Local teachers face technical challenges as schools ​shift ​to online

By Luke Diamond

Teachers at Ridgeline High School are working to ​adapt their teaching and ​overcome technical obstacles after the Cache County School District administration closed public schools last week due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“The teachers have never been forced to do something like this,” said Jim Crosby, the assistant principal at Ridgeline. “It is difficult, especially for the older ones.”

Teachers have been asked not to teach from their classrooms but rather to work from home using a variety of online platforms such as Zoom and Canvas.

Some teachers had opportunities last year to begin implementing more online resources to their teaching styles.

“The ones who made the transition are definitely profiting from it now,” said Gordon Allred, a teacher at Ridgeline.

However, many teachers who are not familiar with technology have struggled.

“I am a millennial and grew up with the internet,” said Nicholas Redmon, a teacher at Ridgeline. “That has made the transition easy for me. However, I have helped so many of my older colleagues figure out minor errors.”

Common ​​challenges include difficulty uploading assignments, remembering to save changes on assignments and tests​, and formatting documents correctly.

“It takes two to three times longer to create the same piece and it doesn’t go as well. It’s not the fault of the program. It’s just the familiarity,” Allred said. “Boy, I’ll forget to push save for an update on a change of questions and I’ll lose the questions.”

De​spite the difficulties of the transition, Allred is optimistic about the potential benefits of learning how to teach online.

“We can draw a benefit out of this,” Allred said. “It is helping us adapt to the modern online world.”