UIS Professor Lan Dong in the spotlight again as Disney's newest Mulan takes center stage

Ten years after her book about Mulan was published, UIS English Professor Lan Dong, Ph.D. is still sought out for her expertise on the subject. With Disney’s live-action film, Mulan, released to Disney Plus earlier this month, Dong again found herself in the national spotlight.

She said the inquiries began in earnest when the Mulan trailers were released in 2019.

“I was interviewed by a reporter for The New York Times in February,” Dong said. “They asked questions about Mulan’s story, her trajectory moving from a Chinese heroine to a well-known name among English speakers; and of her global capacity because of the 1998 Disney animation.”

Dong went on to write an essay for History Extra, the website for BBC History Magazine, was featured in the Wall Street Journal, Vox Media, and Radio Free Asia, sat on a Kissinger Institute Panel, and conducted a radio interview with the Canadian Broadcast Company (CBC.)

“In February and March, I had to remind the reporters for NYT and WSJ they had attended the premier of the movie and I hadn’t,” Dong smiled. “I could not comment on the movie itself.”

Though she was almost a Disney insider.

Disney invited Dong to sit on a panel of Chinese cultural experts in 2017 as production for the film was taking shape. Other commitments kept her from being able to join at that time.

She says she is intrigued by Disney’s choice to bypass the standard theatrical release and pave a new route by offering the film on Premier Access through its streaming platform Disney Plus.

The movie’s release came with controversy as film credits included gratitude for filming in the Xinjiang Province, which has been in the news for its alleged human rights abuses against the Uighurs and other Muslim minorities. The film’s lead actress, Liu Yifei also came under fire for her support for Hong Kong Police who are cracking down on pro-democracy demonstrators. Dong said she is not surprised the film is mired in controversy.

“The U.S.-China relationship is full of tension right now. It is in a very precarious place,” Dong said.

Going back to her book, Mulan’s Legend and Legacy in China and the United States, Dong says it was published by an academic press, and has inspired additional scholarly work, but it was also written for general readers.

“I wanted the book to go beyond experts in my field,” she said. “I always wanted it to be more than that. It is meant for readers who have an interest in strong women and in Asian American culture. I’m glad to see it is still relevant. I still love her story.”

And she plans to watch it on Disney Plus soon.

Strength in numbers

It would be nearly impossible to have a health class without acknowledging the elephant in the room, COVID-19.

Assistant Professor of Exercise Science Angela Doehring said one of her first assignments for students in her EXR352 Health Promotion and Disease Prevention class this semester was to research a hot health topic in the news. Nearly every student chose to write about Coronavirus.

“The very first week of class we discussed a novel virus originating in China,” Doehring said. “Even though this was January and there were no confirmed cases in the United States yet, it was just this strange, unknown virus in China.”

Doehring said tracking the spread of the virus in real time is helping teach students that exercise science and health and wellness are integrally linked to disease prevention, infections and epidemiology.

The virus is providing extra opportunities for learning. Doehring’s students can receive extra credit for participating in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention webinars. Many have logged in to learn about social distancing and the spread of the disease.

But while extra opportunities for learning is positive, the loss of the annual UIS Health and Wellness Fair on campus was a blow for her classes.

Each year, students in EXR233 Personal Health and Wellness class create poster presentations and health assessments they deliver during the fair. “We had to figure out how to do a virtual health fair,” Doehring said. Students had to create their posters and make a video of themselves sharing it. Everyone has had different approaches. It’s been interesting how you envision it and then how someone interprets it.”

Another important part of the Health and Wellness Fair presentation was the physical assessments that accompanied it for the other EXR classes like EXR 412 Exercise Management for Special Populations.

“Originally the whole class would work together to plan out one or two assessments to deliver at the health fair. Instead, I let students take the lead at home, choose one assessment they’ve done and perform it on someone in their home and take a video of it,” Doehring said. “Students had to assess the individual, just like they would have at the Health Fair, and explain how they could do better or how it applied to their overall health.”

Doehring said with remote learning, she let her students help direct how the classes would work best for them.

“I put a survey out to my students to see if they wanted the class to be synchronous with zoom meetings at the same time, or asynchronous with a video or Powerpoint each week so they could work at their own pace,” she said. Doehring said her students chose asynchronous learning to work at their own pace. They can log in anytime, and most students are working ahead.

