Using Technology to Engage Online Students in the
UIS Campus Student Arts & Research Symposium
University of Illinois at Springfield
Carrie Switzer, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Michele Gribbins, M.B.A.
Online Learning Specialist
Meagan Cass, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of English
Layne Morsch, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Sheryl Reminger, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Abigail Walsh, D.M.A.
Applied Music Specialist
Symposium Overview
• Campus-wide undergraduate
and graduate student
symposium.
• Combined natural sciences,
social sciences, computer
science, humanities, art,
music, & theatre.
• Two day event:
performances, art exhibition,
oral presentations, poster
presentations, and keynote
speakers.
UIS Online
• Online students encompass
over 1/3 of the UIS student
population.
• Over 50% of credit hours at
UIS are from online
enrollments.
• A goal of the symposium was
to engage online students
and make presentations
accessible to every member
of the campus community.
Online Student Involvement
• Online faculty and program
coordinators encourage
students to present.
• Options for involvement
include:
• Presenting remotely.
• Traveling to campus and
presenting in person.
• Watching remotely.
• Live/Synchronous
• Archived/Asynchronous
Technology
• Live-streaming via Office of Electronic Media.
• Microsoft Lync
• Remote presenters interact through Lync and are
displayed to the on-campus audience.
• Online students can ask questions in real time via
online chat.
• Online facilitators for all presentations.
• Student presentations and keynote addresses are
archived on the symposium webpage.
•
http://www.uis.edu/undergraduateresearch/stars/stars-webcast/
Benefits to Students & Faculty
• Online Students
• Have access to similar research opportunities as on-campus
students.
• Are offered a unique and meaningful way to feel more
connected to their faculty mentors, other students, and the
university.
• On-Campus Students
• Presenters can critique their own archived presentations.
• Can view archived sessions and participate in the
symposium even if they are not able to attend.
• Faculty
• Can create assignments based on the keynote addresses
and/or student presentations for their online and oncampus classes.
Challenges & Recommendations
•
Funding
•
•
Department participation
•
•
Obtain support from administration and centralized source of
funding.
Meet with specific faculty members to educate and
encourage involvement.
Increasing student involvement, especially online.
•
•
•
•
Encourage faculty to offer extra credit to attend the
symposium.
Have faculty develop class assignments using symposium
presentations and keynote speakers.
Create online promotional videos.
Offer travel grants to online students who want to come to
campus to present.
Challenges & Recommendations
•
Technical/Logistical
Difficulties
•
•
Ask students in advance
what their presentation
format will be. Microsoft
Lync does not work for all
presentation styles.
Judging