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RESPONDING TO THE FLU:
USING TECHNOLOGY TO ENABLE INSTRUCTIONAL CONTINUITY
Introduction
- We all hope H1N1 flu outbreaks won't require radical changes to your teaching this fall, but they probably will require some. Now is a good time to begin thinking through the things that you can do to remain flexible in your planning and consider how technology can help you respond to the challenges.
- Educational Technology offers assistance to instructors seeking ways to use technology to minimize course disruption if students or instructors miss class due to flu. They provide workshops and one-on-one consultations on CourseWorks and other topics mentioned below. View the current workshop schedule or contact them at edtech@barnard.edu.
General strategies
- Use CourseWorks tools you are already familiar with, but with a new goal, that of providing alternatives that minimize the inevitable disruption caused by missing class.
- If you are new to CourseWorks, arrange for a CourseWorks orientation (view current schedule).
- Make use of other technologies as well. Telephone and email are great ways to communicate with your students, particularly for course functions like office hours.
- If you yourself fall victim to the flu, consider visual and audio material (e.g., a DVD) which may be appropriate to your course goals and learning objectives. Contact Media Services at media@barnard.edu in advance if possible.
- Have a communication strategy; tell your students where to find your course information. Plan how you will stay in touch with your TAs and other instructional staff.
- Encourage students to be proactive by meeting with classmates early in the term and exchanging contact information and knowing the best way to reach the instructor.
Keeping the class going when you or your students can't attend
Lectures
- Post your PowerPoint slides and lecture notes in CourseWorks to allow students who had to miss class to review them. (See CourseWorks Essentials below.)
- The recommended method is to enable the Lecture module, create Lecture sessions, and post files there.
- Student note-takers can also post their notes in CourseWorks; consider creating a folder named "Class Notes" in the section of Class Files labelled "Shared Files (Viewed by class)".
Seminar classes/discussion
- Depending on the size of the class, use the CourseWorks discussion board for class sessions -- discussion times can be during class times or a more extended time period (though you may want to set a time limit.)
- Structuring the experience with a clear focus and intended outcome would be important.
- Rather than having all of your students participating on a single forum, you can set up several forums for smaller, more manageable groups.
Distributing, collecting and grading assignments
- Enable the Assignments module in the CourseWorks and post assignments there.
- Accept and return homework essays as Word files through CourseWorks. Students can post their documents in a private Dropbox folder; once posted they can't remove it (that's the default setting) though they can add additional files.
- Insert your comments directly into the Word file, and return to their Dropbox (viewable only to them.)
- You can assign grades for multiple assigments or quizzes, with comments, by enabling the Grade Book module in CourseWorks. Please note: This does not replace the usual eBear course grade submission procedure.
Tests and quizzes
- Set up online quizzes for low stakes assessment and/or as homework by enabling the Test & Quiz module.
Communicating with the class
- If you enable the Class Email module, you can use CourseWorks to send email to individuals or to the entire class (called a broadcast in CourseWorks.) The Class Email module also has an Announcements option, which displays a message on the students MyCourses page, but for last-minute announcements also send a Broadcast since students are likely to check their email more frequently.
Other options
- Columbia Wikispaces and EdBlogs (a new resource) have features that facilitate online discussion of posted content (e.g., articles, videos). Educational Technology can brainstorm with you about whether these are suitable for your course and help you get started; contact edtech@barnard.edu.
- There are options for audio-recording your lectures, digitizing the audio, and posting it online; for more information on this option contact media@barnard.edu.
Some CourseWorks essentials
- CourseWorks is the University-wide Course Management System for faculty and students. It is a web-based publishing environment that allows instructors and students to quickly post and access course materials. It does not require any programming skills.
- Only the most basic modules are enabled in your CourseWorks sites by default. To use additional modules (eg, Syllabus, Lectures, Class Files, Class Email) you need to enable them.
- While you can create "dated" syllabus entries, most instructors and students prefer a syllabus posted as a single document, either using the Syll_all method or by creating a folder in Class Files and posting a document there.
- If you spend a long time editing within a single text box in CourseWorks you might time out, so either click Submit to save regularly or do extended editing outside of CourseWorks (e.g., in Word) and then copy/paste into the text boxes; note that most formatting will be lost when you copy/paste unless you are using Internet Explorer.
- CourseWorks Guides & FAQs
Things to consider
- Don't assume that technology solutions will be easy to deploy.
- Use tools that you know or feel confident that you can handle.
- Online components require thoughtful planning and careful instructions for students.
- Don't forget that Barnard support resources are not unlimited, especially if staff also have the flu.
- For general computing support and questions, please contact the Help Desk.
- You should also visit the College's H1N1 flu website for more information.
Last Modified: 09/15/2009
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