When the internet goes down?

[Hegemony]

In three weeks I start teaching my first live (synchronous) online class. Up till now they've all been blessedly asynchronous.

The problem I'm dreading is the internet slowing, freezing, and otherwise misbehaving in the middle of class.

I'm currently supervising a number of grad students with whom I meet via Zoom every week, and every week at least one of our sessions just has to be summarily ended because our internet becomes so glitchy. The sound comes and goes, or the whole thing freezes, or it freezes and then drops.

What the heck do you all do during a synchronous class when this keeps happening?

Only one internet provider serves this area, and I don't mind saying it is Comcast. I looked into getting an ethernet cable installed, but they tell me they can't do that any time soon. We are not allowed into our buildings at the university, even to teach in isolation in our offices.  I turn off my video when it happens, but it seems to make very little difference.

So, again, I am bracing myself for this happening. It's not just a one-time thing; it can easily go on for twenty minutes of frustration and largely missed audio before we give up in despair. How do you all handle it?

[Puget]

Are you sure the problem is with Comcast and not your modem or wireless router? If you haven't upgraded your modem in awhile, it is likely not able to actually work at the advertised speed of your internet package-- upgrading may make a significant difference.

That said, Comcast can be pretty bad (and over-priced). They may be the only cable company, but is Verizon Fios available?

Also, if this is on Zoom, you can join from your phone (presuming you have good cell signal at home) or even call in to the meeting, so if your internet goes down you could rejoin that way. It would be good in that case to have the slides posted to the LMS so the students can still follow along with the visuals.

At any rate, it sounds like you should have a plan with the class for what to do if your internet isn't working-- e.g., hang tight for 10 min. to see if you can get back on, and then if not go do alternative assignment/reading online, or something like that.

[Liquidambar]

If you have a good cell signal and don't mind spending more money on the problem, you might look into a wireless hotspot.

You have my sympathy.  We're paying for two different internet providers (one DSL and one using cell signals), yet we went through a period over Christmas break when one was completely down and the other was only working about 50%.  Now we're back to both working, so my plan if one fails during class is just to quickly switch to the other.

[Caracal]

Ditto on the other advice. If you haven't already, I'd also see if COMCAST can reset your signal. Sometimes, that can fix things. You might also try plugging directly into the modem from your computer with an ethernet cable. That can often give you a faster connection.

My computer went haywire last week and dropped zoom a couple of times, before eventually restarting itself in the middle of class. It was no big deal, basically akin to the sort of computer and projector problems that occasionally happen in person and the students rolled with it. However, it is the kind of thing that can be managed when its an occasional glitch, but doesn't work if its going to be a constant problem.

[mythbuster]

So what do your university IT people recommend? If you didn't have home internet, how are they expecting you to teach this class? I would force them to find you a solution that is reliable.

[wellfleet]

I teach synchronously for many hours a week, and while my Comcast link has done pretty well, when things get hairy, if all participants turn off video (we can still use a shared screen/shared slides), we have been able to optimize the available bandwidth for clearer audio. Equipping everyone with the phone numbers to call in for sound if the internet goes sideways is also a good safety net. I've never, in (shudder) nearly 12 months, actually lost a class session entirely and most days, it works fine.

[Hegemony]

My apologies, I should have been clearer on what I was requesting. My long screed about technological fixes was just to forestall a flurry of technological suggestions (which obviously it did not).

What I'm really requesting is: what do you do in class, at that moment, when the internet goes wonky? I mean when it's really staying wonky for long intervals, not just when there's a hiccup.

Do you say "We'll stop class now and you should all go watch the video on the LMS"? Do you hand the class over to an appointed student to manage? Do you just quit for the day and not compensate otherwise? Or — ?

[research_prof]

My apologies, I should have been clearer on what I was requesting. My long screed about technological fixes was just to forestall a flurry of technological suggestions (which obviously it did not).

What I'm really requesting is: what do you do in class, at that moment, when the internet goes wonky? I mean when it's really staying wonky for long intervals, not just when there's a hiccup.

Do you say "We'll stop class now and you should all go watch the video on the LMS"? Do you hand the class over to an appointed student to manage? Do you just quit for the day and not compensate otherwise? Or — ?

Yes, it has happened to me once. Sent an email to the students that they are dismissed and I kept recording the lecture myself and then posted it on LMS.

[teach_write_research]

When it's bad during the meeting I slow down my speaking rate - shorter sentences, longer pauses. I've sent a chat on the call, left the call, quit my conferencing software (Teams), and then rejoined. Students handle it similarly. Sometimes I've reverted to just the chat. Assume that something is going to go wrong or not work at some point and you won't be able to fix it or salvage the day. It's ok. Forgiveness for all.

