 2005. Moodle was chosen as...Full Story