NOVEMBER 2020 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 21
SPOTLIGHT LONG ISLAND
DISTANCE LEARNING IT HELP DESK
Photo by Getty Images
Advertorial
Since the start of the COVID-19
pandemic, many school districts
have experienced an influx of calls
from students and parents when
they experience technical issues
when learning from home.
That’s why Custom Computer
Specialists decided to create a
Distance Learning IT Help Desk that
is solely dedicated to resolving such
issues for students and their parents.
“We started developing the service
in April of this year,” recalled Tom
Franson, vice president of Support
Services at the company.
“We noticed that our own children
who were learning remotely had
no support venue besides their
teachers when they were having
technical issues or could not
connect to the virtual classroom,” he
explained. “We were frustrated that
support issues were derailing the
learning experience for all students
in a virtual classroom and that in
many cases students were quickly
falling behind. We spoke to several
superintendents across Long Island
and New England about providing
the service, which helped us better
define the offering.”
The goal of the Help Desk is to
provide students and their parents
and caregivers a “world-class
support mechanism that will allow
teachers to focus on instruction,
and keep the students connected
and learning,” according to Franson.
“Our team has deep experience with
K-12 information technology, they
are Google-certified and they are
very comfortable with the unique
application environments and
support needs found in K-12.”
While the service is targeted at
students, parents, and caregivers of
students who are learning in remote
learning environments, he said, “we
are seeing the most traction with
school districts that are concerned
that their students continue to
receive quality instruction while
they are in a remote learning
posture.”
So, what kinds of problems does
the Help Desk solve?
“At a high level, we empower
teachers to deliver instruction
to all of their students in remote
(virtual) classrooms and learning
environments,” Franson said. “We
do this by solving specific technical
problems (connectivity, audio,
video, learning management system
navigation, virtual classroom
navigation, etc.), thus keeping the
student connected and engaged
with the teachers, while allowing
the teachers to focus on instruction.
Many of the districts are seeing
a decrease in absentee rates as
students aren’t missing class due
to an inability to connect.”
When the company first introduced
the service, it was inundated with
requests, so the biggest challenge
was getting districts set up quickly
so it could start answering calls, he
recalled. Since then, “we have since
streamlined our process and are
now able to start answering calls
within one to two weeks of a district
requesting our service,” he said.
In addition to its 375 employees,
Custom Computer Specialists now
has more than 45 people dedicated
to the Distance Learning Help Desk
and the team is continuing to grow,
he noted, adding, “The ability to add
jobs in this economy is an added
benefit of this service.”
The company also isn’t done solving
tech issues, Franson pointed out.
“We are piloting support
for instructional staff for two
large districts in Massachusetts
currently, and will look to add this
as an offering over the coming
weeks,” he said. “We are also looking
to potentially expand our support
for learning management systems.”
Custom Computer Specialists
is proud to sponsor Spotlight
LI. Since 1979, Custom has been
dedicated to providing Long Island’s
schools, local government agencies,
healthcare facilities and buisnesses
with advanced technology solutions
and support. To learn more
about Custom Computer, or to be
considered for a future Spotlight LI,
please email info@customtech.com.
“Distance Learning IT Help Desk offers
students and parents an easy way to resolve
tech issues.”
– Tom Franson
COMMON TECH ISSUES THE
DISTANCE LEARNING HELP
DESK QUICKLY RESOLVES
1. Google Classroom and G
Suite (now Google Workspace)
usage, navigation and access
issues
2. Password resets
3. Issues with access to
network resources
4. End user support for
iPads, Chromebooks, OSX, and
Windows-based operating
systems
5. Assistance with Microsoft
Office and other common
applications
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