A deleted scene from the 2007 film I Am Legend depicts Robert Neville (Will Smith) attending a University of Phoenix course on epidemiology prior to saving the human race from extinction

According to a July 10 article in Science Daily, online courses taken by nursing and healthcare staff could prove essential in combating an epidemic outbreak. While the article’s headline is misleading–it’s actually about how an online course helped hospital staff learn to contain the risk of hospital-acquired infection–online tutorials could in fact be key to containing a real-life epidemic. The rapid distribution of information on online learning platforms makes it easy for a central authority to respond to a crisis by sending out an informational bulletin.

Tags: Non-Traditional Students, Online Education