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Below are some highlights of resources available to UIS faculty on the COLRS Website.
Please contact COLRS for more information or assistance!
Generative AI Policies
We encourage instructors to be explicit about their generative AI (ChatGPT) policy in their syllabus, on assignments, and during class.
Online Education Fact Book
Fall 2023 Census
- Online majors made up 40.6% of UIS headcount
- Online majors are older than their on-campus counterparts:
- At the undergraduate level by 8.6 years (30.8 vs 22.2)
- At the masters level by 8.8 years (35.8 vs 27.0)
- Online majors have an average credit load of 8.1 hours.
Canvas Basics
Join COLRS staff to learn about navigating the Canvas interface and the foundational tools for organizing and building a course at UIS. Topics covered include: navigating, communicating with students, creating modules and assignments, and gradebook.
When: Thu, Aug 24 2023, 12 - 12:50pm
LOCATION: Zoom https://go.uis.edu/colrszoom
Canvas has released several new features over the last year. We've highlighted the significant feature changes below. Please reach out to COLRS staff with any questions or concerns.
Multimedia and Videos for Learning
As we design multimedia learning experiences for our students, we need to incorporate what the research tells us about how our students learn best. The fields of education and cognitive psychology have many lessons for us. This video from LinkedIn Learning (UIS subscribes to this resources for all staff and students) does a good job explaining two major lessons we can incorporate into our multimedia design. This includes lecture slides, web pages, or videos -- any format that includes more than one type of media (text, images, or audio).
Official UIS News
UIS celebrates 25 years as a pioneering leader in online learning
The University of Illinois Springfield is celebrating 25 years as a pioneering leader in online learning. In 1998, UIS launched its first online program with the goal of giving students an opportunity to learn in a flexible manner. At the time, UIS was one of only a few institutions that offered online education in the United States.
Official UIS News
Forbes names UIS a best affordable online college
The University of Illinois Springfield has been named to Forbes’ Best Affordable Online Colleges list for 2023.
According to Forbes, UIS made the list because it has offered distance learning programs to students around the country for more than two decades. Forbes also noted that UIS offers a low net price per year, has a high online retention rate and offers mental health/counseling services to online students.
University of Illinois Springfield Vice Chancellor for Enrollment & Retention Management Vickie Cook has been elected to the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Board of Directors.
OLC is a collaborative community of higher education leaders and innovators, dedicated to advancing quality digital teaching and learning experiences. It has approximately 800 member institutions.
UIS Quality Assurance
UIS subscribes to Quality Matters (QM) and has adopted a customized version of the research-based QM rubric for quality assurance. COLRS staff who review courses are trained Quality Matters reviewers.
We encourage instructors to use the QM rubric as a design guide when they develop online, blended, or hyflex courses.
From December 12 to January 6, the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service (COLRS) will be providing office hours daily from 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
No office hours will be held on Thursday, January 5, 2023 (staff retreat)
Twice daily office hours at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. will resume January 7.