Well, I guess it goes without saying that it’s been 6 months like never before in all kinds of ways, including our reliance on technology! We were fortunate enough to be fairly well positioned for the sudden shift to online schooling, our high school was 1:1, the middle school had been talking about moving that way, and the majority of our staff were already pretty comfortable with all our Google and other online tools. Then it all got turned up to 11!
Since the start of this, we been through at least a couple of rounds of teacher training in all the tech used, and we’ve done a good job as a district of spreading out the (not limitless) tech resources so that pretty much everyone that needed something got it as we waited (and are still waiting in some cases) for more devices to be available. But we are now practically 1:1 across the entire district, with just some LRA and TEAM students using their own home devices.
Supporting the ramp up has been a strain, never before have so many people at once needed questions answered, things fixed, how-tos, problems solved, etc. We’ve needed whole new tools like easy online health and attendance attestations and new ways of generating attendance reports. We’ve brought our own in-house website online (still due to a theme make-over) and are in the process of digitizing KWRL timecard workflow. Things seem to be settling somewhat finally, although in the current climate there always seems to be something new to have to deal with!
Despite all the challenges and the wide scope of tech being used, I am impressed with how well things have gone overall across the district, how our teachers have met the new demands on them, and continue to teach, and everyone's resilience and willingness to make it work.