Alternatives in EducationBy Jeremy Miles, Ph.D. Report of the First Multimedia Festival on AlternativesIn his plenary lecture at the World Congress, Bill Russell described a number of overlapping areas of activity in the development of the 3 R's concept, one of which was education. It is during the formal educational process, beginning at primary school and often continuing through to university, that the majority of our values and codes are shaped. These will often be based upon our personal experiences and include the formation of our assumptions and attitudes towards the use of animals, and of experimental design. Unless students are offered choice in their modes of learning, they are more likely to reject the discipline itself. The Festival of Multimedia Alternatives was designed to recognise the efforts of those producing learning resources in support of the teaching of life science education. Through the use of video, CD ROM and multimedia technologies producers are able to provide a richer educational experience, an alternative to traditional teaching methodologies and that often ignored educational commodity -- choice. The concept for this multimedia festival was developed after a Winston Churchill travel fellowship in 1994 which introduced me to developers of educational resource material in both America and Europe. What struck me, along with the range and quality of materials being developed, was the isolation in which the majority of developers were working and the lack of opportunity for demonstrating products and exchanging ideas. What was also of interest was the shift in media being used to develop the resources over recent years. When I was last involved in a demonstration of educational alternatives, in 1993, the majority of the resources were video based. The advances of software tools coupled with a need to develop more comprehensive, interactive programmes resulted in a submission of entries to the 1996 Multimedia Festival that was highly skewed towards computer based formats. The key features that all the programmes selected for the Festival possessed were a clear focus on the educational objectives and the impact that such resources could have upon the numbers of animals used in life science education. "The Investigation of a Mammal," developed by the Australian Humane Research Foundation, demonstrated the importance of appropriate selection of media. This elegant and interactive video-based teachers' resource provided a realistic alternative to the 25,000 rats currently being used annually in Australian secondary schools. Education should not only be directed towards students. Teachers themselves need support and information about legislation, animal use and the availability of alternatives. Within New South Wales, TAFE is a large educational organisation, one of whose responsibilities is the training of new teachers in the legislation concerning the use of animals in teaching and research. Due to the numbers of teachers (over 3000) and their geographic spread, distant learning techniques are essential and the TAFE Animal Welfare and Legislation CD ROM provides an ideal solution. The field of pharmacology has historically incorporated a high level of rodent use in teaching the effects of a range of drugs on physiological systems. A common pharmacological preparation studies the influence of drugs on heart rate and blood pressure in an anaesthetised rat and the "Rat Blood Pressure" programme demonstrated that, with good instructional design, a high level of interactivity and student feedback could be achieved with the minimum of computer processing power. The useful skills learned (and remembered) by undergraduates from animal experiments are often minimal but lasting benefit does come from a better understanding of the principles and experience of designing experiments. Such benefits can be equally, or better, derived from the use of computer simulations. "The Water Maze," developed at the University of Leeds, demonstrated how a complex and expensive practical (lab exercise) could be simulated and, at the same time, enhancing the students' understanding of experimental design and data analysis. The teaching of anaesthesia is an important element in the veterinary education programme and requires the use of a number of laboratory animals. Depth of anaesthesia requires a detailed appreciation of the animals' response to a number of tests and protocols and the visual clarity of any alternative is of paramount importance. "Anaesthesia in Rats" used some of the latest techniques in multimedia technology to incorporate digital video into a comprehensive alternative to the use of animals in anaesthesia teaching. In selecting the overall winner, "Rat Blood Pressure," the judging panel was looking for scientific validity, programme design and the potential to reduce the numbers of animals required in biology education. Congratulations should go to Professor David Dewhurst and his team at Leeds Metropolitan University and to all those developers who are beginning to have a significant impact in a crucial area of the 3R's strategy. Dr. Miles is Director of The Television Centre, University of Portsmouth, U.K. | 
