Cottrell says. Music and theater teachers conducted practices online and orchestrated performances for classmates and families. And a lot of them discovered improvements they’ll keep. Brunett found the document camera was a better way to demonstrate close drawing or sculpting than having 20 kids crowd around his desk. Some teachers mention liking their new confidence in looping a student in who has to miss school but could attend from home. And some recorded their lectures, so now anyone can review a missed class. “Because of the pandemic and having to reach out virtually, we discovered even more tools than we had in our vocabulary prior,” Brunett says. School administrations came fully into the 21st century, too. Online forms, it turns out, are an easier way to get parental permissions and signatures. And with online meetings, no more need to schlep from home or work or other schools for meetings. “Face-to-face is always best, but virtual meetings are convenient for parents and staff when time is limited,” says Principal Petitte. “It’s a more productive day for everyone.” Cottrell believes more confident and creative uses of digital technologies are in schools to stay. “Now that people have learned to do it, I think they like it,” he says. “And it makes sense. Ask anybody from practically 4 years old up about something, ‘Well, I’ll get on my phone and google it.’ That’s the way they learn anymore.” the biggest need And that highlights the main problem that was exposed by the necessity of teaching and learning online last year: Not everyone can get high-speed internet. It’s definitely a problem in the western part of the county, Cottrell says. “I had kids who do not have internet access—or if they do, it’s not strong enough for them to watch a video or to do something else they might need for their class.” Most people have DSL internet through Frontier, he says. The maximum download speed of 18 Mbps falls far short of broadband. Monongalia County Schools sent buses out as Wi- Fi hotspots, and Cottrell says that helped. “But still, you’ve got the issue of kids having to get to those places to do that.” He himself, because his satellite internet service slows down or cuts out during storms, worked at the school last year, even when he was the only one in the building. And it wasn’t just the western end of the county. Only 45 percent of households in Mon County use the internet at broadband speeds, according to Microsoft data published in March 2021 by The Verge. Families across the district, including in town, found their internet wasn’t enough when everyone was doing school and work from home. “Even after the return to in-person learning, much of what we do outside of the classroom related to learning requires that our students have access to broadband,” Campbell says. “In education, we call it ‘the homework gap.’ There are a lot of activities that our teachers do with students—homework assignments may get posted through Schoology, for example. That’s why we have it. It’s our communication platform. And that’s preK through 12, across 12,000 students.” It won’t be this school year, but relief may be in sight. In May, the Monongalia County Commission contracted with Ice Miller Whiteboard of Ohio to create a comprehensive broadband plan for the county. The plan is scheduled to be complete early next year. And thanks to $20 million in federal American Rescue Plan coronavirus recovery funds coming to the county, it may be possible to see the plan to fruition over the coming several years so our schools can take full advantage of the internet for the benefit of our students.
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