Some Colorado Students Face Some Hiccups As They Learn Remotely
DENVER, (CBS4) - The switch to remote learning hasn't been totally smooth for all Colorado students. Some are battling poor internet connections, and others are experiencing problems with a popular program some school districts are using. At the Lazarof household, the recent switch to remote learning hasn't gone exactly according to plan.
On Wednesday, 11-year olds Bodhi and Maitri's class, now accessible through Schoology, was temporarily unavailable because of a service interruption. The twins told CBS4 it wasn't the first time this week there had been an issue.
"It's almost completely broken half of the time," said Bodhi.
"Usually about two times every day. It's been down the entire day so far, actually," added Maitri.
Schoology is the usually convenient remote learning platform the twins' school uses for class right now. Other Colorado districts use the platform as well, to varying degrees.
In a blog post added to the company's website Tuesday, it reported a "400% increase in usage of the platform over our largest peak at any time in our 10-year history." According to the post, the increased usage "put a strain on the software and resulted in some service interruptions."
"We've received reports that some customers using Schoology have been experiencing performance issues for a short time today due to increased usage. We apologize for the inconvenience and can report that the site is now functioning normally," a company spokesperson said via email Wednesday.
The Lazarofs say the Schoology hiccups, combined with their spotty internet connection, created a frustrating learning situation for the twins and their older sister.
"It's been overall pretty annoying, but my teachers have made it much better than it could have been with their hard work and creativity," said Bodhi.
From that creativity came the opportunity of experience-based learning, which father, Joshua Lazarof, calls service learning. When not in class, Bodhi is using her communication skills to raise awareness for groups making medical face masks, and Maitri is learning history and science by making a World War II-style victory garden.
"So we've been studying soil pH and also how to grow a garden," said Maitri.
It's not the original plan, but Joshua Lazarof says the teachers are understanding and even working with the kids on earning credit for the projects.
"What I'm hoping that they learn is how to be spect-actors [sic] instead of spectators," said Joshua. "I want them to watch the world with the intent to do something and not just watch the world, in this case, falling apart, and not do anything about it."
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