About 7 pm EST yesterday, my Internet service died a quick death.
When it went down, it took out my access to the Internet, the telephone, and the television.
That happened as I was trying to post the news about Camika Royal’s article on Huffington Post.
I had to use my cell phone to get it posted, my cell having 3G.
Where I am now (not in NYC), cell phone service is spotty, and I had a hard time getting through to the local cable company.
The upshot was that I was offline for 24 hours.
I got Internet access back about an hour ago, and am still waiting for a repair crew to restore the telephone.
Fortunately, I had scheduled the posts that ran today well in advance.
You don’t think I write a post every five minutes from 6 am to 7 am, do you?
I have already written posts for tomorrow, and I will add more as the day progresses.
The good news is that I was able to write a new chapter for my book during the day, as a result of not being online every minute.
There is no bad news, other than the fact that I had to interact with Cablevision’s automated telephone system several times, which is a certain way to raise my blood pressure and reduce me to futile shouts, screams, oaths and unmentionable curses.
Diane
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Technology is our friend… especially when it works, but not so much when it doesn’t. Now, imagine the frustration levels students and teachers will likely experience when similar problems occur with high-stakes online testing in the not too distant future.
A math teacher I know giving EOC tests is just about hysterical each time she gives the tests. Technology really tries to support her and the other high schools all doing the same thing but no matter what the server goes down, computers won’t connect or students find their screen freezes. As more and more EOC, on line remediation, online tutoring and online courses are set up we all know our technology will never keep up. We don’t need an outside “expert” to tell us that frustrated and angry students do not do well on an EOC test.
She’s a mere mortal, just like the rest of us. Who knew? Welcome back, Diane. It was awfully quiet without you.
Reblogged this on Kmareka.com and commented:
I love this! Even Diane Ravitch has to deal with automated telephone service nightmares.
I can relate to your bad news/good news post. My power was out for four days a week ago and I was “forced” to go to the library if I wanted to cool down, surf or hang out and read. I accomplished things there that have been on hold for a very long time. In fact, I am thinking about incorporating a day at the library once a week, it removes distractions!
Diane,
I enjoy reading all of your posts. Looking forward to the new book. How about a hint as to it’s content.
Technology is invisible to our students, yet we are still amazed at every keystroke. The real generation gap.
Every post you read on this blog is a “study” for the larger work.
Looking forward to the larger work, it should be a blockbuster.
Love reading your blog! But get that book done, looking forward to it.
Glad you’re back.
Your posts are greatly appreciated.
Dora
Heh – luckily I live in 4G land (Not NYC though which is 4G world). But I have Cox for net and tv. First of all $154 a month for those two grates on the nerves a bit. And the fact that Cox suffers numerous DNS outages, and just plain slow performance is one thing. But when the cable box locks up and you have to cycle the power? Not good.
re: “You don’t think I write a post every five minutes from 6 am to 7 am, do you?” Actually I thought you were writing them from 5 am to 7 am. I was astounded by your level of energy! Your post reminds me a bit of Ben Franklin who revealed in his autobiography that people came to think of him as always working, burning the midnight oil. because he used to fall asleep on a couch in his newspaper office, neglecting to extinguish the lamp. Kathy Palmer
You are right. I often am at the computer at 4 am, depending on when my bad cat wakes me, demanding to be fed. I try to write four posts in advance. The others are written in response to the news stories of the day and comments by readers. It’s a rare day when I wait until 6 am to get started.
Ahhh…and here is a perfect example of the breadth and depth of the impact of poverty in this nation and the vast Grand Canyon of a digital divide it creates in equality in learning and schooling experiences. When education goes digital, although it is a logical progression, a growing portion of our society is left out in the cold. When you can’t afford rent or food, Internet connections are a true luxury. I work in a school with a truly diverse population, and even with a good number of students classified as “middle class”, I see a growing number I students who do NOT have Internet or technology to keep up with the measurement tools that will dictate their futures. Common Core is the tip of the iceberg in the digital nature of learning. Students can’t read or write cursive. Basic math skills have gone digital. Students can’t find a resource in a library as a result of automated citation machines, and the hard copy dictionary and alphabetizing skills are almost extinct. I adore technology and use it, but what does happen when a grid goes down? Who will be able to write a historical record if digital tools are unavailable? And back to my main point, how can we, in good conscience, digitalize educational tools that are necessary at every level and just disregard the growing number of people who will be proverbially in a dead zone due to a financial barracade that blocks learning? Poverty is at the core of educational performance issues. We must face this fact in order to proceed in a genuine and meaningful manner as we reform education! When private and charter schools attract those with the advantages and money to qualify and take advantage of those alternatives, those who face economic hardship will be left with what will be the welfare system of American public education, and even then, the tools to try to make the most of that system will be out of their reach. By everyone wants or needs to go to college, but what will our society and nation be like when our general population isn’t functionally literate? This IS a growing concern. I see it daily! Let us hope having a basically literate and educated population becomes a real priority soon otherwise the hoi polloi will be at the mercy of the elite advantaged. Hopefully, this is not the design despite historical facts. Hopefully, we are growing into a society that values all people regardless of race, religion, sex, or economic status so that all people candace the option of being engaged voting citizens who understand and value the rights that public education was designe to protect initially!!!