Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Distance Learning Comes with a Learning Curve for Students, Parents, Teachers
gvw_nancy_price
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 4 years ago on
August 20, 2020

Share

Nearly all of Fresno County’s 208,000 students have been outfitted with internet access and laptops or tablets for their distance learning, Superintendent of Schools Jim Yovino said Wednesday.

But there are rural pockets where students haven’t been able to get online, which Yovino said “is a bigger concern to me.”

Students in Fresno County are on distance learning while their schools remain closed because of the county’s high rates of COVID-19 infection, so the start of the school year has been somewhat bumpy.

Connectivity continues to be an issue at Bullard High School, prompting the school to send out a voicemail to parents Wednesday morning noting that while the connection for some students is “robust,” for others it has been anything but.

And even when the signal is strong, the link between teacher and students may be less than ideal.

The father of one Gibson Elementary third-grader stayed home Wednesday morning to help his daughter on her first day of online instruction and watched the teacher struggle trying to switch her Microsoft Teams screen from a gallery view of the entire class to a close-up showing just her and her reading lesson, which remained postage-stamp sized on the screen.

Waiting in The Waiting Room

Fresno Unified parent Cherie Arambel reported that her “favorite” part of distance learning so far was when one of the students in her son’s class “was able to take control of the Teams classroom and the teacher spent a good 15-20 minutes trying to explain why they needed to relinquish control.”

A Clovis Unified parent noted that when she had to switch out her daughter’s device because of technical issues during a lesson, her daughter’s teacher didn’t realize she was trying to return to her virtual classroom and was stuck in the “waiting room.”

And some teachers never see their students at all. Sunnyside teacher Jon Bath tweeted Wednesday that Fresno Unified School District is recommending, but not requiring, that students keep their web cameras on.

Christine Miktarian Taylor, a State Center Community College District vice chancellor, tweeted in response that Clovis Unified is requiring cameras be on and suggested that teachers tell students they will be called on more often if their cameras are off.

Work in Progress

Fresno Teachers Association president Manuel Bonilla said the first few days of distance learning for Fresno Unified students, parents, and teachers have been downright Dickensian: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, depending on who you speak to.”

Bonilla said he expects that with district support and a rapid response, reported problems about technology, training, or devices can be rectified fairly quickly. And while the first few days of the school year have been somewhat rough for some, he said he expects the district will “hit its stride” by next week.

Everybody is on a learning curve, even school principals, he said.

Bonilla said one of his children’s schools in Sanger Unified had scheduled a virtual back-to-school night using an online platform. “But the principal didn’t realize that it maxes out at 100, and the school is like 750 students,” Bonilla said. “He had to pivot to Google Hangouts, which is 250 people.”

Clovis Unified Planned for Hiccups

In Clovis Unified School District, the first day was marred somewhat when the automatic password reset system had to itself be reset because of excessive submissions, spokeswoman Kelly Avants said Wednesday. But other than that, the helpline staff, which was boosted in expectation of more requests for assistance, has been able to keep up with requests for help, she said.

The district assumed that it might take some time for students, their families, and school staff to come up to speed on using technology and platforms for online learning, so time was built into the instruction schedule to accommodate that, she said.

And to keep unwanted participants from “Zoombombing” classes, the district has heightened security measures and given teachers more control over who enters their virtual classrooms, Avants said.

DON'T MISS

5 Reasons Early Voting Is Overwhelmed With Falsehoods

DON'T MISS

Christian McCaffrey Returns to Practice for the 49ers From Achilles Tendon Injury

DON'T MISS

California Sues LA Suburb for Temporary Ban of Homeless Shelters

DON'T MISS

You May Have Blocked Someone on X but Now They Can See Your Public Posts Anyway

DON'T MISS

Some Republican-Led States Refuse to Let Justice Department Monitors Into Polling Places

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Fatal NW Apartment Shooting

DON'T MISS

Fresno Murder Suspect Stopped in Las Vegas, Others Wanted

DON'T MISS

Trump’s Crowds Are Dwindling as His Campaign Winds Down

DON'T MISS

Trump Threatens 25% Tariff on Mexico to Curb Immigration

DON'T MISS

Music Legend Quincy Jones, Architect of Pop’s Greatest Hits, Dies at 91

UP NEXT

What Is Sierra Unified’s Plan to Boost Lagging Student Achievement?

