Page 21 - Eclipse - RVC Alumni Magazine - Autumn 2020

The outbreak of coronavirus has certainly impacted each and every one of us within the RVC community in many ways. For the Centre for Veterinary Nursing and our students, changes were made hastily, with lockdown ensuing on 23 March and our Clinical Nursing Practice II (CNPII) module starting on Monday 20 April.
In response to the need to deliver teaching using an online-only approach, all our sessions were changed from face-to-face delivery to either live or pre-recorded sessions, alongside a range of activities.
The Digital Learning Team were fantastic, introducing us to innovative software
to help us develop materials that were interactive and engaging for our students. We developed numerous quizzes for students and offered topic roundups, with a Q&A forum each week as well.
Creating a collaborative culture was challenging, due to students working in isolation from each other. In an attempt to reduce the impact of this, groupwork tasks were set and students completed them using various platforms such as WhatsApp video, FaceTime and Zoom. Within other sessions, engagement with discussion was fantastic, and the addition of weekly tutorials encouraged peer interaction.
Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive regarding online delivery. One student commenting on CNPII said: “Despite current circumstances, all
staff members were able to provide lectures and material and the standard
of teaching never dropped. I particularly liked the CALs [computer aided learning] with the embedded quizzes and activities – and the groupwork when we did infectious diseases.”
Other comments included praise for the variety of delivery and activities. Areas for improvement going forward include considering assisting students with skills, such as time management, and ensuring the number of activities are not overwhelming, in addition to checking the quality of sound and videos that may be uploaded to RVC Learn, the RVC’s online platform.
The situation proved challenging for everyone involved, both teaching staff and students, but we have learned
a lot from the experience, and it
has emphasised some important considerations for a more blended approach in the future.
On behalf of the Centre for Veterinary Nursing team, I would like to extend a very heartfelt thank you to all the module contributors thus far, and especially
to our fantastic students who have consistently engaged with us and shown great enthusiasm for their learning.
GENERAL NEWS
COVID-19 and veterinary nursing teaching
RVC joins forces with APHA – OIE Collaborating Centre
The OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) maintains a network of OIE Collaborating Centres for the purposes
of providing scientific expertise and support to the OIE and its members, and for promoting international collaboration on animal health and welfare. Collaborating Centres are designated for a specific specialty within a focus area relating to the management of general questions on animal health issues. In its designated specialty, they must provide their expertise internationally.
This Collaborating Centre is co-
hosted by the RVC and the Animal
& Plant Health Agency, two highly complementary institutions with a formal association through a Memorandum of Understanding and a track record of successful high-impact collaboration in risk analysis and modelling applied to animal and veterinary public health.
The activities of the Centre are structured around five workstreams
– Epidemiological and Statistical Modelling; Risk Analysis; Mathematical Modelling; Data; Economic Modelling. The RVC is also an FAO reference centre
in Veterinary Epidemiology and both institutes have extensive international networks and global responsibilities.
The Collaborating Centre builds on expertise spanning education and training, research and policy advice and reinforces the commitment to
OIE through the roles as hosts of OIE reference laboratories (APHA) and a partner institution for the educational twinning endorsed by OIE (RVC). Headed by our Principal, we will learn more about the work of this important collaboration over the coming year with a formal launch in late 2020.
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