“It seems to be working well,” she said. “But I miss the face-to-face comradery and students interacting with each other. That’s what I miss, classroom discussion, that is the part of teaching that I enjoy most, the student interaction.”

Doehring said despite the initial challenge, both she and students in the class are feeling accomplished and she has tapped into COVID-19 as a teaching tool.

“From a health promotion standpoint, what they’ve learned is playing out in real life, and they are learning the importance of disease and early detection,” Doehring said. “It’s a real-life invaluable lesson.”

UIS Education Honor Society inducts eight new members during ceremony

The University of Illinois Springfield’s Alpha Alpha Gamma chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, the International Honor Society in Education, inducted eight new members during a ceremony on Oct. 12, 2019.

Samantha Missey, a teacher at the Sangamon County Learning Academy and former UIS Kappa Delta Pi president, was the guest speaker at the event.

The Society inducts individuals who have exhibited the ideals of scholarship, integrity in service, and commitment to excellence in teaching and its allied professions. Selection as a member of Kappa Delta Pi is based on high academic achievement, a commitment to education as a career, and a professional attitude that assures steady growth in the profession.

Students inducted at this year’s ceremony listed by hometown:

In-State
Carlinville: Meghan Woods
Lake Villa: Teagan Ross
McLean: Kendra Peifer
Rochester: Madison Neuweg
Springfield: Christine Flynn, Haley Jackson
West Chicago: Jackie LaCour
Wheaton: Angela D’Onofrio

Kappa Delta Pi was established in 1911 to recognize and promote excellence in education. Through its programs, services, and strategic partnerships, the honor society supports the professional growth and teaching practices of educators throughout all phases and levels of their careers. The organization currently has more than 600 chapters and an active membership of nearly 40,000 worldwide.

For more information, contact Ronda Mitchell, chapter advisor and UIS clinical associate professor of teacher education, at 217-206-7008 or rmitche@uis.edu.

Leadership lived: Future elementary school teacher gains valuable experience in and out of the classroom at UIS

Growing up in small town Taylorville, Illinois, Kelsey Marucco was inspired by her fourth grade teacher. That inspiration turned into a passion for helping others, which led her to major in education and psychology at the University of Illinois Springfield.

Marucco, who is now a senior at UIS, is only a few steps away from becoming an elementary school teacher. She is currently doing preclinical observation at Edinburg Elementary School in Edinburg, Illinois and will soon start student teaching next semester.

“I've been observing a fourth and fifth grade classroom here for the past few weeks and I've learned a lot about classroom management, a little bit about lesson planning and how to conduct a classroom during lessons,” she said. “There's a lot of in class parts that we do at UIS, but being here at the elementary school kind of gets me hands on in the classroom.”

Marucco says she chose the University of Illinois Springfield because of the quality of the Teacher Education Department.

“I like how a lot of the teachers in our classes are teachers themselves, so we go in the evening when they're done with school and you're talking to someone who has experience, so they're really helpful and give you a lot of advice,” she said.

On campus, Marucco is heavily involved as a member of the Capital Scholars Honors Program and the Tri Sigma Sorority. She also works for UIS Campus Recreation and at the Cox Children’s Center on campus. She is a member of the Kappa Delta Phi educational honor society, the Psi Chi honor society and recently served as the public relations and social media chair for Dance Marathon, a UIS fundraiser for the Children’s Miracle Network.

“Before coming to college, I was more shy and kept to myself, but UIS helped me become a bigger leader and get me out there more and gave me a lot of opportunities in that aspect as well,” she said.

Following graduation from UIS, Marucco would like to work at a smaller elementary school in central Illinois and possibly coach an athletic team.

“I would love, just like this school, to stay at a small school so I can be more personable to my students. I hope to work and coach kids one day too alongside teaching,” she said.

She’s glad she made the decision to come to UIS and get involved on campus.

“I'm really glad I went to UIS because it kept me close to home, so I could stay with my family here and there, but I do live on campus. Being on campus allowed me to go out and do these opportunities day-to-day and keep myself really busy,” she said.

Four UIS Teacher Education majors write peer reviewed article for Wikipedia

Four University of Illinois Springfield Teacher Education majors recently had their research article published on the website Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia. The students wrote an article on “Mainstreaming” in education as part of an optional final project in Assistant Professor of Teacher Education Jennifer Martin’s TEP 315 class.

Students Ashley Brown and Kelly Mast of Jacksonville, Lauren Reichert of Winchester and Cassidy Yates of Springfield wrote the article, which was peer reviewed by Wikipedia.

