Is K12 Worth the Hassle?

As+everyone+was+scrambling+to+make+it+to+class+on+time%2C+the+majority+of+students+were+not+able+to+access+the+K12+platform+that+the+County+wanted+to+use.

As everyone was scrambling to make it to class on time, the majority of students were not able to access the K12 platform that the County wanted to use.

Abigail Felan, Staff Writer

With the first day of school bringing new students, teachers and technology, it is understandable that there would be some struggles with the start of virtual learning. For teachers, the start of school meant learning how to use and teach on completely new software that differed from the user-friendly Microsoft Teams or Zoom. K12 brought some complications to the beginning of the new school year with its inability to have the entire Dade-County system on at once. Thus, forcing many educators to resort to their class meeting methods used in the spring. Although, this is a situation no one had the choice of being put into, the internet platforms (Zoom and Teams) should be used as the majority of students have not had problems with it and they’re familiar with how it functions.

K12 is a teaching software that everyone has heard about quite frequently over the past week. For students, seeing the information in many different places has been confusing. Is class on Teams or this new website? The start of school has been extremely confusing, and much of the complication was due to the teaching platform. Teachers and students faced connectivity issues when accessing K12 but once they refreshed the page several times and reached the website, some of their confusion lingered.

“I would prefer Teams… My struggle with K12 made school confusing because we are all required to do the [introductory] course but… I cannot access K12 or the assignment we must complete” sophomore Trip Beardslee said.

Gables students expected this unique year to begin with a bit of familiarity as they were introduced to the online teaching platform, Teams, in the prior year. This was not the case once they logged on to their student portals, looking for the K12 link. Teens today have grown up in a digital era which renders students technologically advantaged in comparison to their teachers. But, learning how to use new software on top of starting virtual school presents a wave of unfamiliarity that creates a stressful environment. Many teachers have also been experiencing the same difficulty as the students because K12 has not been easy to handle so far. Even when, they’re able to make it on to the K12 platform, class meetings do not show up for everyone. As the week progresses, it appears that the most logical way to go about this is for teachers to conduct class via Zoom.

We are all new teachers and students this year. We’re confused and frustrated, but everyone is working really hard and coming together to help each other. I think the struggle has brought out a new sense of community and we’re bonding over our collective struggle.

— IB English teacher Mrs. Gonzalez

“[K12] made me stressed and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to access my classes. Fortunately, all of my teachers be over Zoom or Teams so I didn’t have to worry about class” junior Sabrina Bonavita said.

Online school has been an obstacle for many students and adding new software on top of the foreign idea of virtual learning has been confusing. Due to the many new developments with K12 and the online learning plans for the district, students have been constantly challenged to find their classes and assignments. As Ms. Gonzalez mentioned, we are all experiencing similar technological troubles which, in turn, will unify us as a school. Although the transition from in-person to online school has been tumultuous, students can turn to their peers and teachers for help learning how to navigate school from home.

Hopefully having one common virtual learning platform among teachers will facilitate online school for MDCPS students. As the quarter progresses, students and teachers can become more accustomed to being completely online through the comfort of familiar and user-friendly teaching platforms. Luckily, students, teachers, and administrators are all in this together!