Planning for the Unexpected

It is always good to have a backup plan (Plan B) when devising your face-to-face or online courses.  Whether it is hurricane season, a surprise snowstorm, or your learning management system that has crashed, things happen. Think about adding something like "Emergency Preparedness Instructions" to your syllabus.  Examples can include: possible assignment/tests date changes, possibility of altering meeting dates, how can the instructor and students contact each other (Facebook, phone, Blackboard), announcement, posting short Jing videos on content, etc.  It also is a good idea to get students's email address and phone number in a secure location besides Blackboard. One of the main things is communication with the students. The world is so connected and they will probably be concerned that this event/emergency will cause them to make a bad grade. Soothe their minds and yours by planning ahead for the event that might happen.