“The Wikipedia Student Program is a formalized exercise,” said Martin. “Students must complete a series of training modules, and any writing they do goes through a serious vetting process.”

According to their Wikipedia article, “Mainstreaming” in education is “the practice of placing students with special education services in a general education classroom during specific time periods based on their skills.”

“This assignment allowed me to focus on an area of the education field that I feel passionate about, as well as challenged me to go above and beyond to create something that others would learn from,” said Brown.

“I really enjoyed this project because it gave my research for our course an actual purpose - it motivated me to work at a higher level, because I knew that it would be accessed by anyone wanting to find out more information on the topic,” said Reichert.

Yates added, “It was great to be a part of the process that occurs between the publication of academic journals and the creation of Wikipedia articles.”

Martin became aware of the Wikipedia Student Program two years ago when she attended a conference featuring representatives from the website.

“I learned that writers for Wikipedia tend to reflect dominant/hegemonic narratives. In other words, there are fewer articles on women and people of color, issues of equity, etc,” she said. “At the training, I learned that Wikipedia was looking for more diverse authors of content, and for new authors to rewrite some articles that were told only from a dominant perspective.”

Martin decided to offer the optional final project as a way to promote education equality on the website.

“I am glad that Dr. Martin gave us this option and very grateful that she motivated us and assisted us in the process,” said Mast. “It is rewarding to know that the hard work put forth by my group will be seen by many.”

Leadership lived: Future teacher gains valuable experience working at the UIS Cox Children’s Center

Rhilee Cochran is gaining valuable experience working at the Cox Children’s Center at the University of Illinois Springfield. The elementary education and psychology major plans to use the lessons she’s learning when she becomes an elementary school teacher.

“As a student-employee, I go around to all of the rooms and just help the teachers out wherever they need extra assistance,” she said. “Whether that’s just sitting with the kids at nap time or helping them out with lessons. It can be all kinds of different things.”

Cochran was recently honored with the Student Affairs Division’s first Student Employee of the Month award in recognition for her outstanding work at the children’s center.

“I want to work with kids just because I really like learning and I really enjoy children,” she said. “It’s just fun to see them grow, especially here at Cox Children’s Center because you can see them all of the way from the infant room up to the preschool room.”

In addition to working at the Cox Children’s Center, Cochran is also currently completing her pre-clinical observation hours at a Springfield elementary school as part of her degree.

“You learn a lot from the time in the classroom, more than I think when you’re just sitting in class listening to a lecture,” she said.

As a commuter student from Mt. Auburn, Illinois, Cochran says she chose UIS because of the right-sized supportive community and quality education.

“I just really like UIS not only because it’s close to home, but because I like the close-knit community that is UIS,” she said. “I really like how it’s a small school. I can’t walk across campus without seeing somebody that I know and will say ‘hi’ to me.”

Cochran says she’s learned many lessons about how to define leadership at UIS.

“UIS has taught me that leadership can come in many forms,” she said. “It can be helping kids make octopuses out of play doe or it can be leading a campus-wide project. There’s lots of different ways to be a leader, so it’s not just one set thing saying you’re a leader.”

UIS Chancellor Susan Koch receives SJ-R Legacy Award in Education

UIS Chancellor Susan Koch received the State Journal-Register Educator Legacy Award. This was the first year for the Legacy Awards. Winners were announced during the SJ-R First Citizen Gala and dinner.

The awards recognize noteworthy and extraordinary leadership in Sangamon County. The awards honor businesses, young entrepreneurs, health care professionals, educators and service leaders dedicated to selfless service.

Julie Cellini, a founding member of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, won the First Citizen award. That annual award dates back to 1963.

The Legacy winners besides Koch were: Emily Becker, young entrepreneur; St. Martin de Porres Center, nonprofit; Levi, Ray, & Shoup, business; and Dr. Edem and June Agamah, health care. There were six finalists for each category.

UIS professor learns by teaching in India, creating photo essays in Missouri

University of Illinois Springfield Associate Communication Professor Kathy Petitte Jamison has spent the past few months teaching and learning from Illinois to Missouri and across the Atlantic Ocean.

Jamison served as a guest lecturer at Vellore Institute of Technology in Vellore, India this past summer. She taught professional and research writing to doctoral students and faculty, at times speaking to lecture halls holding 600 participants, all eager for insight into good writing skills in English.

