BHS’ new internet block has caused issues with teachers and their ability to conduct lessons. Some of the lesson plans used for teaching subjects require websites that are blocked from the school internet. This requires teachers to rework lesson plans and figure out new resources that benefit their lesson plan. Teachers could also request for the unblocking of certain resources if they needed them for lessons.
“Teachers send an email request to the tech department and copy me if they need websites unblocked for lessons,” said Dr. Neigel.
While there is a protocol for requesting the unblocking of websites, each request is a separate application for removing a block. After a time, the constant requests that have to be made can become a hassle for teachers.
Due to websites like YouTube being blocked for a time, Mrs. Snyder said, “I encountered a lot of issues during the year because videos that I incorporated into slideshows would suddenly not play while in the building.”
YouTube is used abundantly by many teachers and caused disruption when the site temporarily stopped working. “I do rely on [YouTube] heavily, it is a good resource so it was a annoying when the site didn’t work,” said Mr. Cameron.
Lessons that took previous prep periods to create were now suddenly malfunctioning, which was frustrating with all of that time wasted.
“It got frustrating after a while because we add videos to our lessons to make them more engaging and student centered, to provide a visual for students,” Said Mrs. Snyder, “To plan all these lessons that took hours and then suddenly have them not working…got frustrating after a while”
Many teachers realized issues only after trying to present to a class. This left the teacher shocked and unprepared for how to proceed with the class. “There’s only so many times you can feel like you have egg on your face before you stop sticking your neck out,” said Mrs. Snyder.
The unreliableness of the internet made some teachers feel as though they had to give up engaging lesson plans in order to proceed with the topic. Although for most classes, videos were not required to teach a lesson they were supplemental to student understanding and helped create a more engaging class period.
“Would imagine that a lot of teachers had to scrap or reinvent lessons in order to get the wanted points across,” said Mrs. Snyder.
Although technology was not a necessity for educating a class, some teachers devoted entire lessons to the usage of visual aids that came from videos and other websites. The current generation of children rely more heavily on technology, so teachers try to utilize certain websites to accommodate and aid their learning experience.
“Knowing how many prep periods I devoted…and when I pulled up that lesson and having none of those clips play, it was admittedly…devastating knowing the time that felt wasted in that moment,” said Mrs. Snyder.
The IT Department has worked vigorously in restoring the much needed resources that are beneficial to lessons.
“I’ve had to email [the tech department] a few times and they’ve been really to get back and help me with my problems,” said Mr. Cameron.
The problems have decreased drastically since the block originally occurred and sites such as YouTube have been accessible to teachers again. While there are still inconveniences due to the restraining technology, the issues have decreased notably over the past few months, especially with the tech department’s assistance in neutralizing the issues.
