In February 2012 I had lunch with a friend, Sharon Bennett. Following that lunch, we each wrote an article about ending snow days. These followed a lunch we had where we discussed how easy it would have been, with the technology available to us then (8.5 years ago), to teach remotely… not all the time, but on days when the schools could not open because of bad weather. While we each call out specific technologies in our articles, the conversation we had then mapped out exactly how it could be done, from remote classroom lectures to homework and exam portals.
Fast-forward to the Coronapocalypse of 2020.
We are seeing all of the technologies that Sharon and I discussed implemented – Zoom and Teams lectures, Sharepoint and other technologies for homework and exam portals, two-way webcams enabled with students sitting and watching the teacher deliver the classroom lecture. Sharon and I wrote about it eight years ago, and it was not until a few days ago when someone made a glib comment about soon needing snow tires back in Canada that I remembered it.
It is nice to revisit my blog articles from years gone by. With over 1,300 articles on the site, it is rare that I do that… especially since so many of them have been made obsolete by newer versions of software, operating systems, and more. I am pleased that at least this one is still relevant.
Ending Snow Days? Sorry kids, but it SHOULD happen soon. By Mitch Garvis
Why DO We Still Have Snow Days? By Sharon Bennett
The World According to Mitch 
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