Abstract
The integration of information and communication technologies in university studies is delayed and partly prevented by a field of problems. Taking the discipline of veterinary medicine as an example this problem field consists of the following problems: aimlessness in the use of computers, hindrance by the curriculum, low computer experience, missing staff funds, missing technical infrastructure, lack of application programs, and missing cooperation of faculties across university boundaries. To describe, analyse, and solve these integration problems the UNISTRAT model is developed. It consists of ten strategies for the orientation in the integration process: 1) to plan the aim, extent, time, and way of integration, 2) to analyse information technology literature of university studies to find out known integration problems and solutions, 3) to inventory dispersed computer based-training programs for practical use in the classroom,
4) to investigate information technology projects at foreign universities to stimulate similar projects in the own country, 5) to initiate a pilot project to develop own application programs, 6) to use software engineering models from computer science to guide the software development, 7) to build a service and support center for constructing and running the technical infrastructure, 8) to found of a consortium of cooperating universities, 9) to develop a virtual mediotheque to support the retrieval of digital learning materials, 10) to reform the curriculum to gain time for computer use. Because the integration problems in the field of veterinary medicine are symptomatic of fields with low computer experience, the solutions to these problems in the UNISTRAT model can be transfered to other disciplines. |