“The students were very kind and eager to learn American English and American culture,” said Jamison. “The food was also wonderful, as were the people. It was an amazing place.”

“As a professor teaching a few of the writing courses in Communication, it’s always good to work with English as a Second Language (ESL) students to understand our language from different angles and perspectives. I’ve taught many ESL courses and workshops over the years and I find it always teaches me something new about my own language and how to teach it to others.”

Jamison was also chosen to participate, along with 43 professional photographers from the U.S. and 13 other countries, in a workshop offered by the University of Missouri-Columbia photojournalism school.

The Missouri Photo Workshop has documented small town and rural life in Missouri towns for 66 years. The group was sent to Platte City, Missouri to find a photo story to follow for a week. Jamison chose to highlight the town’s social gathering place called The Pool Hall. 

See her photo documentary here.

Jamison’s experience abroad and in the photography workshop are part of her UIS sabbatical.

Sabbaticals have been documented as important in higher education because they serve to promote professional development by providing opportunities for reflection, artistic creation, research, innovation in teaching and professional exploration. Harvard University was the first to develop a sabbatical program in 1880.

UIS names Vickie Cook director of the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service

Vickie Cook has been selected to be the new director of the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service at the University of Illinois Springfield. She will begin effective September 16, 2013, pending U of I Board of Trustees approval.

Cook received her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Capella University, and is currently the Associate Vice President for Innovation and Technology at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois, where she has successfully launched seven online programs. Her prior positions include serving as Dean of the School of Education and Director of Online Learning at Greenville. Cook was a faculty member at UIS from 2006 to 2009, before leaving for a deanship at Greenville College. Prior to 2006, she served as Dean of Continuing Education and University Alliance at Kaskaskia Community College.

She succeeds the founding director of the UIS Center for Online Learning, Research, and Service, Associate Vice Chancellor for Online Learning Ray Schroeder.

"We are delighted that Vickie Cook accepted our invitation; she is an outstanding leader in the field of technology-enhanced learning," said Schroeder. "Vickie has the abilities and expertise that make her an ideal person to lead the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service. I know that the Center will continue to lead in innovation and quality in online learning under her leadership."

The Center for Online Learning, Research and Service is the recipient of many national awards for excellence in online learning. The center has launched two Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and is engaged in research on the pedagogy and quality outcomes of MOOCs, predictive analytics reporting, and community college degree completion online.

UIS announces the winner of 2011-12 academic year Outstanding Master's Thesis Award

The University of Illinois Springfield Research Board has awarded English master’s student Sarah Collins with the UIS Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award for the 2011-2012 academic year. Collins’s thesis is entitled “The Face of Disability: Humanizing Effects of Autographics on the Physically and Mentally Impaired”.

Five graduate programs nominated finalists for the award. Each of the submitted thesis/projects have, thus, already received departmental recognition for excellence and will be publicly honored at a reception on January 28, 2013.

“The Research Board was impressed by the interesting range of topics and methodologies among this year’s nominees. Members found it challenging to select a single recipient of the award,” said Cecilia Stiles Cornell, faculty associate in the Provost’s Office.

UIS Outstanding Master’s Theses/Projects: Academic Year 2011-2012 

The following students received their departments’ Outstanding Thesis or Project Award for 2011-12 and were nominated for the UIS Outstanding Master’s Thesis/Project competition:

Educational Leadership 
Jeremy Larson
“Teacher Collaboration in Rural School Districts through Online Social Networking” 
Committee Chair: Dr. Daniel Matthews

English (Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award) 
Sarah Collins
“The Face of Disability: Humanizing Effects of Autographics on the Physically and Mentally Impaired” 
Committee Chair: Dr. Lan Dong

Environmental Studies 
Gregory R. Fretueg
“Latrine Site Selection and Diet Composition of River Otters (Lontra canadensis) in a Restored Illinois Floodplain” 
Committee Chair: Dr. Dennis Ruez

History 
E. Claire Jerry
“Tracing the Trumans: An American Story’: An Exhibit at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum” 
Committee Chair: Dr. William Siles

Human Services 
Mary K. McGuire
“Identifying Needs and Barriers for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Older Adults”
Committee Chair: Dr. Donna Weinstein

Ray Schroeder named Innovation Fellow by national association

The University Professional & Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) has named Ray Schroeder, associate vice chancellor for online learning at the University of Illinois Springfield as its first Innovation Fellow.

