Photo by Deb Gau Making the switch to distance learning over the past year was a big undertaking for area schools. Karen Londgren, Nick Esping and Kent Powell of the Marshall Public Schools technology department were among the team helping Marshall students and families work with distance learning tools

The start of the COVID-19 pandemic sparked some drastic changes in how Marshall students attend school. Kids, families and teachers all had to be ready to switch to distance learning technology to help prevent the spread of the virus. And through it all, the Marshall Public Schools technology department was working to help get kids connected.

“We never stopped coming in this whole time,” said Kent Powell, a computer technician for the MPS technology department. “The type of work just changed.”

Powell, technician Nick Esping and digital learning coach Karen Londgren recently spoke with the Independent about the work school district staff did to help keep kids and teachers connected during the pandemic.

“This has totally transformed the learning environment over the past year,” Londgren said.

Getting MPS ready for distance learning was a process of building on foundations the school district had already laid down, Londgren said.

“We’ve really taken the technology we had in place and used it in ways we never thought possible,” she said. MPS was fortunate in that it already had a one-to-one technology program, where students were each provided a laptop or iPad. Not having to find a lot of additional mobile devices and other supplies also made a big difference in preparing for distance learning.

“Once the pandemic hit, you couldn’t get equipment,” Londgren said.

Adjusting to distance learning was a district-wide team effort, they said. During the eight days last March when Minnesota school districts had to develop distance learning plans, the MPS tech department’s job was to work to support the district’s plans, Londgren said. Powell said their plan was to keep using software that teachers and students were already familiar with from previous years.

At the start of the pandemic, lots of companies were advertising new distance learning services, Powell said. “We said, ‘Let’s pump the brakes on it.'” Sticking with the district’s existing tools would help cut down on the stress of learning completely new things in a tough time, he said.

MPS has stuck with a team approach for technology over the past year, Londgren and Powell said. Even before the pandemic, MPS’s media center staff were on the front line for helping students with technology questions. So during distance and hybrid learning, media assistants ran the district’s tech help line.

Within the technology department, Powell and Esping said they both provide “more traditional tech support” for the school district, and Londgren said her role is to work more with supporting and training teachers.

The switch to distance learning did leave people with lots of technology questions, especially last spring, Esping said.

“One of the biggest challenges at the beginning was cameras and microphone use,” he said. Technology department staff also worked to set up a contactless system for repairing students’ devices, with the goal of getting issues fixed within 24 hours.

Making sure students had internet access was another important job over the past year. The technology department was able to work with media center staff at each school to send a mobile device and charger home with each student. The school district also had a small number of mobile wireless hotspots they could use to help families that didn’t have internet access. Londgren said over the past year MPS has expanded the number of hotspots it has available. Now, around 25 families use the mobile hotspots, and the Southwest West Central Service Cooperative was able to provide an additional 15 hotspots.

Some of the tools of tech support at MPS have changed to adapt to distance learning, Londgren said. One valuable tool allows technology department staff to remotely connect to a student’s computer to help troubleshoot problems. It can be helpful if there’s a language barrier between staff and a parent, she said. The technology department has also worked with MPS’s parent connectors to help students and their families.

Londgren said MPS also worked to provide mobile devices for paraprofessionals to help keep them connected with students.

Even with the challenges the past school year has presented, Powell said he likes the variety in his job.

“I love that each day is different. I don’t know what I’m walking into,” he said.

It’s hard to predict whether distance learning technology will continue to be as central to Marshall students’ learning in the future, Londgren and Powell said. With virtual learning days, snow days might become a thing of the past, Powell said.

Whatever happens, Londgren said, “I feel we are very well prepared.” One of the things the district can be proud of is how well-connected it is for distance learning, she said.