In An Era Of Digital Learning Days Your Kids’ Snow Day May Be Obsolete

One of the biggest stories of the past week involved a snowstorm. National Weather Service forecasts were adequate, from the perspective of most experts, to make decisions about school closing, but district St. Paul, Minnesota officials did not close school or adjust schedules. Students were stuck on buses for hours, and parents were not very happy. Oddly, this happened in a snowy part of the country. In the Atlanta suburbs, Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) rolled out “digital learning days” during its snow event. This is very different from your childhood in which the very whisper of snow potential brought a feeling of euphoria…….snow day, snow day, snow day. Are we entering an era in which “snow days” are obsolete?

The GCPS system is the largest in the state of Georgia and an innovator. It is a recipient of numerous awards including the 2010 and 2014 Broad Prize. According to a GCPS press release,

The $2 million Broad Prize is an annual award that honors the five large urban school districts that demonstrate the strongest student achievement and improvement while narrowing achievement gaps between income and ethnic groups.

I have two kids in the school system and have been continually impressed with its integrity, innovative spirit, and instructional approaches. Hurricane Irma was a part of an extraordinary 2017 hurricane season. Its remnants caused school closures in north Georgia as it moved inland. According to the Gwinnett Daily Post,

Gwinnett County had included three make up days in the scenario that school would be missed, however, those days have been used for the missed days in 2017……CEO J. Alvin Wilbanks said they would continue to have 180 days of instruction countywide.

This is where digital learning days come in. How do digital learning days work? The GCPS website lays it out:

• On the day that school has been canceled, teachers will post assignments on their eCLASS C&I course pages. (Times vary as a function of school level)
• Students will use the My eCLASS student portal to log in to their eCLASS course pages where they will access assignments, resources, and other materials…..If a student does not have access to a computer or device (tablet, smartphone, etc.), the student can get the assignment once school resumes.
• Student work will be expected to be turned in to the teacher (either digitally or in person), using a school’s process for turning in work following an absence. For example, if your school allows students to turn in work two days after a missed day the Digital Learning Day assignments would be due two days after classes resume…………..Teachers will share additional information with students about Digital Learning Days, including how they will support student learning during the day.

Dacula High School Principal Bryan Long’s students were given the option on two digital learning days in the fall of 2017 to come to school or complete assignments remotely. Only 13.3% of the students came to campus. More digital learning days are scheduled this spring, but recent snow days allowed the school system to roll out digital learning across the entire system.

Many local community proponents raved about digital learning days in the high school setting. However, preliminary reactions from parents and students in middle/elementary schools were mixed. Some of the discussions were actually pretty ugly at times, particularly in social media. Frankly, part of the angst was related to the typical reaction to something new. However, I think some points were valid as many parents were legitimately caught off guard. I have a middle school daughter that was pretty self-sufficient as long as the electronic e-class system was functional. GCPS officials seemed pleased with the technological performance. According to the Gwinnett Daily Post,

(CIO Frank Elmore) said the system had slow periods but never crashed. “We had about 155,000 people on the system at its peak and that put the server at 60 percent of its capacity,”

We experience “down time” so whether it was “slow” or “crashed” is semantics. The work could not get done. It is not surprising that there were technical challenges, but I suspect these test cases will provide valuable data. My elementary school son also navigated things rather smoothly. My family is socio-economically and educationally suited to assume these added responsibilities for a day or two, but I could not help but wonder about families in different circumstances. Some families may have both parents out of the home, and a K-5 grade student would likely need more guidance than a high school student.

Many residents also express concern about the digital divide. Liz Sultan lists the following data at the website DigitalResponsibility.org:

• According to the 2012 Pew Report “Digital Differences,” only 62% of people in households making less than $30,000 a year used the Internet, while in those making $50,000-74,999 that percentage jumped to 90.
• Only 49% of African Americans and 51% of Hispanics have high-speed internet at home, as compared with 66% of Caucasians. Internet speed has important effects on media access, especially when it comes to streaming video, so this gap is significant.
• In a Pew survey of teachers, teachers of low income students tended to report more obstacles to using educational technology effectively than their peers in more affluent schools.
• Fifty-four percent of all teachers said their students had adequate internet access at school, but only 18% said their students had adequate access at home.

GCPS’s Sloan Roach told WABE radio they know everyone does not have access to certain technology and in some cases smartphones can be used (assuming they have those). Another Atlanta-area county, Forsyth, also implements digital learning days. Forsyth also works with donors to provide technological resources because by its own estimates, roughly 10% of its 47,000 students may not be able to complete online assignments. GCPS tested this system for seven years so many of these issues and complaints were likely not unanticipated.

While the metrics clearly indicate some successes, it does not take a rocket scientist to understand why the school system and teachers are quite “bullish” on digital learning days. They provided more instructional days and reduce the number of added days or hours later in the semester. They also prepare students for an increasingly digital world. However, I cannot overlook that 13.3% of students chose not to take advantage of the Dacula High School test days. Even during the snow day, some rightfully praised the fact that a large number of students were able to access the system. However, a non-trivial percentage did not also. GCPS is a spectacular system so I know that it is working to understand these trends and the challenges faced by parents, particularly those with younger kids.

I am all for maximizing instruction so I am generally “net positive” on what GCPS is doing. However, I certainly resonate with parents and students that expressed concerns about unfairness, work load relative to a normal day, burden on kids without reliable parental support during work hours, or loss of nutrition and warm space for some disadvantaged students. Cherokee County is an affluent Atlanta suburb. Jory Seidel Cannon posted in social media,

I hope it’s (digital learning days) not something that Cherokee schools decide to do. Snow days are little gifts telling us to slow down, forget about errands, and to enjoy a day away from the outside world. Every study that I’ve read said that kids who get more time to play, more time to be creative and more down time with their families do better in school anyway. Why would we take away their opportunity to do just that?

Clayton County School Superintendent Dr. Morcease Beasley seemed to resonate with her. He tweeted, “No, we’re not going online today, we’re outside….We’ll do the online thing later. Enjoy the snow young people.” I hear you Dr. Beasley, but something tells me digital learning days are coming to a school system near you soon and are here to stay. Let’s fix them, make them equitable, and see what happens.