In the Netherlands, most Green VET schools offer courses for veterinary nurses. It is a very popular course, with good job opportunities. In fact, it is one of the few courses with limited enrolment (numerus fixus), so as not to overflow the labour market.
In 2020, we applied for an Erasmus+ subsidy to connect with other providers of more or less the same courses. We found our partners in Finland, Denmark and Slovenia. We agreed to work on (digital) teaching materials in English and on manuals for work-based learning.
Recently, a second student activity took place for the Erasmus KA2 project on Vocational Education and Training for Veterinary Nurses (VET4VN).
This time the trip went to the Taitotalo school in Helsinki, Finland.
10 Teachers and 29 students from the Netherlands (Aeres Leeuwarden, Terra MBO, Zone College), Denmark (Hansenberg), Slovenia (BIC), and of course Finland (Taitotalo) worked on “Distant Learning and Coaching” through a livestream on the topic of radiology.
Students had already studied the theory of radiology at home. A digital Moodle platform was set up for this. Students could test their newly acquired knowledge themselves with online quizzes and assignments. All theory was picked up again in Helsinki in a short lecture by a Finnish colleague, in English, was very well received. Afterwards, the students started working in groups to prepare a demonstration of an X-ray image for the live stream.
They wrote the script together, and determined who did what when and how. It was fanatically rehearsed. It was a nice form of peer teaching that worked out well despite the language barrier and the difference in age. Due to the good cooperation in the groups and the great atmosphere, all students performed the demonstrations of the X-rays in the livestream very well and with great enthusiasm.
The livestream was followed in several countries by a number of classes, colleagues, para-veterinarians, and some associated partners of the project. With all our experiences and feedback, we are now going to work on further developing the possibilities for the application of a live stream in distance learning.
Text and images by: Jan Steverink
