AaahChoo! Fighting the Flu at GWCS

With the onset of flu season and the H1N1 pandemic spreading quickly through local schools- teachers and students are struggling with lengthy absences. But, here at GWCS the days of being out sick while lesson plans and schoolwork pile up are numbered. Using distance learning technology, GWCS students and teachers can now telecommute to school while recovering from illness.

The students and staff at GWCS are so dedicated they have in the past come to school while ill. This year in an effort to minimize illnesses and still allow students and staff to participate, the school has implemented synchronous and asynchronous distance learning methods to keep germs, but not students out of the school.

All GWCS students and staff have a school-issued laptop and Skype accounts. Skype is a video conferencing program that allows users to listen to, see, and participate in classroom discussion. Using the teacher’s laptop with built-in webcam to broadcast to Skype, students stuck at home can see the whiteboard and the teacher and hear everything going on in class. If the student’s computer is equipped with a microphone they are even able to speak up in class. All GWCS seniors have tablet laptops which come equipped with webcams – so the class can actually see the student (along with their PJs and tissues) at home if desired.

Several students and teachers have already used the technology to participate in classes they would otherwise have missed. Debbie Lansford, the parent of a sophomore who was recently out sick has this to say, “He's able to sit in his bed and participate in class. It's very cool. He would be very stressed to feel like he was falling so far behind with his schoolwork."

In the near future, GWCS hopes to add shared desktops and multimedia interactions to their arsenal of flu-fighting, distance learning capabilities.