#43. When the Wi-Fi Dies Mid-Lesson: Graceful Degradation
The moment every teacher using EdTech dreads... It is Monday afternoon. My gifted Grade 6 extra-curricular activities group is gathered for Lesson 2 of our New Horizon Island Project — a browser-based AI simulation world where students interact with twelve AI "citizens" to solve a mystery across the island. Previously, Lesson 1 has done its job: the students now understand the world, know a little about the AI citizens, and have been introduced to how to communicate with them. Lesson 2 is the payoff — the first live, whole-class demo of messaging the AI citizens: how to phrase questions, how the chat works, how to get useful answers out of a character who only knows what the island knows. I am excited. My students are intrigued. Excellent! About ten minutes later, the school wi-fi goes down. Let's move from the inner teacher rage of the moment, the sarcastic mental comment to one's self, "Well, it was all working fine when I tested it before the lesson, of cou...