Swine University 2.0 is a unique collaboration between Penn Vet and Merck Animal Health to transition a traditionally in-person event, into an enhanced online learning experience. From the University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine – One Health Academic Innovation Unit, this initiative includes three individual programs that are each one year long. They are intended to be taken in the following sequence: Master, Grand Master, and Legend. Each of these programs include four individual courses that are run once a year, per cohort.
The overarching goals of Swine University 2.0 are to reach a wide audience around the world, strengthen the level of knowledge in young swine veterinarians, and create close networks between student cohorts. In addition, the Swine University 2.0 programs work to close the gap between the students, and the prominent experts that comprise the faculty in all three programs’ curricula.
“We really enjoy and appreciate all the assistance and guidance we receive from Monique Breaux and the Open Canvas support team. Thank you for answering questions and addressing concerns with expediency and kindness!”
The three programs are developed by Penn Vet’s swine behavior & welfare expert (Tom Parsons, Marie A. Moore Professor of Ethics & Animal Welfare & Director of the Swine Teaching and Research Center) in conjunction with swine experts and representatives at Merck Animal Health (Miquel Collell, Global Technical Director Swine, Repropig & Sowcare at Merck Animal Health, and Alexandre Carvalho, Director, Global Marketing for Swine at Merck Animal Health). The learning & technical development aspects of Swine University 2.0 are supported by Penn Vet’s Instructional Design & Online Learning team (May Truong, Director of Instructional Design & Online Learning, and Casey Croson, Instructional Designer) who work one-on-one with distinguished subject matter experts to provide learners with an unparalleled online learning experience. Through this collaboration, experts are provided direct guidance & techniques in the development and design of learning content and presentation materials to facilitate active learning and enhance learner engagement.
The courses within Swine University 2.0 include both asynchronous, and live synchronous components that provide learners the ability to engage with the learning content at hand. Participants also communicate with their fellow students & peers and hold invaluable exchanges with premier swine-related experts and facilitators. Each cohort hosts fourty-five students annually, keeping groups within the courses small.
When asked why Penn Vet and Merck decided to use Open Canvas for their professional development, May Truong expressed:
“We decided to host the Swine University 2.0 programs on Open Canvas because we were seeking a learning management platform that would allow us to design a unique and tailored course experience as well as the ability to easily collaborate with partners outside of our immediate Penn network and provide learners with an efficient and convenient space to access learning content. What Penn Vet’s Instructional Design & Online Learning team enjoyed most about Open Canvas was the ease of use given that our team is already familiar with Penn’s internal instance of Canvas. As such, we were able to mirror much of our content development workflow into the Open Canvas instance which helped us to save a lot of time in terms of set up & configuration. “
For more information on Swine University 2.0, please visit the course listing or visit Merck Animal Health.
Last Updated on May 26, 2022 by Ben Rosen
