Development of e-learning resources by/for users: a win-win project for teachers ans students

Post-graduate students are so-called digital native and usual users of numeric tools (web, social networks,software applications) on computers, smartphones, and touch tablets. They have free access anywhere andanytime to a variety of information. Their expectations as students have quickly changed with the numericinnovations in technologies. To match this new generation, learning approaches have to be playful, interactive,and based on visual resources rather than long texts. There is also a need to develop long-life skills. Thedevelopment of e-learning courses is an adaptive response of teachers to the changes in learning processes.An educational project was proposed to a group of 8 master students in animal science. The objective wasto make students actors of the computational development of e-learning resources to make them aware ofnumeric technologies in addition to knowledge and skills related to animal and livestock production. Theproject was based on the creation of an e-course linked to the FP7 EU-PLF program. It was expected that theinvolvement of motivated students in the design of the e-course might result in a creative tool correspondingto their needs. Based on basic knowledge in animal production, students proposed four different learningresources after a period of 60 h working in autonomy with minimal supervision of the teachers. Their resourcesconsisted of texts on livestock farming systems, sketches for dynamic schemes on physiological stages ofpig, self-assessment questionnaire, and theoretical growth curve. After validation of the resources by theteacher, the self-assessment questionnaire was tested with other students. The resources were also modifiedtoward a graphic design well adapted to on-line viewing. In a short time this student project management wasinstructive for them to select and write informative contents, using specific English vocabulary. Backgroundand skills in computational development and design were however a limitation and prevented direct on-linepublication. Development of such skills in animal science curriculum is a must.