A rocky start for Seminole County Public Schools on first day of distance learning
Technical troubles with virtual learning
One Central Florida mother spoke about technical issues and adjustments in the home on the first day of virtual learning. She recommends all parents create structure in the home.
LAKE MARY, Fla. - Seminole County Public Schools was hit with technical issues on the first day of at-home learning.
The coronavirus forced schools to shut down, meaning parents had to transition to distance learning at home.
Amy Jennings is one of many parents at SCPS who had trouble logging on Monday.
“I think when a website goes from being used a little to being used by everyone, that’s to be expected,” she said.
The district sent this message to parents:
“Seminole County Public Schools (SCPS) is aware of some authentication issues into our portal this morning. Resources were increased with Microsoft over the weekend to handle 100,000 users. The SCPS Information Services Team is currently adding additional resources in our Microsoft cloud to alleviate the issue that some users are experiencing. Some of these issues are already starting to decrease. If you or your child is having trouble logging into the browser, please continue, as this issue should be resolved later today. In addition, we’re also getting reports that Canvas isn’t working for some users. We’re contacting the company to find out what they’re doing on their end to resolve the issue. As always, thank you for your understanding and patience!”
Jennings has two kids who go to Lake Mary Elementary School.
She’s juggling work as the family’s home turns into a classroom.
“The schedule for us is determined really by my work hours,” she said.
“So, we schedule every half hour. They might be doing their math, or their science, or going outside for their P.E.”
Parents, like Harvey and Samantha Ware, said it’s been hard to avoid distraction.
“Any little noise that comes along, it’ll throw them off, but they’re learning to adapt to the noise They’re learning to adapt to the new form of school,” Harvey Ware said.
The couple admits it’s been a learning experience.
“It’s a bit overwhelming. It is a bit harder than I thought, Ware said. "My wife is phenomenal. She’s the one that’s really the strong-willed and easy-going person when it comes to doing this."
They said it’s about patience and taking it a day at a time.
“Just try to be as understanding to your child as you can be, because it is a new way of learning. We got to go a day at a time. That's the best thing I can really say,” Ware said.
The district handed out hundreds of laptops to families who needed them last week.