Thursday, February 14, 2019

Midwest instructors move classes online during polar vortex - Natalie Schwartz, Education Dive

When a polar vortex swept through the Midwest last week and triggered wind chills as low as 66 degrees below zero, University of Michigan professor Perry Samson thought it was too good of a teaching opportunity to pass up. Samson, an atmospheric sciences professor, teaches a course called "extreme weather." In it, he covers topics such as hurricanes, tornadoes and lightning, as well as how a changing climate can alter the frequency and intensity of such events. The week the polar vortex hit, he was scheduled to lecture about heat waves. Inaccurate student data can have major consequences for credit reporting for not only your organization, but also your students. Get up to speed on new standards and how to meet them with this playbook. Even if students were willing to chance frostbite in the record-breaking cold to get to his class, the university had made the rare call to close the campus. So instead, Samson took the class online. Other instructors at closed campuses across the Midwest kept their students on track through the deep freeze by bringing their classes online. https://www.educationdive.com/news/midwest-instructors-move-classes-online-during-polar-vortex/547526/