“Ray has a proven track record of national and international leadership in the application of digital technology to promote effective approaches to higher education,” said Robert Hansen, UPCEA chief executive officer. “His vision and experience span the strategic, operational and pedagogical aspects of the field.”

As the Innovation Fellow for Digital Learning, Schroeder will serve UPCEA and its members with a combination of articles, white papers, webinars and consulting services through the Center for Research and Consulting. He is also the author of UPCEA’s daily “Online, Continuing, and Professional Education Update,” and is a frequent contributor to UPCEA’s quarterly newsletter, InFocus.

UPCEA is the nation’s leading professional association for deans and directors of adult, continuing, and online education. Its nearly 400 member institutions include most of the best public and private universities in North America. The group’s conferences and publications provide members with strategies that respond to the growing population of adults and non-traditional students seeking continuous learning opportunities.

Schroeder will be honored during UPCEA’s 97th annual conference in Portland, Oregon, which runs March 28-30, 2012.

In addition to the UPCEA honor, the Illinois Council of Continuing Education recently awarded UIS the Innovation 2012 Award for a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) held during the summer of 2011. The MOOC, organized by Schroeder, focused on the topic “Online Learning Today...and Tomorrow” and attracted more than 2,600 participants from 70 countries.

"We are particularly honored to receive this recognition from our colleagues at colleges and universities around the state of Illinois,” said Schroeder. “This award is especially meaningful because it recognizes our leadership in innovation in learning in higher education in Illinois."

The content from the free course is still available online at http://sites.google.com/site/edumooc/.

Four UIS faculty members participate in undergrad research conference

COPLAC workshop participants (Courtesy COPLAC)

Four faculty members from the University of Illinois Springfield attended the “Institutionalizing Undergraduate Research for State Systems and Consortia” conference at the University of North Carolina – Asheville on June 28-30, 2011. Teams from 22 other Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC) member institutions participated in the workshop. The collaboration was made possible by a National Science Foundation grant awarded to COPLAC, and administered by the Council on Undergraduate Research.

Prior to attending the meeting, the faculty from UIS – Hei-Chi Chan (Mathematics), Rebecca Landsberg (Biology), Dennis Ruez (Team Leader; Environmental Studies), and Carrie Switzer (Psychology) – completed an institutional assessment on the extent, culture, and campus support of undergraduate research efforts, scholarly products, and creative works. While the conference was focused specifically on undergraduate research in STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), the UIS team approached the task with a broader perspective to include undergraduate students of all majors as well as graduate students.

“The conference provided much information on the transformative potential of incorporating student research within curricula, student assessment, faculty evaluations, and campus marketing,” said Ruez.

The UIS team has created a set of goals and strategies along those lines, and will initiate efforts at informing the campus community about the benefits of student research, not only to students, but to faculty, alumni, and our community.

There are 26 COPLAC colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. UIS is the only one in Illinois. COPLAC institutions have several core values in common:

• Faculty are dedicated to teaching undergraduates
• Classes are small and students receive personal attention and mentoring
• Students work with professors, not graduate assistants
• Leadership and co-curricular opportunities abound
• Emphasis is on civic engagement and service learning
  

For more information, visit www.coplac.org.

UIS Teacher Education chair attempts to read over 500 books in preparation for conference

Cindy Wilson admits it might not have been a smart idea to attempt to read over 500 children’s books in the weeks leading up to the annual Illinois Reading Council Conference in Springfield, but she’s having a great time doing it.

Wilson is the chair of the Teacher Education Department at the University of Illinois Springfield and president-elect of the Illinois Reading Council. Her goal is to read almost every book by every author who is speaking at the March 17-19 conference.

“Nobody has said out load that they think I’m crazy for doing this. Many people have said I’m courageous for attempting to do this,” said Wilson.

Wilson was responsible for selecting all of the authors, who will appear at the conference. She was already familiar with many of the author’s work, but still felt she had more to learn.

“I decided to take it on because the authors that I chose, I chose because I really admired them for their work and so I wanted to read everything that they had written,” said Wilson.

The Lincoln Public Library in downtown Springfield is helping Wilson gather all the books she needs. The library always has a stack of books ready for her to read and they’ve helped her borrow books from other libraries.

Wilson hopes reading the books will not only help her understand them better, but help advertise the conference. She’s started a blog where people can track her progress in reading the books and learn more about the authors coming to the conference.

Wilson doesn’t expect to be able to actually read all 546 books, but she’s hoping to at least make it through the first 300. She started reading novels and has now moved onto books with a smaller amount of text.

