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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

NORTH WOODS SCHOOL

Tech issues snarl distance learning debut

Most operations going according to plan, says superintendent

David Colburn
Posted 4/2/20

FIELD TWP- Everything in their control was set Friday for teachers, staff, students and parents of North Woods School to begin implementing distance learning as part of the state’s plan to …

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NORTH WOODS SCHOOL

Tech issues snarl distance learning debut

Most operations going according to plan, says superintendent

Posted

FIELD TWP- Everything in their control was set Friday for teachers, staff, students and parents of North Woods School to begin implementing distance learning as part of the state’s plan to contain the new coronavirus.
What wasn’t in their control, however, were the online learning platforms that are integral to ISD 2142’s plan, and it didn’t take long for issues to crop up Monday.
Three of the four learning platforms – Schoology, Bloomz, and SeeSaw – reported problems related to system access and content delivery as Minnesota students joined in with thousands more from around the country, all trying to use the same resources at the same time.
“We heard from several staff members that they were finding issues with those sites due to the fact that almost every kid in the state was trying to log in at the same time,” North Woods Principal John Vukmanich said.
Schoology posted a message at 9:27 a.m. informing users of “degraded service” and “intermittent load errors” that negatively affected messaging, document conversions, and content accessibility. While the issue was reportedly corrected within an hour, additional error updates were posted late into the afternoon as the system worked to “catch up on earlier delays.”
Errors started popping up on SeeSaw around 10:30 a.m., affecting students in elementary grades, but they were resolved an hour later. No specific information about errors was available on the Bloomz website.
While students and parents likely experienced temporary difficulties, Vukmanich said he didn’t get any phone calls from frustrated parents, and that was by design. In the district’s plan, which emphasizes maintaining relationships with students and families, teachers are the primary contacts for parents as they help children use online resources.
“Every parent was sent a letter from their school with the contact information for each teacher,” Superintendent Reggie Engebritson said. “If parents have questions, they can reach out to their child’s teacher for assistance. Teachers know they may need to be available in the evening hours for parents who are working during the day.”
Since the issues were with the online providers, they weren’t isolated to North Woods. Engebritson said staff were ready with alternatives to suggest.
“We told students and parents to be patient, that we knew there were a lot of people around the state trying to get into programs; if they couldn’t get on they could do something else, like read a book, go for a walk, do something with the family,” Engebritson said.
Students who don’t have internet access are receiving education at home by way of educational packets with activities and homework put together by their teachers. Monday was the day teams of bus drivers, paraprofessionals, teachers, secretaries, and kitchen staff came together to orchestrate delivery of both packets and meal packs containing breakfasts and lunches.
“We basically turned our commons area into our logistics center,” Vukmanich said. “We started working on that model last Monday. It went off really, really well, pretty close to the plan we had in place. I was very impressed with how everyone worked together in something they’ve never done before.”
North Woods also has one classroom providing child care for children of healthcare workers and emergency responders. A paraprofessional supervising the room provided support to students as they used classroom computers to access their learning modules, Vukmanich said.
The school is also collaborating with Nett Lake School in certain areas, since many North Woods students live in and around Nett Lake.
“They actually transport kids to us using one of their buses,” Vukmanich said. “He was taking materials back to Nett Lake for our North Woods students who are there.”
The Bois Forte Band has created internet hotspots that are accessible to students outside of the tribal government building, the health care building, the school, and the tribal courthouse, Vukmanich said.
Engebritson said she was pleased overall with the transition to distance learning, and emphasized the need to maintain good relationships with students and parents to make the model successful.
“Staff have been very positive, and I think we have said it enough times that the focus is on the relationship with the child and the family and with each other,” she said. “If we stay connected to our kids and our families and to each other, we can’t do this wrong. It’s about who we are teaching before we think about what we are teaching.”