H1N1 flu may have two surprising symptoms: innovation and empathy. At least thatâ??s the hope of University of Michigan officials, who are encouraging faculty to make broader use of technology to help sick students keep up with class work.
As faculty create syllabuses for the coming semester, Michigan officials want them to consider the possibility of an outbreak infecting large numbers of students in the coming months. That means finding ways to work with students who may be absent for days by putting greater emphasis on distance learning tools like listservs, e-mail and Web-based teaching platforms. To that end, the universityâ??s Center for Research on Learning and Teaching has laid out a series of guidelines to help faculty prepare for what could be a challenging year of illness.