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(A shortcut to this page is http://bit.ly/LSAFlu)

Over the past several weeks you have received information from the Provost’s Office and the College on preparation for possible student/instructor absences due to H1N1 flu.   In order to provide LSA faculty and departmental support staff with a variety of options to maintain instruction and distribution of materials if, and, when students are ill and absent, LSA Instructional  Support Services (LSA ISS) has compiled a number of resources and suggestions to assist you.  Our list of recommendations and tips will be updated frequently as we identify additional resources. 

Teaching Through the Flu Preparation

ISS, in partnership with the Language Resource Center, is pleased to work with faculty and support staff to consider how the various technology-based solutions recommended in this web guide (http://bit.ly/LSAFlu) can be used to mitigate flu-based absences.  We offer the following options for discussion on integrating these tools into instruction and training for how to use them:

• One-on-one consulting sessions.  A consultant will meet with you individually to identify what technology can best serve you, your content and your students.  To ensure that a consultant is available to work with you, appointments are preferred, but walk-ins are always welcome.
• Workshops scheduled for your department or with a particular teaching cohort.  We are happy to provide hands-on workshops or demonstration sessions for your group.
• Drop-in sessions scheduled in your department. We can come to your department library or lounge at scheduled periods of time, to be available for drop-in sessions close to faculty offices.
• Enhanced how-to's online.  Over the next few weeks we will be adding screencasts or podcasts that describe how to use some of the options we recommend.  If someone else has created a useful how-to, we will link to it, and if not, we will create and post our own
• Teaching with Technology Collaborative (TTC) workshops.  There are many workshop options available on campus through the TTC, the group that brings you the Enriching Scholarship series in May each year.  Check out what is on the schedule by following this link to the TTC upcoming sessions. 

If you are not sure what option will best suit your needs and schedule, or, to schedule a consultation or workshop contact us at:

lsa-iss-TeachingThroughTheFlu@umich.edu

734-615-0100

Some questions to consider before you begin:

What is your classroom?  Is it staffed by an ISS field technician?

What type of class session is it?  lecture? discussion? seminar? lab demonstration?

What do you want students to be able to do? 

How comfortable are you with technology? 

Do you want to...?

Record lecture content and post as a podcast or other media

There may be times that your students (or you!) are advised to wait until they are fever-free for 24 hours before returning to class, but are well enough to keep pace with class activities.  A digital recording of your lecture, whether it is audio-only or includes the projected content from the class, can enable your students to stay on track.  There are two aspects to this process--how to make the recording, and where to post it so your students can see it.

Chat and collaborate

Synchronous tools such as TinyChat, CTools Chat, or GoogleDocs enable multiple participants to be working and communicating with each other via computer from different locations but at the same time.

Asynchronous tools such as PBWiki, Blogger or a collaborative Sitemaker site enable users to post content from different locations and at different times.  Such tools typically have a comment function and can be restricted to only the members of a course, thus preserving the student-student and student-teacher relationship of the classroom.

 Facilitate file sharing for review or collaboration

Give tests or quizzes online

Without being able to see your students, you cannot be certain who is taking the test or quiz.  Putting your test or quiz content in an environment that requires Kerberos authentication such as CTools Tests and Quizzes, UM.Lessons or Sitemaker enables some confidence that the work submitted is the student's.

Deliver a lecture live over the Internet