“Fortunately they are children’s books primarily, so some of them go very quickly,” she said.

She jokes she could read 60 books an hour if they only had a few words per page, adding “I’m enjoying myself so much reading these books.”

American Sign Language classes offered at UIS

The University of Illinois Springfield has been offering American Sign Language courses in the Department of Teacher Education since the spring semester of 2008.

“I have a feeling that a lot of people have no idea that sign language is even here,” said Randy Knuppel, a junior accounting and business major.

Dene Lynn Scott, who is deaf, teaches the sign language courses. At UIS she teaches three sections of ASL along with a course on finger spelling and numbers.

“They’ve been learning for two and a half years. They’ve been studying and learning and getting a lot of knowledge,” said Scott about her advanced students.

Learning sign language isn’t only important in the teaching field, but also when it comes to business. Some students have already put what they’ve learned to use.

“I actually work at JC Penny’s and I’ve actually had to use it. People come in and I can help them because I can communicate with them and see what they need,” said Kasey Figgins, a sophomore business and management major.

The ASL program at UIS was made possible by a $30,000 gift from Springfield attorney Joe Gibbs and his wife, Lynn for first-year development and several years after.

The UIS Office of Development is currently working to raise funds to support the program. For more information visit the development website at www.uis.edu/development/give/departments.html

UIS online students build community for "mid-lifers"

Amy Reeves decided to return to school after applying for a new position at her place of employment when she was told she would need a bachelor’s degree to be considered for an interview. Madeleine Ward said she simply wanted to continue her education in a more structured manner, so she is better able to contribute to society, and now hopes to go on to law school.

Reeves lives in Carlinville while Ward resides in Chicago. The two women met through the liberal studies program at UIS and bonded over going back to school in the “third age,” the age identified as being after young and middle but before “old.”

“Madeleine and I discovered we were in that same age group. We had a project to do about verbal arts and community, and Madeleine suggested a new community of older students (50+),” Reeves said. “It sounded so unique and on target that I jumped at the chance to work on it with her. The more we talked and the more Madeleine, in particular, dove into our subject matter, the more we realized just how much we could hopefully do for others like us.”

Reeves and Ward are now using social media tools to their full advantage to create a community of “third age” students. They hope to bring together other students who are in their age range and who need a community of support and encouragement to continue and finish their education. According to the office of Institutional Research at UIS, there were 277 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral students who are over the age of 50 at the university both online and on campus in fall 2009.

One of their first steps was creating a blog, found at www.midlifecoed.blogspot.com/.

They created the blog so that others might help to enhance and complement the community of third age students and add information about the difficulties or successes of their school experience. Though the blog was started for a class project, they have plans to continue posting, increase readership and provide resources to other students.

The pair are currently blogging under the pseudonyms Betty and Veronica, who are characters from the Archie comics, popular when they were pre-teens and teenagers. They said they feel the history of the Archies is a bridge from their youth to today’s mid-life coed.

“It is important that a mid-lifer who is new to blogging or new to our blog realizes that we truly understand them; we’re from the same generation and remember many of the same things that happened throughout the years,” they wrote in a paper for class.

Reeves and Ward have also set up a Twitter account (ArchiesFriends) and Facebook page to bring together older students returning to school.

“They need to know they are not alone, and instead of getting information by trial and error, we can answer each other’s questions without each having to re-invent the wheel,” Ward said. “We would love to attract more students; all are welcome to join.”

Because so many older adults who return to school take classes online, especially at UIS, the two classmates felt that an online community made the most sense.

“I just hope we can reach out to others, who are debating about attending school,” Reeves said. “It’s so much different now; my program is solely online so I can work at a different pace that if I had to attend a class two or three times a week. I didn’t know online programs were even offered until I discovered UIS’ programs. How many others are out there like me?”

If you are interested in more information, contact Ward at 312/590-6129.

Karen Swan researches educational technology as Distinguished Professor

Dr. Karen Swan admits that she became an education teacher “by default.”

Swan was a single mother when she got a grant from the government to return to school.

“There were only certain things you could do, and one of them was education, so that’s what I did,” she said.

Swan, a professor in the Teacher Leadership program at UIS, now serves as the James J. Stukel Distinguished Professor in Educational Leadership. Her investiture ceremony took place in the fall. She has been at UIS for about a year, after coming from Kent State University in Ohio, where she was an endowed chair for research on educational technology.

