TEXAS, USA — With the move to online learning in the districts around the Basin, technological issues follow for those students and teachers.
It's standard to have those types of problems when using laptops, tablets, and hot spots.
ECISD and MISD have experienced that first-hand logging hundreds of calls per day.
In ECISD's first week of school, its helpline is averaging 600 calls per day.
"I think right now, just initially, it’s getting connected. So it’s student logins, it’s getting students into their accounts that we have in ECISD, it’s getting students connected with their learning platforms that teachers are using," Lauren Tavarez, ECISD's Director of Instructional Technology said.
Having help desks or IT departments take your devices in for repairs isn't uncommon either. However, students won't be without a device for school if that happens.
"We call that a hot-swap. We just take their device since everything is in the cloud. We take the device, give them a loaner, repair the device and then swap it back out and sometimes there’s not even a reason to swap out again," Kellie Wilks, ECISD's Chief Technology Officer said.
In MISD, one of the issues that families are dealing with includes long wait times when calling the helpline.
"I know there were some issues with call volume and having to wait for a while. Parents should know that we have added additional people to help man that hotline, and we have also increased the hours that it’s open," MISD Chief Communications Officer, Elana Ladd said.
MISD doesn't only have the helpline either. There are several different ways for students, families, and teachers to get assistance with their devices.
"There is also a technology email address parents can email for assistance and that is techhelp@midlandisd.net. The other piece is contacting their campus and there are counselors, their principles are there and they are another source of help that is available," Ladd said
ECISD and MISD are still trying to work through any kinks as the first week of school comes to a close. They do know they need to keep improving on this because tech usage in school isn't going away anytime soon.