Author: Kay Aitchison, kay.aitchison@ed.ac.uk

Author: Michael Begg, michael.begg@ed.ac.uk

Author: David Dewhurst, d.dewhurst@ed.ac.uk

Author: Susan Rhind, susan.rhind@ed.ac.uk

JISC e-Learning Activity Area: Technology-enhanced Learning Environments

Higher Education Academy Subject Centre: Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine

This case study illustrates...use of specialist software, an effect on learning, an effect on student personal development, student satisfaction with e-learning, innovation in learning and teaching, an influence on educational research, staff satisfaction with e-learning, a positive effect on recruitment, an influence on policy, use of resources, modifications to learning spaces, management of learning assets, use of gaming/simulation

Background & Context

This case concerns a collection of technology-based resources (a mixture of bespoke and commercial) that are collectively known as 'The Virtual Farm'; a learning and teaching resource embedded within 'The Virtual Veterinary Practice', an online resource delivered via a bespoke VLE (EEVeC) developed to support the Edinburgh BVM&S programme.

Why did you use this e-learning approach?

The Virtual Farm project arose out of the desire to enhance the learning experience of veterinary students specifically relating to the two (dairy and sheep) working University farms and to utilise technology to provide genuine 'added-value'. The project has been designed in support of the 5 year BVM&S undergraduate programme. The location of the farms and the time pressures on students can mean that they have relatively limited access to them during the five year programme and they do not make full use of the resources available to them. The 'Virtual Farm' project aims to provide readily accessible stimulating and challenging electronic learning resources designed to encourage students to increase their knowledge, understanding and confidence sufficiently to optimise the use of the real-life educational farm resources (animals, agricultural practice and records).

What was the context in which you used this e-learning approach?

Veterinary students require a good knowledge and understanding of farming practices to advise on the health, welfare, productivity and economic performance of farm animals and on the quality and safety of the food produced. In broad terms, the focus is very much towards the 'learning' aspect of the resource with facilities for group work, analysis of individual real-life animal data, online discussions with the farm manager and input into topical and current farm issues. In time it is also envisaged that in addition to all students on the BVM&S programme, elements will also be available to prospective students in advance of them starting the course.

It is anticipated that the virtual farm will emphasise and further integrate the immensely valuable resource of the farms and provide an 'electronic showcase'. The new educational materials being generated are not dependent on the time of day or time of year or the activities taking place at the time of a student visit to the farms, but will be available to students at a time of their choice.

What was the design?

The Virtual Farm is an area within EEVeC containing numerous resources relating to the farms. General information on locations and personnel and 'farm tours' are available as are regular newsfeeds and webcams streaming live images from 2 separate farm sites on the entry pages. We now have 3 electronic farm management systems up and running.

Students are also given 'adopted' farm animals (cows and sheep) which appear on their individual pages and they can access relevant management and veterinary data on these animals. The allocation of specific animals to individual students has greatly increased the level of engagement of the students with the activities of the farm.

Further within the system, data from electronic recording systems allows:

• electronic identification and recording of all milking cows by means of an electronic neck transponder. Individual health, production and movement records for every cow
• electronic identification of calves allowing them to be fed a predetermined amount of milk via a computer-controlled feeding system. Automated concentrate feeding and an electronic weighing facility is also available in one group of calves
• automatic identification and recording of all health, production and movement records for sheep via electronic ear tags

How did you implement and embed this e-learning approach?

First year students were introduced to the Virtual Farm at the Animal Husbandry Introductory lecture at the start of the course. They were given a demonstration of where to find it and of the major features. Later in Semester 1, as part of a farm based tutorial session, students were asked in advance to collect information about their own adopted animals which then formed the basis of a wider discussion of farm animal husbandry.

Training in the use of wikis and help with video editing and uploading of data is provided by the College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine Learning Technology Section.

Students are alerted to monthly farm newsletters via the EEVeC noticeboard which directs them to the Virtual Farm where there is also a RSS newsfeed. Both of these features now use direct links to the Animal Husbandry wikis to take the student to more detailed information about current husbandry issues and events on the farms. This not only allows the student to learn more about these topics but also helps them to develop an understanding of animal husbandry in the context of the farming year.

Text, picture and video demonstrations of farm animal handling skills are now available to reinforce and revise the skills taught in practical classes.

Data from the dairy herd is now extracted electronically and used on the statistics course which has the double benefit of demonstrating the relevance of the subject and at the same time helps the students become familiar with this type of data.