Flu-proof your course: Course continuity during a health crisis

Other resources

Trinity College of Arts and Sciences policies for Class Attendance and Missed Work

The Center for Instructional Technology offers assistance to instructors seeking ways to minimize course disruption if students or instructors miss class due to flu. We can provide workshops, office visits and one-on-one consultations around these topics, as well as the information below.

Planning ahead

Have a communication strategy; tell your students where to find course information.
Plan how you will stay in touch with your TAs and other instructional staff.
Post your syllabus online and update it with course changes frequently.
Have a clearly-stated course policy regarding make-ups and absences.

For more on planning ahead, see our blog post: Flu-proof your course: Planning your syllabus and class policies

Keeping the class going when you can't go

Lecture-based classes

Post documents and assignments online in place of lecture
Record the class lecture for students to view later
Narrate a slide show from home for students to listen to

Seminar class/discussion

Substitute Blackboard's discussion board or blog tool for class sessions
Use web conferencing to hold online real-time meetings
Telephone audio conference for small classes

Lab class

Locate virtual labs online for students to complete
Arrange alternate activities in place of the lab

For more see our blog posts: Flu-proof your course: Lecture sessions and Flu-proof your course: Discussion and student engagement

Distributing, collecting and grading assignments

Post assignment instructions and grades on the course website
Use the Blackboard Assignment feature to collect assignments electronically
Use online tools to comment, grade and return assignments
Use Wimba Voice tools or VoiceThread to comment orally on student work
Offer online quizzes, questionnaires or tests where appropriate

For more, see our blog post: Flu-proof your course: Assignments

Managing student meetings and group work

Offer students online tools for group work, such as the Blackboard groups tool, the Duke wiki tool, Google Docs, and others
Use instant messenger or video chat to communicate one-on-one (AIM, GoogleTalk, iChat, Skype, etc)
Hold online meetings, with shared visuals and audio, via Adobe Connect
Use the announcements page on Blackboard to tell students when you'll be available online, how to contact you, etc

Flu-proof your course: Course continuity during a health crisis

Planning ahead

Keeping the class going when you can't go

Distributing, collecting and grading assignments

Managing student meetings and group work

For more ideas and tips, please see our complete collection of blog posts: Flu-proof your course