Mawrtian of the Month: The Tech Department
by natalie c. ‘23
The Tech Department: whenever you have a tech problem, this savvy team is there to solve it. They even have managed to keep it up now during quarantine when everyone is more dependent on technology than ever before!. The Tech Department is extremely essential, and their help is needed now, more than ever. So, to thank them, we have named them all as Mawrtians of the Month!
The Tech Department as a whole was nominated to be Mawrtian of the Month because it is such a valuable part of Bryn Mawr. It is truly essential in ensuring that students are able to easily access tech help, so that they are able to complete their assignments as efficiently and as simply as possible.
1) It’s been more than five weeks since social distancing started. What has it been like to be a part of the tech department during distance learning?
Mr. Reynolds: It's been interesting? I know living in Howell rather than Gordon can tend to isolate me sometimes, but wow is this a whole new level of isolation, so it's weird not being able to see the people I work with every day.
2) What do you like about distance learning so far?
Mr. Letras: I like that people who may normally have been technology shy are realizing that they do have the ability to do something that's outside of their comfort zone. Not having to wear fancy clothes and spending more time with my family have also been nice!
3) What do you not like about distance learning?
Mr. Kearney: I miss everyone and I miss campus. While I can do my work solo, I'm finding there's a lot of unseen benefit in what comes up when you just run into someone on campus. Seeing people around helps me remember what needs to be worked on, and, if I need to, I can ask them a quick question right then and there. The campus is always beautiful in the spring, and we're missing a lot of that.
4) Have there been more tech problems during distance learning?
Mr. Letras: I wouldn't say there've been more problems, just different ones. For example, we're not putting time into supporting on-campus resources like wifi, printing, and classroom technology. The needs have shifted to finding creative solutions to problems, like how to replicate certain events in a virtual setting.
5) How have you adapted to distance learning?
Mr. Reynolds: I think adapting has been fairly easy for me personally. At home, I have a more powerful computer, extra monitors, and a bunch of pajama pants.
6) What is something that nobody has said yet but you want everyone to know about distance learning?
Mr. Letras: It's new to all of us, and no one is an expert. We're all learning as we go, so it's ok and expected to stumble. We get back up, learn from our mistakes, and try something else.
7) What is something that nobody has said yet but you want everyone to know about the Tech department?
Mr. Kearney: Consider that even a year or two ago we wouldn't be doing anywhere near this well, this quickly. So many resources have moved to the cloud, and our systems integration has never been better. Late February into March went very quickly from "start thinking about maybe being closed" to "everyone go home", but there wasn't too much heavy lifting to be done (aside from some herculean efforts from Mr. Reynolds getting a whole fleet of loaner laptops out). Gmail, Canvas, Blackbaud - it's all already online.
8) What's the best part about being on the Tech crew?
Mr. Letras: We really are like a family. I know everyone has my back, and they know I have theirs. We're also genuine friends, and we have a lot of fun together!