On the first day back from winter break, Broward schools struggle with tech issues
The first day back to school after winter break wasn’t an easy one for students and teachers in Broward County.
Tech issues blocked some from logging in to learn online. The problem persisted until mid-afternoon Monday.
“We believe the Districtwide internet access issue has been resolved,” Broward Schools said in a statement Monday afternoon. “Additional validation testing will continue throughout the evening.”
The districtwide internet connectivity issues are similar to what many experienced on the first day of school in August, when everyone was learning online because of the COVID-19 risk.
Some Twitter users on Monday morning were reporting that there school’s internet was down or that they could not access Canvas, the district’s online learning platform.
“Thank you Broward Schools internet for being down my teacher got logged out the meeting and never been back since,” one student tweeted Monday shortly before 9 a.m. Another student tweeted that the WiFi was down for all the teachers at her school.
“It’s so bad. We can’t do any lessons. My students cannot open word documents or even open Canvas to access my materials. I cannot log in attendance,” an English teacher wrote.
Samara Abrams, a mother of three, said her son’s fifth-grade teacher at Everglades Elementary in Weston jumped online using her cellphone to try and teach class without the district’s connectivity issues getting in the way.
“Ms. Steinberg from Everglades Elementary has gone above and beyond since last spring ... My son says the virtual classroom this year is even more engaging than the regular classroom,” Abrams told the Miami Herald in a Twitter message. “Her fix today was in line with how she always looks for the silver linings and does the best she can with whatever she is handling,”
Many had the same question:
“OK, so who crashed the @browardschools internet this morning?,” another user asked.
The districtwide connectivity issues are “intermittent,” Broward Schools told the Miami Herald Monday morning. The district said it notified families through robocalls, emails and the school district’s mobile app.
This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 10:19 AM.
