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A Frustratingly Ranty Day
Technology is a wonderful thing… Assuming it works. If/when it doesn’t…
When I started teaching technology was an overhead projector and whiteboard and a photocopier; replacements to the outmoded chalk board and bander machine of my youth.
Now we have computers, interactive screens, and all manner of technology.
All of which require that voodoo called electricity. And of course, during the apocalypse, Internet: A phenomenon reliant on a mythical beast… Bandwidth.
I do not presume to understand this mysterious force. I had bandwidth for two zoom calls. But no bandwidth to open a document attached to an email. Bandwidth to contact the virtual server and access the mystery that is Sims but not enough to upload a video to Teams.
It was at this point, I missed the good old days. The teacher bringing in the bander copied work for us to sniff and go “Ahh”, as we sank into a mini high caused by the ink. The ability to write an instruction on the board: with a physical pen.
But today I found I missed something else: the ability to walk away/multi-task. My zoom meetings took 3 hours of my life where I was unable to do anything else. I daren’t move incase I lost bandwidth or the computer charger cable stopped bringing electricity to my computer. (Long story!)
I ended up with a sore bum, a raging thirst and a crick in a hip – thanks to ancient cat joining me.
Uploading my lessons to Teams and its lower school precursor Show My Homework, took bandwidth… meaning I couldn’t research bits for later, or pop to ebay for chemical blue for the boat. Dinner at this point was in the slow cooker.
I went to phone a parent. It took 12 attempts to have a ten minute chat.
When things and I calmed down, I opened the little piece of software I use for recording voice over on PowerPoint… Only to find that at some point during the day my mic drivers went out of date and stopped working.
At that point, I took the dog for a walk.
More than a Cat 