FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A high-tech glitch disrupted classes for Broward County students who returned to online learning on Monday.
Many students could not log on for classes on their first day back to virtual schooling after winter break.
“I heard quite early this morning that a couple of students were chiming in saying, ‘Hey, I don’t have Internet. Have you heard about any other schools?'” said Broward Teachers Union President Ana Fusco. “And 20, 30 text messages were coming through, and I realized it was throughout the county.”
“It was difficult, it was frustrating,” said Melissa Negri, a K-5 ESE teacher at West Hollywood Elementary School. “We were there today, and we were all ready to start the second, third quarter, and we couldn’t. Our hands were tied, there was nothing we could do.”
The district reported intermittent internet access issues. They said they do not know how long the issues with the internet will last.
“I gave a call to the tech people. They were aware of it, they were working on it,” Fusco said. “Something with a firewall was happening, you know, a lot of little pieces, but it wasn’t just with the schools, it was through all of Broward County Public Schools, in all the business offices and KCW. They were all affected by this internet down.”
Teachers on campus could only teach to the students in their classrooms and couldn’t instruct those still at home.
“They couldn’t communicate because you use the internet to access Teams, and you need your internet to access Canvas,” Fusco said, “so that did put a lot of stress on the teachers that are actually physically on campuses, but the good news is that the teachers that are able to work remote from home still had the internet in their own homes and they did reach their students. Glitches happen. I think the key that would’ve been earlier this morning the communication to the parents and to the teachers because I think they did not communicate with the teachers, they only communicated with the parents of the internet problem, so I think when you communicate with these people a little bit more understanding there is a no, that there is a solution coming forward.”
The Broward County School Board said the glitch has been fixed, and the remote learning platform should be fully functional again on Tuesday.
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