They're everywhere! We found the top ten virus and bacteria facts that teachers have to know (even if you don't want to).
1) Top spot for classroom viral presence: student desktop [1]
2) Top spot for bacteria presence: water fountain toggle [1]
3) Most germy job: teacher (Are we surprised?) [1]
4) Germs build up throughout the day. By the afternoon, 50% of classroom surfaces have the flu virus. [1]
5) Teacher illness-related absences average 5.3
days a year. [2]
6) 622 million school days are lost each year in the US due to the common cold. [3]
7) The cold season starts in late August and lasts until April. [3]
8) Forty percent of parents have sent a child to school sick. [4]
9) Seventy-four percent of teachers believe they have missed school because of illnesses picked up from their students. [5]
10) Germs can survive on surfaces for up to 72 hours! [1]
Sources: [1] Study by Charles P. Gerba, University of Arizona, 2005; [2] It's a Snap, Clean Hands Statistics, [3] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [4] June 2006 Clorox Survey, [5] 2005 Scholastic.com survey
As I watched the US primary election results on CNN, complete with
multi-finger touch-screen geographical displays, I began to think about
the health issues associated with various interactive technologies in
elementary schools. If a flat panel, touch-screen display was at the
front of the class, seems like it would be a great way for viruses to
propagate, unless teachers had to wipe down the touch-screen every time
a new student came up. Likewise, if the hand-held markers used by
commercial interactive whiteboard companies, or indeed by any
whiteboard, are shared by all students, there's another way for viruses
to propagate. If, on the other hand, a hand-held IR pen or whiteboard
marker was cheap enough so that all students could have their own, it
would go a long way to reducing a virus propagation mechanism...I think.
Am I way out in left field here? Does it make sense to evaluate
classroom technology in terms of health issues?
Just curious in Atlanta,
Daniel
--
Daniel Howard
President and CEO
Georgia Open Source Education Foundation