{"id":5363,"date":"2020-05-08T09:54:56","date_gmt":"2020-05-08T14:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=5363"},"modified":"2020-05-08T09:54:56","modified_gmt":"2020-05-08T14:54:56","slug":"teaching-from-afar-uw-la-crosse-finds-creative-ways-to-engage-students-remotely","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/teaching-from-afar-uw-la-crosse-finds-creative-ways-to-engage-students-remotely\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching from afar: UW-La Crosse finds creative ways to engage students remotely"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Colin Belby, associate professor of Geography, takes students on a virtual field trip to Bohemian Valley near Coon Valley, Wisconsin. Belby uses a GoPro to record labs for his Earth Surface Processes and Landforms class.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Masks made from paper bags. Outreach to local nonprofits. Remote connections to cutting-edge software.<\/p>\n

This is how some UW-La Crosse faculty are engaging their students in remote or online formats in the age of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeaching online takes months of planning and preparation, and we had to make the change in just a couple weeks,\u201d says\u00a0Kristin Koepke, interim director of UWL\u2019s Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning (CATL)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was an emergency situation where we had to do things out of the ordinary,\u201d she explains. \u201cBut there\u2019s been a lot of creative brainstorming, and faculty are embracing the opportunity to help our students as best we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s meant different approaches for different courses and disciplines.<\/p>\n

In the\u00a0Geography and Earth Science Department<\/a>, faculty found a creative way for students to conduct lab work.<\/p>\n

With help from\u00a0Information Technology Services<\/a>, the department developed a system for students to remotely log into university computers, allowing them to access professional-quality GIS software from home.<\/p>\n

Students use the software for projects such as tracking changes to urban areas and the natural environment over time, or creating maps to display data, such as precise election results.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of free GIS programs online, but we wanted our students to use the higher quality software,\u201d\u00a0Assistant Professor John Kelly<\/a>\u00a0says. \u201cThose free programs wouldn\u2019t have given them the full benefit or the same hands-on experience they\u2019d have at school, or in the workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne problem is we\u2019re not there in person if they stumble,\u201d adds\u00a0Associate Professor Colin Belby, chair of the department<\/a>, who has even used a GoPro to take students on virtual field trips during the pandemic. \u201cIt\u2019s harder to grab ahold of the computer and help them with whatever problem they\u2019re running into.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students also don\u2019t have the benefit of working shoulder to shoulder in a computer lab, where they can share ideas and offer feedback on one another\u2019s research.<\/p>\n

This new format will never flawlessly replicate the face-to-face experience, says\u00a0Professor Cynthia Berlin<\/a>, \u201cbut students still come out with useful knowledge and a strong set of skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

In many other departments, faculty are rising to meet the challenge.<\/p>\n

Associate Professor Christa Kiersch<\/a>\u2019s human resources students were supposed to design an in-person HR training program for their peers. Now, students are adapting their trainings to be completed online.<\/p>\n

Another group of students under Kiersch\u2019s direction are creating a package of online HR tools that will be used by local nonprofits. The students will present their ideas to Great Rivers United Way and other interested groups during a virtual meeting in late April.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in the\u00a0Theatre Arts Department<\/a>, students no longer have access to the fabrics, materials and equipment in the costume shop. Instead,\u00a0Professor Joe Anderson<\/a>\u2019s students are concocting costume pieces from objects they found lying around the house: tape, glue, staples, nails, screws, egg cartons, cardboard, pipe cleaners and more.<\/p>\n

In another assignment, Anderson has asked his students to craft a decorative mask out of a paper bag and whatever else sparks their imagination.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope they\u2019re able to see how the slightest change in an expression we give a mask can change the entire look,\u201d he says. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be a big change or dramatic facial gesture to communicate to an audience what you want to say. Also, I hope this shows them that, sometimes, these things happen very quickly, and they don\u2019t have to angst over every little detail.\u201d<\/p>\n

In total, UWL faculty moved more than 2,500 in-person courses to online formats in just two weeks.<\/p>\n

While\u00a0CATL<\/a>\u00a0provided the necessary support, Koepke says the smoothness of the transition is a testament to the dedication of staff and faculty, and their willingness to work together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our university did a really great job of being proactive,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re doing our best to be ahead of, and stay ahead of, the game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Masks made from paper bags. Outreach to local nonprofits. Remote connections to cutting-edge software. This is how some UW-La Crosse faculty are engaging their students in remote or online formats in the age of COVID-19. \u201cTeaching online takes months of planning and preparation, and we had to make the change in just a couple weeks,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":5364,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[104],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-5363","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-la-crosse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/5363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=5363"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=5363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}