Today’s ‘Anti Virus’ Network
Posted on November 30, 2009 by Barbara Macaulay
An interesting ‘Advice” article by Thomas H. Benton appeared in today’s Chronicle of Higher Education titled “Teaching in the Plague Year”; the title alone caught my attention immediately. The term “plague” actually is in reference to the norovirus that swept across many college campuses last year but needless to say, Benton draws parallels to this year’s concerns with the H1N1 flu, something he himself suffered this year.
Among the many excellent points that Benton makes with respect to keeping things going on a campus during times of crisis, is that …it was impressive the way our students created their own information network from the beginning to the end of the outbreak. Obviously, accuracy is critical in this network, but campuses can do much to ensure truthful information flow while at the same time making use of the natural electronic networks students use.
Of even more interest to me is the way in which Benton built the case for technology supported course delivery. He says that every course at our college now has a presence in our online course-management system—along with on-call tech support—so that students and faculty members can remain in contact outside of the classroom with greater ease than exchanging e-mail messages. Preparing students and faculty to be proficient in the use of online tools and strategies is an obvious underpinning to making this work but he feels the investment would allow campuses to proceed with the business of teaching and learning when under duress of some kind. Moodle tutorials may become the 21st-century equivalent of fire drills.
Interesting thoughts—what are yours?
Tags: Emerging Technology, Online LearningPermalink | Trackback |
Print This Post
- 10th Consecutive Year of Growth in Online Learning Reported by UMassOnline
- 25-Year College Professor of Philosophy Describes 1st Year Teaching Online
- Thank You for Our Continued Growth
- Academic Technology Expert Mark Schlesinger Previews UMass’ Instructional Technology Conference
- Insightful Reasons Why This is a Good Time of Year for Job Seeking Recent Grads
Comments
Share your comment:
Review our comment policy
|
|
Explore UMassOnline
Millions of minds. Thousands of Possibilities. Endless Opportunity. Learn how global students are woven together by a common thread, a quality education. Click here to watch the UMassOnline One World Class video.
