Virtual learning expected to get better after rocky start, Orange County superintendent says

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - Though many parents experienced technological issues on the first day of Orange County virtual learning, the superintendent says the district handled it well.

“Quite frankly, for our first day, I thought it went phenomenally well. We expected some glitches and slowdowns, but the response was pretty incredible,” said Dr. Barbara Jenkins, superintendent of Orange County Public Schools

She said 212,000 students in Orange County public schools are expected to use the district’s LaunchED At Home program for the next week and a half.

By 3 p.m. on Monday, Dr. Jenkins said there were more than 750,000 launch attempts for the program. Dr. Jenkins believes some of the user errors and technical problems that occurred were because of a system overload.

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However, the superintendent said families should make sure they are not having issues with their service provider or devices. Those with technical difficulties are asked to turn off their devices, then turn them on again after a minute.

Parents who continue to experience issues should contact their child’s school directly.

“There are tech service reps at every one of our schools that may be able to assist them. The school will also be able to log their concerns and they’ll see if there are any trends,” Dr. Jenkins said.

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Teachers who have tech issues should make sure their schools know.

Dr. Jenkins reassured parents children will not be penalized for having tech problems and believes these problems should get better throughout the week.

“Tomorrow should be better than today. Wednesday should be better than Tuesday. And it’s expected to increasingly get better as the week wears on, so we ask folks to be patient," she said.

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