Technology is allowing teachers and students to keep working at home during the COVID-19 pandemic health crisis, but sometimes computers quit working.
Maybe it’s not the computer. Maybe the software won’t load, or you have an internet connectivity issue. Whatever the cause, technology can lead to frustrations.
Seymour Community School Corp.’s technology department has come up with a way to help families and employees who are having technical difficulties with eLearning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The district is implementing curbside tech support this week beginning this week. On Wednesdays, families can drop off their school-issued Chromebooks for repairs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the gym parking lot at the Seymour Middle School Sixth Grade Center, 1000 S. Poplar St.
“We are starting at just one location for right now,” said Brian Rodman, director of technology. “We do not have the staff at this point to be able to offer support at more buildings since we are trying to adhere to the governor’s request that we stay home.”
For the device to be fixed, families must drop it off in its case along with its charger.
“We will be trying to diagnose devices as quickly as possibly and either fixing them on the spot or replacing them with another device,” Rodman said.
Four staff members along with a translator will be available during the scheduled drop-off time. All employees will be screened by a school nurse before being allowed to work. Employees will be required to wear gloves and face masks.
The Chromebook and who is bringing it in will be documented to keep track of all the devices, Rodman said.
SCSC now has distributed close to 4,500 Chromebooks, he added.
The tech support service is not for Chromebook pickup. If a student still does not have a device for eLearning at home, families need to contact their child’s teacher to arrange pickup.
Students in fifth through 12th grades have been able to take the devices home for the past four years. Kindergarten through fourth grade had access to devices at school only until COVID-19 made it necessary for schools to implement eLearning this month. On March 23 and 24, school staff arranged for families without a device to pick them up at their child’s school.
Schools are slated to be closed through May 1, with eLearning days on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, but that could be extended through the end of the school year.
Rodman said he would like to continue to offer curbside tech support throughout the duration of the closing and will be evaluating how often it is needed and if more drop off sites should be added.
“We are starting to get requests of devices not working, so we wanted to come up with a way to help out our teachers and students,” Rodman said. “We did not want them to feel as though they were getting behind in their classwork.”
The corporation’s eLearning website, scsc.k12.in.us/elearning, constantly is being updated, he said.
Everyone is doing the best they can considering the circumstances, Rodman said.
“We believe our teachers are working hard, adapting very well and utilizing the technology in coming up with lessons and our students are trying to keep up with the workload,” he said.