Online learning system goes haywire for pupils
Conn. district hit with ransomware attempt
HOUSTON — Students across the U.S. ran into computer glitches Tuesday as they began the school year with online instruction at home because of the coronavirus, adding to the list of problems that have thrust many a harried parent into the role of teacher’s aide and tech support person.
The online learning platform Blackboard, which provides technology for 70 of the nation’s 100 biggest districts and serves more than 20 million U.S. students from kindergarten through 12th grade, reported that websites were failing to load or were loading slowly, and users were unable to register on the first day of school.
Three of Texas’ largest districts — Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth — were hit with technical problems, as were school systems in places such as Idaho and Kansas. A ransomware attack forced schools in Hartford, Connecticut, to postpone Tuesday’s start of virtual and in-person classes.
Elsewhere across the country, Seattle’s system crashed last week. An online learning program used in Alabama and other places recently went down. And North Carolina’s platform crashed on the first day of classes last month.
Amanda Mills’ 8-year-old son, Rowan, woke up excited to start his first day of third grade, even though it was online through Idaho’s largest school district, based in the town of Meridian, just outside Boise. But they ran into trouble even after practicing logging in smoothly on Monday.
“Whatever happens, we’ll figure it out and we’ll make it work however we can and rely on the patience of those teachers who are up against their own obstacles,” Mills said. “It’s a weird, wild world right now.”
Summer break gave school districts time to iron out kinks that cropped up when the virus forced them to switch to online classes in the spring. But the new school year already has been plagued by some of the same problems, with no end in sight to the outbreak.
In other developments:
Gov. Gavin Newsom relaxed coronavirus restrictions in five more counties on Tuesday, clearing the way for restaurants, movie theaters, gyms and churches to resume indoor activities with fewer people and other modifications. The change applies to Amador, Orange, Placer, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. Newsom said seven other counties are being considered for an upgrade.
■ A central Florida high school is shutting its doors for two weeks after it had six confirmed cases and one suspected case of the coronavirus, and health officials said more than a dozen students who attend the high school had been at a birthday party together. Officials at Orange County Public Schools said over the weekend that Olympia High School’s campus will be closed to students until Sept. 21 and all students will take online classes.
■ Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said it’s “unfortunate” that the coronavirus pandemic broke out during an election year, adding that the upcoming election has made conversations about the virus overly political. Reeves said he believes that President Donald Trump has gone above and beyond in his response, especially in his efforts to make sure a vaccine will be readily available to Americans.