Swan’s family moved to Chicago, but she was still commuting to Ohio when she heard about the opportunity to fill the professorship at UIS.

“It’s a perfect fit; I truly love it,” she said. “It’s specifically for online learning, which I couldn’t do very much of at Kent, and it’s kind of my hobby. I can teach again, which I love, and the people are fabulous. I just think it’s a wonderful opportunity.”

The Stukel Professorship was created by the University of Illinois Foundation to honor James Stukel, the 15th president of the University of Illinois system. The professorship includes support for research and grant work and was created for a candidate who possesses expertise in and scholarly accomplishments relating to online teaching and learning issues.

Swan became interested in the field of technology within education while completing her graduate assistantship.

“I had a graduate assistantship teaching gifted kids. The only thing they insisted on was that we use computers, and that was the beginning of computers,” she said.

“I'm an old hippie, and at the time, I thought they were the devil,” she laughed, “but I did it anyway because it kept me going in school. I took a computer class, and it changed my life. I suddenly started understanding math, which I never understood before, and it turned out I was a good programmer. And the rest is history.”

At UIS, Swan teaches a course on educational research tools and a capstone course for the Master’s in Teacher Leadership program, as well as a technology course occasionally. Being a part of UIS’ online teaching and learning has been exciting, she said.

“UIS is known throughout the online learning community as being one of the best schools in country,” she said. “Little UIS in the cornfields is really far ahead of almost any other place I've known. It's amazing.”

Online learning has been shown to be just as engaging as face-to-face learning, Swan said, and new trends continue to emerge in online learning, including using social media in online courses.

“Online learning is growing still by leaps and bounds; we thought it would flatten out, but it hasn't yet,” she said. “Blended learning – the combination of face-to-face and online learning - is growing even faster.”

“Ray Schroeder (director of the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service) just gave me a Google Wave account, and we’re thinking Wave might replace the learning management platforms we have now,” she added. “There are all sorts of trends outside of educational computing involving social networking which I think are going to become part of mainstream educational technology. People are now trying to figure out how to use it.”

ITS multimedia education coordinator presents social media session at Museum

Munindra Khaund, Multimedia Education Coordinator for Information Technology Services at UIS, is presenting at a brownbag session at the Illinois State Museum on Wednesday, December 9.

The topic is "Building Communities of Interest with Social Media: Using Facebook." The session is geared toward organizations looking into Facebook as an outreach tool to build communities of interest.

More information on the session can be found online here. The session is free and open to public.

Professor pursues love of singing outside the classroom

By Courtney Westlake



Dr. Michael Lane, Clinical Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at UIS, participated in school choirs when he was young, but then he found the trumpet in 6th grade and continued to play through junior high and high school. However, when he married his musically-inclined wife, Cathy, and moved to her hometown of Rushville, Illinois, he found a love for singing again.

“There is quite a fine arts orientation to that community,” he said. “They have a very active theater and put on many musicals both through the school and in the community.”

In around 1990, Lane and his wife had the opportunity to join the newly-formed Madrigal group in the area and became very involved with the group. The group performs two out of every three years, practicing every Sunday starting in September (and memorizing between 20 and 25 pieces) until they begin one week that includes three performances in December.

“It’s a full Madrigal performance, which means costumers, sometimes jugglers, dancers, strolling minstrels, and they serve a full Madrigal meal,” Lane said. “It’s been a wonderful experience and very well-received. It’s a bit grueling at times, but we get very good audiences; usually our shows are sold-out.”

Lane currently teaches in the College of Education and Human Services at UIS. He had stepped into just about every position possible in the public school system during his career - from coach and teacher all the way up to superintendent - but when he decided to retire, he couldn't step away from his life-long passion that easily.

So Lane finished up his doctoral degree and came to UIS to teach other teachers.

“I had taught as an adjunct professor in the Educational Leadership Department for a few years, and then I had the opportunity to come here full-time,” he said. “I really enjoy the university; I like the size of the university and the caliber of the students that are here. I feel the university does a good job in supporting us in the opportunity to be creative in our courses.”

When he first began college, Lane was a marketing major, but he found he “just missed school,” he laughed.

“I always liked school; I always very much enjoyed education,” he said. “I thought that I’d really like to teach and coach. So for many years, I taught English and physical education, and I coached football for 11 years, track for 8 years, and 2 years of basketball.”