The tech suggestions are the proactive things to consider:

The bandwidth was REALLY bad in the Spring. Turns out we had damaged wiring. Once that was replaced ($) it was much better, though still not on-campus great. I also had a one week internet outage in the Fall. I sat in my car in a parking lot where I could get an open wifi signal to do some grading. I also had small assignments and let that be sufficient.

[OneMoreYear]

My internet has not been too problematic, so others will probably have better suggestions than I, but my steps generally are:

1. tell students I'll be back in 5 minutes and restart my computer. I've had to do this several times, unfortunately, usually when I'm attempting to use multiple applications in the LMS and the LMS will freeze.  During this break, one group of students tends to show each other their pets.  One group tends to talk about cooking. If that fixes things, I carry on with class. Smart Points to whoever can tell me what was the last thing they heard me say (once, it was apparently "Ricochet [my cat], stop chewing on the doc cam!").  If this does not work, go to step 2 (only had to use a couple times):

2. End class for the day, record the most important parts of the lecture I was intending to give in small chunks and post the videos for them to watch prior to next class.  Last time, I assigned extra credit questions related to the recorded lecture as a bonus for them having to watch it asynchronously and to scaffold their understanding of the lecture.   

What I am learning to do is to design my syllabi with some flexibility, so that we are not going to be irreparably off-track if there is a tech snafu. Even if there is not a tech problem, my experience is that things take longer in synchronous online than they do in person. I agree with teach_write_research that forgiveness is important.

[ergative]

The bandwidth was REALLY bad in the Spring. Turns out we had damaged wiring. Once that was replaced ($) it was much better, though still not on-campus great. I also had a one week internet outage in the Fall. I sat in my car in a parking lot where I could get an open wifi signal to do some grading. I also had small assignments and let that be sufficient.

This is something that's been on my mind. If your damaged wiring wasn't interfering with your normal internet requirements, but it was interfering with your higher usage requirements for online teaching, then shouldn't the university fund the repairs?

I've been really interested in the discourse about how work-from-home does/does not help employees. Pros: better flexibility, easier to handle things like childcare, etc. Cons: offloading infrastructure costs (e.g., internet bandwidth) on workers.

[AvidReader]

I tell students ahead of time that if I disappear, they should wait 10 minutes. If I've not gotten back on by then, they are dismissed, and I will post a video or alternate assignment to the course page.

Like OneMoreYear, If things aren't working for me but the students seem to be okay, I assign a topic and sometimes a group leader: "I'm going to restart and will be back in ~5 minutes. While I'm gone, come up with 3 examples of X. Will someone take notes on it?" [[usually even if the sound is wonky, you can post directions in chat.]]

In one extreme case that was a discussion and not a lecture, I left my glitchy internet on so I still had control of the room and could track session data, but called in by phone.

Also, do you share your internet with family members, and can they be asked to do offline things while you teach? When we had Comcast, spouse agreed to stay off high-bandwidth websites during my classes, and it often (not always) helped.

AR.

[Anon1787]

The bandwidth was REALLY bad in the Spring. Turns out we had damaged wiring. Once that was replaced ($) it was much better, though still not on-campus great. I also had a one week internet outage in the Fall. I sat in my car in a parking lot where I could get an open wifi signal to do some grading. I also had small assignments and let that be sufficient.

This is something that's been on my mind. If your damaged wiring wasn't interfering with your normal internet requirements, but it was interfering with your higher usage requirements for online teaching, then shouldn't the university fund the repairs?

I've been really interested in the discourse about how work-from-home does/does not help employees. Pros: better flexibility, easier to handle things like childcare, etc. Cons: offloading infrastructure costs (e.g., internet bandwidth) on workers.

Me too. My university has helped pay for relatively cheap equipment like webcams, microphones, headsets, etc. but not things like upgrading the internet connection, which is a more costly ongoing expense.

[clean]

Can you be In your Office to give the lectures?  IF there is a problem with the servers on campus, then you have all of the tech support that you can ask for to help.

Just because you CAN be online from home doesnt mean that you SHOULD be online from home. 

I have had several instances where things slow down.  You can see orange triangles pop up on the student's boxes, and perhaps other signals that there are problems.

Just yesterday, I was having several problems and I reconnected with my Iphone's hotspot. I dont know what that will cost, or what it will cost if I did this every time. IF it was or becomes significant, then I would teach from my university office (or a conference room I have access to.... with campus still primarily on remote, there is seldom any conflicts over the use of the conference rooms). 

So that is the option I would suggest... You can stay safely distanced but still use the university resources to host your meetings. 

[Hegemony]

No, we are not allowed in our offices, or in any university building.