SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — Shelby County School leaders hosted another virtual classroom demonstration for parents and students on Friday.
The event taught participants how to use Microsoft Teams, the raise hand and chat features, and the Class Notebook.
WREG got an inside look at how at how a fifth grade English language arts class could play out in the upcoming school year.
The lesson lasted for a little more than a hour with clear engagement between the teacher and mock students.
The entire lesson was recorded. So, if students miss part of the lessons due to internet connections, they can go back and re-watch.
Bandwidth and internet access issues are questions WREG has been asking the district about for the last few weeks. A spokesperson with SCS says they met with personnel from the city of Memphis, municipal school district leaders and internet providers earlier this week.
Internet providers have confirmed their ability to support student capacity during virtual learning. The district has purchased 24,000 internet hotspots for students through Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and AT&T.
Verizon couldn’t tell us how many of the hotspots their company plans to provide but said their network is built to handle times like these.
A spokesperson with AT&T sent WREG this statement:
“We understand distance learning is challenging for some families who are concerned about their children connecting with teachers when schools are physically closed. We’re eager to continue working with school districts in the Greater Memphis area and across the state to provide connectivity solutions to connect students to the online resources they need.”
A pressure test for the internet system is also planned for next week. SCS is encouraging all school districts and universities to power up and test the capacity.