UP NEXT

Visalia Rollerblader Suffered Major Injuries After Being Struck by Vehicle

UP NEXT

Fresno County Man Indicted for Possessing Stolen Guns

UP NEXT

Fresno Unified Schedules Community ‘Listening Sessions’ with Trustees

UP NEXT

Where Does Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer Stand on School Bonds?

UP NEXT

On Elon Musk’s X, Dems Are an Endangered Species While GOP Goes Viral

UP NEXT

College Application Deadlines Are Near. What You Need to Know.

UP NEXT

LGBTQ2+ Ally Honors Daughter with Planned Gift to Support Fresno State Students 

UP NEXT

New Vehicles, Face Paint and a 1,200-Foot Fall: The US Army Prepares for War With China

UP NEXT

CNN Bars Pro-Trump Guest After His ‘Beeper’ Remark to Mehdi Hasan

Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

You May Have Blocked Someone on X but Now They Can See Your Public Posts Anyway

52 mins ago

Some Republican-Led States Refuse to Let Justice Department Monitors Into Polling Places

57 mins ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Fatal NW Apartment Shooting

1 hour ago

Fresno Murder Suspect Stopped in Las Vegas, Others Wanted

2 hours ago

Trump’s Crowds Are Dwindling as His Campaign Winds Down

2 hours ago

Trump Threatens 25% Tariff on Mexico to Curb Immigration

3 hours ago

Music Legend Quincy Jones, Architect of Pop’s Greatest Hits, Dies at 91

3 hours ago

Big Pharma Backs Harris 6-to-1 Over Trump in Presidential Campaign Contributions

3 hours ago

Sanger Men Arrested in Connection with Slingshot Vandalism Spree at Businesses

3 hours ago

What Is Sierra Unified’s Plan to Boost Lagging Student Achievement?

4 hours ago

5 Reasons Early Voting Is Overwhelmed With Falsehoods

This year’s early voting period appears to be far more polluted with election misinformation than those in previous presidential races, acco...

26 mins ago

Voters cast their ballots at Desert Breeze Community Center in Las Vegas during the last day of in-person early voting in Nevada on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. Nearly 75 million people have cast early ballots, making their voices heard amid worry about the process, the outcome and democracy itself. (Bridget Bennett/The New York Times)
26 mins ago

5 Reasons Early Voting Is Overwhelmed With Falsehoods

34 mins ago

Christian McCaffrey Returns to Practice for the 49ers From Achilles Tendon Injury

38 mins ago

California Sues LA Suburb for Temporary Ban of Homeless Shelters

52 mins ago

You May Have Blocked Someone on X but Now They Can See Your Public Posts Anyway

58 mins ago

Some Republican-Led States Refuse to Let Justice Department Monitors Into Polling Places

Gerrick Franklin (pictured), 34, was taken into custody Sunday in Madera County on suspicion of killing Tyler Hamon, 33. (Fresno PD)
1 hour ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Fatal NW Apartment Shooting

2 hours ago

Fresno Murder Suspect Stopped in Las Vegas, Others Wanted

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, on stage during a campaign rally in Lititz, Pa., on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. Trump told supporters on Sunday that he “shouldn’t have left” the White House at the end of his term during an end-of-campaign rally where he vented angrily about a spate of new public polls showing him losing ground to Vice President Kamala Harris and joked about reporters being shot at. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
2 hours ago

Trump’s Crowds Are Dwindling as His Campaign Winds Down

Search

Send this to a friend