Miami-Dade's Virtual Learning System Crashed on First Day of School

By M.G. Alison. First Posted: Sep 01, 2020 04:08 AM EDT

The Miami-Dade school district began its school year virtually. But its first day of school was a disaster after teachers and students encountered connectivity issues with the My School Online (MSO) on Monday.

The MSO is the online distance learning platform being rolled out by the Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

A software failure has caused multiple crashes as teachers and students tried to log into the platform on the first day of classes, leaving them frustrated and exasperated while parents were perplexed.

The glitch had complaints flooding the social media even before classes were to start at 8 a.m., said a report on Miami Herald.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said the software failure was one of the greatest disappointments as the access to the district's website, email servers, and portal were disabled.

It also disabled the attendance tracker prompting the district to issue a statement that it would not yet penalize absences until the glitch is solved.

On Sunday, Carvalho had posted on social media, saying that they were ready to reopen schools.

He had also previously written the teachers and told them that he wanted them to focus on connecting with the students during the first week of school, stated a report on CBS Local.

He told them to build relationships with the students and establish with them expectations and routines, as these would reassure them amidst fear of what the school year would bring while the coronavirus pandemic is still around.

Instead, teachers were scrambling to find another way to connect with their students. Some hosted Zoom gatherings while others opted to use "Clever," an M-DCPS platform.

It was especially frustrating for about 20,000 teachers who have been training each other for two weeks, even during weekends, in preparation for the reopening of classes.

In a statement, the teachers union said that it was disheartening that the program has failed not only them but also the students and parents. They also hoped that the issue could be resolved soon for distance learning to be optimized.

The software glitch has been described as something to do with a switch that acts like a door to the Miami-Dade servers. Carvalho explained that it was not a capacity issue.

Although teachers have worked on staggering their class start times to stop the platform from crashing, it still, however, did not work.

According to Carvalho, the switch has never failed since it was installed five years ago. What makes it more frustrating is that although the problem has been identified, no solution has been reached yet, said a report by the NBC.

Parents agree that it was frustrating, but they are optimistic that the issue will be solved soon. They hoped that the problem would be resolved Monday night. However, should no resolution be reached by then, the district will provide for alternatives.

The district's primary concern remains that the teachers will be able to connect with their students. Carvalho said he is taking full responsibility for the software failure.

He noted that the community deserves better because they have learned to expect better. Carvalho added that he regrets that the Miami-Dade's first day of school was a disaster.