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Re: [school-discuss] health issues coupled with interactive classroom display technology



On Tue, 2008-01-08 at 19:13 -0800, Marilyn Hagle wrote:
> Daniel,
> 
> I enjoyed reading this as well.  I have already used up all of my sick days for
> the year and just went to the doc to get antibiotics after school tonight.
> 
> I use hand sanitizer like crazy - after every time I touch a kidś keyboard.
>  Apparently it is not enough!
> 
> Would it damage keyboards to spray them with Lysol?

In time, yes. The aerosols will eventually ruin the keyboard. For the
totally germ paranoid (no offense intended) use a double layer of paper
towels _dampened_ (not dripping!) with a commercial cleaner like Lysol
and lay over the upper surface of the _disconnected_ keyboard for 5-10
minutes and then remove with a solid wiping action taking care to not
shred the toweling into the keyboard.

Avoid products with bleaching agents like Clorox and peroxides as these
will remove the key labels since most just inked on instead of
press-formed.
> 
> 
> Marilyn
> 
> 
> 
> Quoting Tyson Gray <tysongray@xxxxxxxxx>:
> 
> > Daniel,
> > 
> > Since I'm allergic to just about everything on this planet, I'm a germ freak
> > in a way and could relate to your inquiries.  Reading your post made me
> > laugh a little (no offense).  I found this article that might be of some
> > interest about germs in the classroom.
> > 
> > *http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=8133*
> > **
> > *Classroom Germs*
> > 
> > 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
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > On 1/8/08, Daniel Howard <dhhoward@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > >
> > > 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
> > >
> > 
> 
> 
> :)
> 
-- 
James P. Kinney III          
CEO & Director of Engineering 
Local Net Solutions,LLC        
770-493-8244                    
http://www.localnetsolutions.com

GPG ID: 829C6CA7 James P. Kinney III (M.S. Physics)
<jkinney@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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