The Virtual Embryo

Paradigm shift! The term has become a cliché and is vastly overused. But, it is an appropriate term to refer to transitions in methodology that are facilitated by the development and widespread use of new technology. In higher education, "chalk and talk" has become shorthand for yesterday's approach to delivery of course material, and new technologies are touted as panaceas; but, chalk and talk has served most of us quite well for a long time. Our role models used the approach effectively, and most of us feel comfortable with it. However, the interactive nature of new technologies allows us to change our approach to focus on learning, as opposed to teaching. The extent to which we embrace these approaches varies considerably, as does the pace of change. External factors also have considerable bearing on such decisions. One factor is the inexorable pressure from governments and university administrations to do more with less, and another is the pace of discovery in our disciplines.

I am a developmental biologist. We study the progressive changes that occur within cells, tissues, and organisms themselves during their life span. Most research focuses on embryonic development of animals, particularly on the roles of genes in development. This is a very fast-moving field, propelled by the application of recombinant DNA technology. The rapid accrual of knowledge means that instructors constantly revise their lecture material, and textbooks have a short shelf life. I have written three editions of a textbook entitled Developmental Biology; the last edition was published in 1991.

The rapid pace of change in the field convinced me that a more flexible medium than a textbook was needed to communicate developmental biology. The Internet seemed to me to provide a way to change course content dynamically, as opposed to the static format of a textbook. I could also see the potential advantages of collaborating with other developmental biologists in developing learning resources. Students would benefit by gaining access to more diverse material than I could provide independently, and they should benefit from the more interactive relationship with me, made possible through the Internet. Using the Internet, I could communicate with them at any time. They could also get a better feel for the dynamism of developmental biology if I could direct them to resources on the Web that documented current progress in the field. Finally, developmental biology is a visual discipline. The Web provides the ability to deliver images that would help students visualize the developmental process.

Over the Christmas break last year, I developed a Web site called The Virtual Embryo (see figure 1) to support the Advanced Developmental Biology course that I was to teach during the winter term with Manfred Lohka. Because this course was based upon current literature, I provided students with the means to access most of the developmental biology literature from within the site. I also provided essays on each lecture topic.

Figure 1. The Virtual Embryo web site provides studentswith access to developmental biology resources.

What started as a page to support one course has evolved into an extensive site with both research and learning resources, and it has attracted considerable attention in the developmental biology community. It has also been an exciting adventure, which has opened up new opportunities. For example, I have assisted in building the Developmental Biology section of the WWW Virtual Library using material that I have spun off of my site. I have also started thinking about new ways to combine print and electronic media to provide students and investigators with both the foundations and with current progress in the discipline.

Figure 2. The Advanced Development Biology course essays web page is oneof the most popular sections of Dr. Browder's web site.

One of the first lessons that I learned after establishing The Virtual Embryo was to take advantage of the collaborative nature of the Web. No one site needs to do everything. By monitoring the number of visits to my various pages, I could see what visitors found useful. The most popular components have been the Advanced Developmental Biology course essays (see figure 2) and The Developmental Biology Journal Club. One of the features of the Journal Club is Tasty Morsels Caught in the Web, in which I provide links to notable papers in the current literature (see figure 3). This requires me to scan journal sites on the Web each week, making links to selected abstracts.

Figure 3. The Tasty Morsels Caught in the Web page provides links to notable papers in current literature.

This summer, I developed an online tutorial for my introductory Developmental Biology course. Students study the development of a variety of embryos using still pictures and movies of development that are available on the Web. The Web is a rich resource of material on embryonic development, and I have collated that information and written a script that integrates it into my course. Students are examined on the material and submit their answers electronically. They also have access to information that supplements the textbook to facilitate their understanding of the lectures.

The World Wide Web allows for the creation of a virtual community of scholars that spans the continuum from Nobel laureates to undergraduate students. By harnessing this collective resource, we can develop material that gives our students a rewarding and diverse learning experience. Each of us can also contribute to the body of knowledge on the Web by establishing sites and by adding content to them. None of us know where this medium will take us, but the ride should be exhilarating.

For more information, contact Leon Browder, 220-6787, e-mail: browder@acs.ucalgary.ca; http://www.ucalgary.ca/~browder