This first thing I am about to say might seem odd. But, I have learned in life that things can always be worse. Because of that, when bad things happen, I like to think of what I am thankful for. It makes me feel better. In this current place that we find ourselves, I am thankful that a global pandemic waited to make a resurgence (from 1918) until 2020; and that while as a society we were not really prepared for it, I am thankful that we have technology on our side to make some things more manageable. In March of 2020, Target already had a drive up shopping system going, Peapod was gaining steam, and so was Grubhub. From a teacher’s perspective we would have been lost this past Spring without Skype, Zoom, Google Meet, and other video conferencing platforms. They made online teaching possible! Teachers were able to instruct groups of students virtually. This would have been an absolute nightmare if it is was 1997 and dial up internet was our main passport to logging online during a worldwide pandemic. I mean, could you have imagined that?! I am sure we would have thrown in the towel before the end of March. Being able to connect with students, colleagues and parents on Zoom has been such a wonderful experience during something so very trying. Technology platforms can be daunting because it often takes a significant chunk of time to learn all of the moving parts, yet elements often change due to upgrades or total product replacements. I get frustrated because I never seem to earn confidence in my techno logic abilities because once I seem to master something, it soon becomes obsolete. I have come to just accept that I will never be a master of technology but I still appreciate the fact that without it most of us would be lost.
7.5 Google Hangouts
My Two Cents by Kim Barndt 
I think you made some great points about how useful tools like these are in the craziness that 2020 has become. I do not think any kind of instruction would have really been possible without tools like Zoom (which was what our district used) along with Schoology. We were fortunate enough to have 1:1 for the kids, so they each had their own laptop at home with them. For schools that were not as fortunate, I really feel like they could have had a tough time coming up with a plan to keep teaching their students. Tools like these make connecting with one person or a group a breeze, and allows more options to connect with whatever everyone’s schedules may be.
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Kim,
School in the spring of 2020 certainly would not have been possible without these technologies, at least not in the same way. I’m sure we would have figured out something had the pandemic happened in 1997. Who knows what kind of ripple effects we will be dealing with now that we have been doing school entirely online that we may not have had to deal with if we didn’t have these technologies. With or without the technologies, there are always unintended consequences. Nevertheless, it certainly is nice to be able to connect with students, teachers, peers, etc. whenever and wherever. For example, we attended my grandfather’s funeral during the COVID shutdown. I was able to live stream the funeral on Zoom for my extended family who could not be there. Otherwise, they would not have be able to participate in the funeral.
Brandon
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Kim, first, I want to agree with you about how “fortunate” we are from an educational perspective that this pandemic happened in 2020 and not in the mid 1900’s! It is difficult to imagine how teachers and students would have communicated if we had not had instant meeting opportunities that Google Meetings and Skype and Zoom and other venues have provided for us. We are so fortunate in that respect.
Second, I’m glad that you and your classmates in this class were able to meet this week and chat. The chat seems to have been a success in that you were able to successfully experience the live chat benefits and possibly think of ways you can use it with your own students! Wonderful!
Becky
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