August 23rd, 2009
If we're "ground zero" for H1N1, how can tech help?
Not long ago, as H1N1 (or “swine flu”) really began making headlines with school closings, I wrote a post asking if “Universal Cloud Computing” was the answer to H1N1. It was more of a rhetorical question than anything, but the hope is certainly that cloud tools can keep students engaged in case of long-term school closures or illnesses.
Earlier, I had suggested that schools could play an important role as clearinghouses of information for the community. As I noted in April,
Schools, particularly primary and secondary institutions, are seen as important community resources, sources of information, and have easy communication vehicles with many members of the community. While kids’ backpacks are a fine way of getting information to a large subset of people in a town or city (and have certainly been the traditional means of schools communicating with parents), schools increasingly have a substantial web presence that they can also use.
Today, I stumbled across an article that took this a step further, calling school “ground zero for swine flu.” While the language in the Gainesville Sun is a bit sensational, the idea that schools are at the forefront of what promises to be a tough flu season is hardly novel.
In fact, it begs the question, what else can we do, with our host of potential communication tools and relatively captive audience? Many of us have implemented automated calling systems, making it easy to reach out to parents quickly and efficiently. The obvious choices of websites, Twitter, and our student information systems (many of which have a parent portal) are also available.
What I’d like to know is what plans your districts or campuses have for using tech to deal with a potentially large flu outbreak this winter. This is nothing doom and gloom or sensational; we know that swine flu is relatively mild (at least in its current form) but that the possibility exists for considerable illness because of multiple flu strains. Share your innovative plans or ways in which you plan to mitigate the effects of extended absences with technology this year.
Follow Chris Dawson on Twitter! Christopher Dawson is the technology director for the Athol-Royalston School District in northern Massachusetts and a member of the Internet Press Guild. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations, but always keep in mind that the opinions expressed here are his own and not those of his daytime employer, even if he talks incessantly about his day job.
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