TAMIL NADU VETERINARY AND ANIMAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY
and
NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION PROJECT

"DEVELOPMENT OF e-COURSES FOR B.V.Sc. & A.H. DEGREE PROGRAMME"

India’s increasing human population and improving per capita income are boosting up the demand for growth in livestock products substantially, calling for the need of more well-informed, job-compatible and ‘marketable’ veterinary professionals to meet the future challenges in livestock industry. However, as the traditional method of teaching and learning in veterinary institutions are not seemingly delivering the desirable goods, the students often fail to acquire required skills to face the emerging challenges for problem solving. Further, with the scope for employment of veterinary graduates in the public sector alone is not encouraging, there needs to be a constructive shift in the teaching and learning system to prepare the graduates for careers outside the government too.
It becomes thus increasingly necessary to raise the teaching quality and learning ability. Exposure of both teachers and students to the modern educational methods and systems is becoming the need of the hour. Of late, e-Learning has become the most popular and most effective learning system, supplementing and complementing traditional class room education as well as distance education. Because, this new technology learning system is reported to make learning more experiential and memorable.
In this context, a Project on Development of e-Courses for B.V.Sc. & A.H. Degree Programme was sanctioned to the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS) by the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) of Indian Council of Agricultural Project (ICAR) to create e-learning modules to enable students of BVSc & AH to acquire a more effective learning system.

Anticipated Impact and Outcome

Key advantages of e-Learning are flexibility, convenience and ability to work at any place where an internet connection is available. There are also cost and time benefits without having to commute to and fro teaching campus. The developed e-Courses would supplement and complement the class room teaching for the graduates of B.V.Sc. & A.H. all over the country to make learning more effective. Besides, it would also be the resource for updating the knowledge and skills of field veterinarians. 
e-Learning system is expected to allow more time for the teachers to get equipped with recent advances in the subject matter and to enable the students to interact with the teachers more effectively and fruitfully for enhancing their knowledge and skills. Further, the e-Learning modules would provide the students an anytime and anywhere learning opportunity. Other advantages expected are the ability to communicate with fellow classmates independent of distance, greater adaptability to learners’ needs, more variety in learning experience with the use of multimedia and the non-verbal presentation of teaching materials.

Institutional impact

1. Reduction of instructional space requirement
2. Creation of virtual class rooms
3. Newly recruited teachers getting adequately trained and informed 
4. Increase in student enrolment
5. Improved quality of instruction (and teacher-student interaction)
6. Sharing of created e-courseware with other less equipped veterinary institutions
7. Provision of learner support services
8. Better faculty empowerment
9. Contemporary technology infrastructure

Impact on learners

• More flexibility in the time schedule
• Saving of time
• More time for interaction
• Facilitation of ‘any time’ interaction
• Improvement in self-confidence among learners
• Avoidance of monotony of class room teaching
• Development of independent learning skills