Both teaching and singing are family-wide interests in the Lane clan. His wife Cathy minored in music in college and taught music full-time when they were first married. In addition to the Madrigals, the couple has also sung with a group called the Schuyler Singers for many years. His grown children - a son, Daniel, and a daughter, Elizabeth (also called Libby) - have both sung and performed throughout their lives as well.

“My wife is very musical; she plays many folk instruments that she learned to play on her own,” Lane said. “My son didn’t pursue music in college, but my daughter got her bachelors degree in fine arts and musical theater from Millikin and got a masters degree from Western in theater performance. She still does regional theater on weekends and evenings.”

Though getting a doctorate was always a goal of Lane’s, he didn't find the time to actually pursue one until his kids were grown and away at college because of all of his musical and family commitments.

His responsibilities at UIS now, among others, include supervising clinical experiences for students in his program, who must complete 240 hours of clinical activity experiences in about two semesters. He also teaches a blended learning course called Supervision of Instruction, so the class meets both online and in the classroom.

Lane said he has found new approaches to technology, such as blended learning, very appealing at UIS and commends the university for its willingness to explore new technology.

“I find this campus to be very dynamic and on the cutting-edge of technology,” Lane said. “The Center for Online Learning, Research and Service and Tech Support are so supportive. It’s wonderful to have that technical support here, and the university is not afraid to explore whatever is most up-to-date in technology, and that’s rather impressive.”

Schroeder addresses conference at UM

Ray Schroeder, director of the Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning, gave a plenary address at the annual Teaching and Technology Conference held recently at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

See a pdf copy of The Messenger, the UMSL newsletter, for additional information.
TheMessenger.pdf

Director of first-year programs passes on love of learning

By Courtney Westlake

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In 1981, at the age of 41, Dr. Marcellus Leonard was working in retail and found himself out of a job.

He decided to take a college course in creative writing with no plan to obtain a degree. Eight years later, he walked out of Illinois State University with a Ph.D. in the teaching of writing.

“I discovered not only that I was a pretty good student but also that I loved writing and was pretty good at teaching others how to write,” Leonard said. “I decided to take maybe a course at the graduate level and found it came easily so I got a master's as well. I went to the doctoral program at ISU and found that I loved it even more.”

With a Ph.D. in hand, Leonard moved to Springfield to begin a new career with Sangamon State University 19 years ago and eventually became the director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at UIS.

Before returning to college, Leonard said he didn’t quite grasp what it meant to “be an intellectual.” But learning about himself, gaining knowledge in his studies and communicating to others how to write raised his self-confidence, and he wanted to share that with other young adults.

“The CTL fits my plan very well,” he said. “Here we help people; we challenge students to do better in writing, math, chemistry, study skills, time management and more.”

The center holds academic sessions when students can come to practice what is taught in their classes, Leonard said.

Building off of several introductory classes in English, chemistry and biology, students come to the CTL after they have gone to class, and a graduate assistant who sat in on the same class with the same instructor holds a session in that course. Students are able to review homework, discuss aspects of the class they find challenging and ask questions.

The center also offers one-on-one tutoring with graduate assistants, student tutors or even the CTL staff. Leonard, a poet and author himself, has a passion for helping students to gain writing skills and appreciate the art of writing.

“I’ve always enjoyed helping people to put their writing together,” he said. “I personally write essays, poetry, nonfiction. I’m very much in love with words and painting with words and helping students to paint with words. I try to get them to see that writing is less of a chore and assignment and more of an expression of self.”

Helping students to explore and learn to enjoy writing, math and other academic skills is just one way the Center for Teaching and Learning welcomes and mentors students. The department, filled with comfortable couches and study areas, also serves soups and stews and other snacks occasionally during study sessions that are held throughout the year.

“I think it's a wonderful program we have here,” Leonard said. “From every center that I have visited, including my own alma mater of Illinois State, they can't touch us. This is all in the interest of creating the home and hearth hospitality that will tell students that you are welcome here, and we will nurture and help you if you want to help yourself."

In keeping with the hospitality and welcoming atmosphere of UIS, Leonard will be taking on a new role at the university as the director of first-year programs starting this fall. As the director, he will be working with various offices around campus such as the Diversity Center, Disability Services, Counseling Center and more.

“We want first-year students to be successful at every level,” Leonard said. “We have programs that are designed to help students be successful and I have been fortunate enough to be the person selected to help coordinate this effort. It’s an honor to be part of this effort at the University of Illinois at Springfield.”