The 2025 E-Learning Showcase, featuring modules created by the 14th cohort of students and faculty members, was held earlier this month.
The E-Learning Program, now in its 12th year, allows faculty and student teams to identify a topic to incorporate into a course’s curriculum, focusing on challenging or foundational content that would benefit from a more in-depth explanation.
Each e-Learning team includes two to four students led by faculty. Faculty provide the content expertise, and student participants develop the multimedia that makes the content memorable.
“Our E-Learning Awards Program has seen remarkable growth in the number of faculty, students and staff participating across many teams,” said Jane Meza, PhD, interim vice chancellor of academic affairs. “E-learning supports diverse learning styles and paces, allowing individuals to tailor their educational experiences to their unique needs. And e-Learning helps our educators to use the power of digital learning to provide these interactive, accessible experiences for learners.
“E-Learning empowers learners and educators, fosters collaboration and innovation, and provides opportunities for continuous professional development, ensuring that our workforce remains skilled and competitive in a rapidly changing world.”
The 2024-25 cohort consisted of 13 teams of 62 faculty and student participants from all five campuses Omaha, Lincoln, Kearney, Scottsbluff and Norfolk, representing seven colleges and institutes. They are the latest of 821 faculty, students and staff participants who, since 2013, have created 321 e-modules for UNMC curriculum in the annual E-Learning Awards Program, funded by the UNMC Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
Many of the past modules can be seen in the UNMC E-Gallery.
“New this year, faculty and students could earn the E-Learning Innovator microcredential for completing all of the program milestones necessary to create an e-module for the UNMC curriculum, plus three reflections on their educational development,” said Peggy Moore, director of the E-Learning Program. “50% of faculty and 33% of students are in progress toward the new microcredential, demonstrating new skills and knowledge needed to create high quality interactive e-Learning.”
Interim UNMC Chancellor H. Dele Davies, MD, attended the event. He said he was proud not only of the students but of the faculty and staff who supported them in their projects.
“It’s amazing to me to see just how widespread this program has become,” Dr. Davies said. “Students from so many different colleges and programs have adopted e-Learning and are using it to create innovative content for the curriculum. I was impressed that they’re now incorporating some 3D images, a lot of animation and other engaging features. And as I spoke to each of the students, what I constantly heard was that, by creating these modules, they have a much deeper understanding of the topic they were involved in.”
The winning modules at the event were:
E-Learning Scorecard Best Practices Award
The Neural Pathways of Opioid Use
Developed by Matthew Vilburn, DC, Allison Daro and Cierra Wegner from the UNMC College of Medicine; and Rebekah Rapoza from UNMC Graduate Studies
Top Vote Recipient
Sexually Transmitted Infections: A Guide to Treatment
Developed by: Jennifer Davis, MD, Jonathan Ryder, MD, Richard Hankins, MD, Jim Medder, MD, Rose McCoy and Priya Verbik from the UNMC College of Medicine; Shawnalyn Sunagawa, PharmD, Emily Evans, and Carissa Wilson from the UNMC College of Pharmacy; and Kevin McGuire from the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions
Runner-up Vote Recipient
Electric Insights: Electrotherapy Procedures for PT and OT
Developed by Kait Uwazurike, DPT, Michael Rosenthal, DSc, Jessica Grace, Kelsey Larsen, Tanner Ruda and Spencer Wagner from the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions