Google glitch, snowstorm bring virtual learning frustrations

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — It wasn't the weather that delayed school this week, at least not the first time.

Students in the Northeast might be giddily anticipating a storm that the National Weather Service says could drop a foot or more of snow across the region Wednesday and Thursday.

The glitch that came Monday, though, wasn't in the forecast.

“Google is down across the globe, which is the COVID version of a snow day,” Superintendent Joe Clark tweeted to followers from his Nordonia Hills City School District in northern Ohio. “Until it’s back up, Nordonia students, read some books, play outside, and help your parents around the house.”

All-virtual learning — in use by many U.S. schools this holiday season to help curb the spread of the coronavirus — has some districts talking about not needing snow days anymore, even after students return to school in person. If there's inclement weather, they argue, students can simply log on from home.

That is, if the technology holds.

Monday's short-lived snafu canceled classes in at least one district and disrupted the start of the day for more. And it underscored how easily the technology connecting kids to teachers can fail — be it on account of a bad bit of code or a nor'easter.

When a learning platform or internet connection fails during in-person classes, Nordonia teachers adjust accordingly, Clark said. But in distance learning mode, Clark said his instructors had no other options until the problem was cleared up and online classes resumed.

The brief Google glitch Monday morning was its largest in recent memory. It affected users in the U.S., Europe, India and other parts of the world and impeded access to Gmail accounts, Google Classroom and Google's videoconferencing and word-processing services, among...