Aisles of freshly printed ink on large format paper are a hallmark of major scientific conferences all over the globe. Poster sessions are an arena where seasoned and budding scientists get to communicate about their work, network with peers, and determine new directions in their research. But how can we bring this icon of scientific discourse into the digital classroom? In remote and synchronous online courses, virtual poster sessions can be implemented as an assignment and exercise that allows students to practice real world skills within the community of support inside their course. Poster sessions have long been a tradition in on-ground courses, and are used to give students a taste of what scientific inquiry and discussion is like beyond the classroom. I’ve witnessed countless gatherings of excited students crowded around posters hung proudly on display in hallways at the end of term. These sessions are great practice for students who plan to go to graduate or professional schools...

June 2, we conducted a webinar for TeachT@lk on alternative presentation formats. (Click here for the full recording) The most popular of these is PechaKucha (PK), where students are given 20 slides for 20 seconds per slide for a total of 6 minutes and 40 seconds. The slides are auto-forwarded, the emphasis is on very little text, and engaging visuals. There are many versions of this format that can be modified to meet the objectives of your individual courses. The benefits are that students prepare more thoughtful, refined and polished presentations. The format requires students to be creative, focus on key elements, and engage an audience quickly. The challenges include getting students to "buy-in" to this format, by reminding them of the importance of conveying their research to non-scientists, pitch their research to a publisher or a donor. It is also important to give students time to prepare, and faculty are encouraged to do "mid-point" checks to monito...