Instructional Alternatives for Classroom Contingency Planning
The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
As we face the possibility of high student absenteeism due to the H1N1 Virus, we want to be certain that all faculty members have access to ideas and tools so that you are able to maintain continuity of instruction in your courses. There are a variety of alternative technologies available for use by instructors to maintain the continuity of a class in the event of an emergency, including Blackboard, e- mailing, faculty web pages, social networking sites, online conferencing and chats, podcasts (e.g., audio recording of lectures for remote viewing), and Peoplesoft Faculty Center online resources. The optimal mix of components would depend on the nature of the instructor's course and the instructor's experience with, and interest in, these technologies.
Communicating the Strategy with Students
The first and most crucial step is to inform all of your students about your contingency plan as soon as you have created it. Ideally you would have this plan in place from the first day of class, but you may need to adapt your current plans after the semester has begun. Faculty may want to add the following statement to their syllabi (or announce in class or post to the Announcements section in Blackboard):
- In the event of disruption of normal classroom activities due to an H1N1 swine flu outbreak, the format for this course may be modified to enable completion of the course. In that event, you will be provided an addendum to this syllabus that will supersede this version.
Strategies for Addressing Absenteeism
Faculty should consider the following:
- Adding flexibility to class attendance policies to reduce the presence of H1N1-infected students in the classroom. See communications from Learner Success (Terry Webb), Wellness, and Safety (Cindi Rutten, Anna Marie Hoffman & Joshua Cotillier), and others for guidance.
- Loosening policies requiring medical documentation for absences
- Within a course or across courses, developing common solutions to makeup work/exams so that a faculty member doesn’t need to make separate arrangements for each sick student (ie a proctored makeup exam held in a large classroom or library instructional space)
- Identifying ‘instructional partners’ who can cover each other’s courses if needed
Social Distance-Ready Course Strategies
“Social distance teaching mode” refers to moving to a mode of teaching that is not face-to-face for a period of time. While the best solution may be to create a Blackboard site for your course, this does not mean converting all classes to online instruction. Quality online instruction requires many hours of training, design, and preparation. The goal of social distance instruction during a pandemic emergency should be to deliver essential courses and essential course content in a way that leads to continuity of instruction and progress towards degree completion.
Inexperienced Instructors
Instructors who are inexperienced in distance-learning technologies available at MATC should either seek assistance from colleagues in their departments or contact the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). The CETL staff members can provide assistance with the tools for teaching (such as Blackboard or audio/video needs) as well as instructional design consultation to help plan for changes to your course materials. Faculty can contact CETL at 246-6646 or CETL@matcmadison.edu.
To create a new Blackboard course:
From MATC Web Page select the Blackboard Log In page. There are three links on this page that can assist you as you begin.
- Find: Faculty Class Management (Process to create a new Bb class.)
- Find: Faculty Quick Start Guide (PDF file with simple instructions to using Bb)
- Find: Enhancing Your Course with Blackboard – course registration link to our self paced course in how to use Blackboard. (Recommended)
For further assistance in developing a new Blackboard course you can:
- Contact CETL to talk to a consultant at 246-6646 or CETL@matcmadison.edu
CETL staff will be available to consult with faculty for support.
- Connect with a Blackboard Mentor for personal assistance
Experienced Instructors
For those instructors who are more familiar with available technologies, there are suggestions below that you may find useful in adapting your course requirements, delivery mode, and/or course policies.
Consider what might be modified.
When considering the use of technology as part of a contingency plan, it is important to address both instructional matters (e.g., how to provide information and resources to students, communicate/conference with students, collect student work) and assessment-related matters (e.g., how will exams be administered in place of in-class exams that were previously planned, or how will grading be modified in light of changed requirements). Instructors might also find it helpful to not only describe how information will be shared with students in the event of an emergency, but to also provide a brief demonstration of technologies that could be used or a sample low-risk assessment using technology.
Some courses will lend themselves to a conversion to distance format more easily than other courses. For example, courses delivered entirely or partly online will be easier to modify than entirely face-to- face courses. Also, courses involving mainly lectures or seminars will be easier to modify than labs and more performance-based courses (e.g., studio art, theater/dance, music performance).