It was the sort of discussion that happens hundreds of times a day in America's college classrooms — an English professor and her students grappled with Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem, "To a Skylark," trying to pry meaning from words written nearly two centuries ago.
This conversation, though, had a decidedly 21st-century twist. It was conducted in cyberspace, with the professor, Sara Cordell of the University of Illinois at Springfield, speaking over a chat room audio feed, and the students typing their impressions into a text box.
While the session lacked the intimacy of a face-to-face exchange, it nonetheless seemed to produce the illumination Cordell was after. As it ended, having uncovered the poem's themes of joy, loss and the limits of human existence, one student wrote, "I see so much more than before."
"I think students learn a lot more in my field online," Cordell said. "They have to take a lot more responsibility for their learning. They can't just sit there and stare at me and pretend that literature is a spectator sport."
Virtual education at the college level has exploded over the last decade, with one survey finding that about a third of all students today take at least one class online. The humanities, though, remain a relative rarity in the digital world.
The story was featured by the Chicago Tribune on April 29, 2013.
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Monday, April 29, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
Vorreyer, UIS women shoot for golf Super Regional
The University of Illinois Springfield women’s golf team is in good position as it heads into the Great Lakes Valley Conference championships scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at Annbriar Golf Course in Waterloo.
The Prairie Stars are trying to earn a bid to an NCAA Division II Super Regional May 5-7 at Joliet Country Club.
“We are very close to it as a team,” UIS coach Frank Marsaglia said. “If we don’t, Abby Vorreyer has a real shot of making it as an individual.”
Vorreyer has won three tournaments this spring, including the UIS Spring Invitational at The Rail Golf Course on Sunday. Vorreyer broke her own 18-hole record in the first round with a 2-under par 70. She shot a 76 in the final round and broke another one of the records with a two-round score of 146 for a 10-stroke win.
Vorreyer also won the 140-player/24-team Perry Park Spring Fling in Kentucky last month.
The story was featured by The State Journal-Register on April 26, 2013.
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The Prairie Stars are trying to earn a bid to an NCAA Division II Super Regional May 5-7 at Joliet Country Club.
“We are very close to it as a team,” UIS coach Frank Marsaglia said. “If we don’t, Abby Vorreyer has a real shot of making it as an individual.”
Vorreyer has won three tournaments this spring, including the UIS Spring Invitational at The Rail Golf Course on Sunday. Vorreyer broke her own 18-hole record in the first round with a 2-under par 70. She shot a 76 in the final round and broke another one of the records with a two-round score of 146 for a 10-stroke win.
Vorreyer also won the 140-player/24-team Perry Park Spring Fling in Kentucky last month.
The story was featured by The State Journal-Register on April 26, 2013.
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Tuesday, April 23, 2013
UIS students partner with Habitat to rehab homes
UIS students partnered with Habitat for Humanity as part of the university’s Springfest, according to Mark Dochterman, director of UIS’s Volunteer and Civic Engagement Center.
Springfest is a weeklong team challenge that includes a scavenger hunt and trivia night, among other activities.
Last year, Dochterman said organizers incorporated a service element. More than 200 students planted 3,500 native saplings in open spaces at Carpenter and Gurgens parks north of Springfield.
The project went well, except for a number of students contracting poison ivy, he said.
“(Partnering with Habitat) just seemed like a great way we could make a difference with the students we have,” Dochterman said.
Among the students to chip in Monday was Paige Heiser, a junior at UIS. Heiser cleared overgrown and dead brush at 2028 South Grand Ave. E. with other volunteers.
She said she enjoys volunteering because it’s important to give back to the community.
“You can have an impact on something on a larger scale, which makes you feel good,” Heiser said.
The story was featured by The State Journal-Register on April 23, 2013.
Read the article online
Springfest is a weeklong team challenge that includes a scavenger hunt and trivia night, among other activities.
Last year, Dochterman said organizers incorporated a service element. More than 200 students planted 3,500 native saplings in open spaces at Carpenter and Gurgens parks north of Springfield.
The project went well, except for a number of students contracting poison ivy, he said.
“(Partnering with Habitat) just seemed like a great way we could make a difference with the students we have,” Dochterman said.
Among the students to chip in Monday was Paige Heiser, a junior at UIS. Heiser cleared overgrown and dead brush at 2028 South Grand Ave. E. with other volunteers.
She said she enjoys volunteering because it’s important to give back to the community.
“You can have an impact on something on a larger scale, which makes you feel good,” Heiser said.
The story was featured by The State Journal-Register on April 23, 2013.
Read the article online
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