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H1N1/Swine Flu Preparedness Plan
As we prepare for a new academic year we also need to plan for an expected resurgence in cases of the H1N1 (Swine) Influenza virus this fall. All public health agencies are planning for an increase in flu cases, and we will stay in touch with these agencies as we strive to keep the Lesley community healthy through the flu season.
The expectation from the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and State agencies is that the H1N1 virus and seasonal flu will be spreading at the same time. We are working closely with local public health authorities and planning our University's response based on guidance from the CDC.
From all available information, it is very clear that the best defenses - both for yourself is those around you - is in taking precautions and getting good information. We urge everyone to log on to the Centers for Disease Control's website at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/
This year, we are asking faculty to:
- Help us reinforce safety precautions and prevention. Reminders about frequent hand washing and cough etiquette are helpful.
- Please insert the following text into course syllabi:
"All students should consult the Lesley University's website at http://lesley.edu/info/H1N1 for information on the University's response to H1N1 Influenza. Any student experiencing influenza symptoms should NOT attend classes or other events until at least 24 hours after fever has subsided without the use of medicine. Please contact the instructor to make arrangements for coursework to be completed at home; cohort students should inform their site coordinator of their absence."
- Prepare to deliver courses electronically. Please see the Guidelines for Faculty below.
- We urge you to follow these steps:
- Discuss these digital options with your director, chair or course mentor.
- Identify a colleague who teaches the same course and discuss opportunities for collaboration.
- Take part in professional development opportunities, on-line or on campus, to become proficient with these digital options (e.g. myLesley 101, a self-guided on-line tutorial). For a schedule of upcoming professional development opportunities offered through eLIS click here.
And, finally and most importantly, we urge you to take a moment to learn about H1N1 and best practices for keeping yourself safe. Please follow the same guidelines we expect of our students - particularly staying at home should you feel ill. Given the risks of the H1N1 virus, coming to work while sick is not evidence of personal strength, rather it cold jeopardize the health of your students and colleagues.
Guidelines for Faculty
Create a Plan
Taking some basic steps at the beginning of the semester or term will likely make your life easier if the flu or some other emergency situation prevents you from teaching part or all of your students.
- Have a communication strategy in case classes are canceled; tell your students where to find course information and how they can contact you and others in the class.
- Post your syllabus in myLesley. Include in the syllabus an explanation of how class will run if you are out, if there are a large number of students out, or if the University is temporarily closed. Leave some room in your schedule/syllabus for changes and modifications.
- Have a clearly-stated course policy regarding make-ups and absences that takes into account the special circumstances of a flu outbreak. Be prepared to respond to student requests to make up work; you'll want to have a plan that allows equity and is feasible if you have a large number of students who are out.
- Consider keeping a back-up copy of your core teaching materials on a USB stick or portable hard drive that you update regularly and keep with you.
- Check with colleagues teaching the same and similar courses to share course materials, syllabi, assignments, and other course content that exist electronically. Consider giving each other access to your myLesley site for a particular course, or setting up a dedicated myLesley community or a wiki where you can share electronic resources.
- Prepare: Learn more about web-based possibilities for teaching and learning so you can determine which ones will fit your courses best.
- Communicate with Students: Explore alternative methods for communicating with your students when you're not all in the classroom.
- Provide Content: Investigate digital options for providing students with new material.
- Collaborative Work: Review the variety of ways students can continue work together even when they are not in class together.
- Receiving and Returning Assignments: Don't wait until everyone is back in class to receive or return assignments; learn how using myLesley can enable you to do this.
- Resources: Check here for a listing of resources mentioned.
Prepare
- Become familiar with the features of myLesley - in particular how to post documents, the assignment feature (so students can submit work) and the discussion board to be able to continue communication with your classes.
- Determine which assigned readings can be linked or posted within your myLesley course site and create a folder to organize them. Consult with a librarian on available eBooks, on-line journals, and eReserves for your course
- Set up Skype on your computer and suggest that your students do the same. Skype allows you to make free calls over the internet to other people who use Skype. Several people can speak on the same call, so you can have small group discussions, hold office hours, or offer assistance to a group. It is free to download. http://www.skype.com/help/guides
- Investigate web-based tools and resources you can use if several students were absent or if school were canceled. If appropriate, contact eLIS for support and instruction. Then, experiment with using such tools under normal circumstances. Pick a day during the semester to conduct a class using available electronic tools. The following might be worth your consideration:
- Explore methods of presenting information on-line - Power Point with narration, podcasting (audio or video recording). Contact the eLIS office (elis@lesley.edu) to learn more.
