Description

Digital technologies continue to fuel new and more innovative approaches to higher education. Concepts and resources, such as a "university without walls" or "virtual university," are beginning to surface, bringing the essence of "the global village" closer to reality. In the current fast paced technology driven environment, the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) have expanded exponentially the opportunities for accessing digital knowledge from heretofore unimagined sources. A user can now browse a digital knowledge base (e.g. multimedia images) on the WWW and other Internet resources without the traditional constraints of place and time. Furthermore, creatively and thoroughly designed Internet based virtual learning resources can provide veterinarians with powerful and compelling Information Technology (IT) tools to access information and to analyze and synthesize data to solve complex biomedical problems.

Although several significant advances have been made at TUSVM, ongoing challenges and problems must still be addressed. Information is diverse and massive. The massive nature of information is further exacerbated by its exponential growth and fragmentation. The information is located at diverse sites, on different operating systems and/or hardware. Simply stated, there is an on-going need to develop appropriate and rational, integrated information management systems to access, harness and fully exploit the use of these electronic resources. In addition, the information explosion, fueled by digital technologies and the emerging "virtual university" concepts have begun to make the traditional learning/teaching model (formal instruction by the teacher and passive learning by the student) inadequate and ineffective.

This activity is directed toward the use of distributed Information Technology (IT) resources and services to enrich the teaching/ learning, research and outreach of the university. Its focus will be on utilization of the Internet and the WWW to build a high quality educational program with a set of electronically accessible multimedia systems designed to reinforce and strengthen biomedical and technological skills. The key strategy and challenge is for the faculty, technical staff and students to develop skills and experiences needed to create innovative instructional programs that will serve as the core of the virtual learning center in a virtual university. This investment will assist in meeting the technological and multi-cultural needs of the global society which the university serves.

By using the Internet and related mobile IT resources as part of its continued education/ lifelong learning and outreach activity, the TUSVM plans to create new possibilities for extending the time, the place and resources for learning and information sharing for its students and others. Additionally, TUSVM is committed to develop IT bridges to ensure access to the information superhighway for under-served populations. This will involve strengthening the existing infrastructure of information technology resources to undergird veterinary medical education by promoting collaborative learning and teaching. Implementation will proceed in two Phases involving several activities. During Phase 1, the major emphasis will be on creating and building upon the infrastructure of IT resources. Using that resource, the subsequent sub-objectives will be pursued in Phase II. A rigorous evaluation and assessment component will be developed to assess the impact of IT at TUSVM.

The ultimate goal is to use IT creatively: a) in education, to advance excellence in teaching and learning; b) in research, to create and expand the knowledge base in the sciences; and, c) in service and outreach to share and transfer information and knowledge to society and promote the spirit of the "learning society."

Rationale for Activity

The TUSVM recognizes that expertise in exploiting digital technology is critical in today's society and will become even more crucial as it prepares to embark on the 21st century. Since IT holds a critical position in dealing with the challenges of the information age, there must be well crafted plans to use it to improve the quality of the academic enterprise. Consequently, TUSVM has developed strategic plans to fundamentally restructure and position IT resources and systems to support quality teaching/learning.

The TUSVM has created some of the major components of IT infrastructure (e.g. fiberoptic/ethernet based local area network, some multimedia based technology resources, scholar works-stations etc.). The most critical component, that of the Internet, must now be added.

The digitization of virtually all knowledge will change the nature of life as it is experienced today. In the past two years, the explosion of the Internet's WWW has made it imperative that TUSVM address this technological leap with due care and urgency. TUSVM will focus on the specific area of developing IT resources which can enrich and strengthen the performance of students and attract new students with excellent credentials to the biomedical sciences. Significantly too, the results from this project will have far greater applicability to serve as a model for learners of the information age of comparable socioeconomic and geographical positions.

The Internet and digital technologies are pivotal for strengthening veterinary medical education. Additionally, this is consistent with the University's Strategic Plan for the years 1996-2000, to provide a competitive education for its graduates. In a globally competitive work force, Tuskegee graduates must skillfully use information technologies to continuously improve on their productivity and increase their knowledge through lifelong learning.

Implementation Strategy/Timetable

1. Name of Applicant Institution:
Tuskegee University School of Veterinary Medicine

2. Title of Activity
Development of a Virtual Biomedical Learning Center

3. Specific tasks to be completed

• Creating the Virtual Resources for biomedical education
• Creating the Mutimedia Resources
• Development of faculty expertise in Virtual Biomedical Learning
• Developing the Multimedia Presentations
• Fostering communication among educators and learners
• Creating an environment that promotes collaborative learning
• Student traing

Evaluation of the effectiveness of the Virtual biomedical Learning Center.