Preliminary outcomes of a joint project on digital teaching and learning : why looking beyond the veterinary horizon is a good idea

Background: The collaborative project SOUVER@N, funded by ‘Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre’, aims to promote sovereign digital teaching and learning by boosting 1) a competent and learning goal-oriented use of digital tools both by teachers and students (digital literacy), 2) professional development of high-grade digital teaching/learning concepts and contents, and 3) digital sovereignty of the universities by securing a safe IT-base as well as providing open source systems and proper digital infrastructure (SOUVER@N, 2021). To achieve this, nine partners including the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (TiHo) joined forces to cover these fields of development.

Summary of Work: A needs analysis was conducted among the teachers at the partner universities. Focus of the study were specific needs in digital teaching and how they can be met. In total, 400 people took part, 34 of them from the TiHo. Results showed that TiHo teachers wish for a general expansion of the range of digital teaching/learning methods including the provision of new tools and need personal support for the conceptualization and design of new digital teaching approaches.
Aiming to offer teachers an overview of the constantly growing field of digital tools for teaching, a digital toolbox was created in the project, containing over 270 tools including a choice of useful veterinary digital tools for both students and teachers. A modified version is available via the TiHo homepage and the TiHo’s learning management system TiHoMoodle.

Furthermore, an asynchronous self-study training course that acts as a qualification program was created collaboratively in the project. This e-tutoring program trains student assistants and consists of several modules on interdisciplinary aspects of digital teaching (e.g. communication, legal framework, and Open Educational Resources). It piloted at the TiHo as an elective course with 40 participants, received positive feedback and participants showed increase in knowledge. However, participants also made suggestions for improvement, such as the integration of methods for teaching practical skills. The course is available for all partner universities.

Take Home Message: Numerous advantages accompany collaborative initiatives and the resulting joint developments and products, such as a general resource-saving approach and utilisation of synergies. Effective networking and communication among the responsible service and support units are imperative for advancing digital teaching and learning and require an interdisciplinary approach.