- Explore methods of collaboration: wikis, Google docs, discussion board web-conferencing, Skype, VoiceThread.
- Explore the use of virtual labs or simulations.
Communicate with Students
Provide Content
- Make your lecture notes and/or handouts available on-line to the class by posting them in myLesley. You might create a folder to store them ahead of time.
- Create a way for students to share their class notes - a wiki or a discussion board forum would work for this
- Post a PowerPoint presentation. Consider adding narration or attaching an audio recording to enhance the presentation.
- Record 5 - 10 minute talks that highlight the key points or explain difficult topics.
- Record a 5 or 10 minute video to demonstrate new skills or techniques.
- Maximize the use of available electronic library resources in your course assignments, including electronic journals, on-line indexes and databases, etc. Are there research assignments in your course that can be completed using on-line sources? http://www.lesley.edu/mylesley/supportcontent/library/fac_stable_url.html
Collaborative Work
- myLesley has a "groups" feature that will create a space where students can work together with their own discussion board http://www.lesley.edu/elis/docs/groups31008.pdf
- The Discussion Board feature in myLesley provides a relatively easy way to hold discussions on-line. In addition to using this when classes are canceled, you might also use it to allow absent students to catch up on the class discussion - consider assigning the task of leading the discussion to a student.
- Wikis can be a good choice when you need to provide an on-line space for groups of students to collaborate. Some examples of wiki use include: creating an interactive glossary of terms, drafting content for group presentations and papers, developing an annotated bibliography, or posting papers for peer review and editing. "Wikis in Plain English" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY) is a quick video that will give you an understanding of how wikis work. PB Works http://www.pbworks.com is recommended by the eLIS office. Documentation for setting it up can be found at http://www.lesley.edu/elis/docs/wiki.pdf
- Use Google Docs http://docs.google.com to create, share, and edit documents, promote on-line peer-editing and collective problem solving. In addition to a tool for sharing text and images, Google Docs includes a tool for presentations and spreadsheets.
- Use a blog (Blogger) to have students reflect on readings or lectures, write journals, or respond to questions, and share them on the class blogs. http://www.educause.edu/eli/GuideToBlogging
- Web conferencing allows your and your students to meet synchronously (at the same time) on-line in order to discuss, share and collaborate. Each person is at his or her own computer using a web application to connect and interact. Participants can communicate with audio and text-based chat. Instructors or presenters can show PowerPoint presentations or share their desktop to show documents on their own computer. Dimdim is a relatively easy to use tool. http://www.dimdim.com/documents/dimdim_User_Guide.pdf
Receiving and Returning Assignments
- Post assignment instructions in your syllabus so you are prepared for students who may miss class. You can also post them within myLesley using the Assignment feature. http://www.lesley.edu/elis/docs/add_assignment.pdf
- You can also use the Assignment feature in myLesley to collect and return assignments. http://www.lesley.edu/elis/docs/assign_grade.pdf
- Consider alternate methods of providing feedback - use short audio recordings to talk students through their revisions or edits or use the commenting and track changes
Resources
- eLearning and Instructional Support (eLIS) provides a variety of training both on campus and on-line. Check out the latest offerings at http://www.lesley.edu/elis/programs.html. Of particular interest might be the workshops on Intro to myLesley September 16 and 25 and the self-paced tutorial on myLesley. To enroll contact elis@lesley.edu.
- The website for eLIS contains a variety of resources to assist you in using a wide variety of technology http://www.lesley.edu/elis/resources.html;
- Atomic Learning is an on-line training resource for faculty, staff and students. Atomic Learning provides short, easy-to-view web-based tutorials on over 110 of the most commonly used software applications, such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite, PBWorks, Flickr, Blogger, Blackboard and many more. Atomic Learning is available through myLesley. You can access this by logging in to and clicking on the myServices tab where you'll find a link to access the tutorials.
- The eLearning Faculty Resource Center (eLFRC) is an on-line community in myLesley designed to facilitate conversations between experienced and novice faculty wishing to share ideas, access resources and view effective practices in on-line/hybrid/web-enhanced learning. There are several resources dedicated to helping you identify a web-based tool that is appropriate for your teaching. Within eLFRC, you can also find a self-paced tutorial on using wikis and another on using blogs; there are resources on using PowerPoint and VoiceThread. There is an active discussion board for faculty who want to share resources or seek assistance. To enroll, contact elis@lesley.edu
For assistance in using any of the tools below, feel free to contact eLIS at elis@lesley.edu
updated 09/17/09 | 10:45 AM
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