The NYC DOE will no longer be using Zoom for remote learning

Apartments have morphed into classrooms—and parents into substitute teachers—as New York City schools transitioned to online learning on March 23. Now, the Department of Education plans to make a few tweaks to the new norm children and their families been navigating. 

According to a series of tweets from Chancellor Richard A. Carranza, public schools will no longer be using Zoom due to safety concerns, including unidentified people who interrupt calls with inappropriate content.

"Our goal is to get more classrooms videoconferencing on a safe and secure platform," the chancellor wrote on Twitter. "We know the transition away from Zoom will take time for many educators and we will support them. We know maintaining continuity of teaching means it won’t happen overnight."

Have a look at his statement below:    

Less than 2 weeks ago, our heroic educators began transforming instruction for 1.1M kids, bringing the nation's largest public school system online. They rose to this challenge with grace, and our whole city is grateful for how they've learned to teach and lead remotely. [1/4]

— Chancellor Richard A. Carranza (@DOEChancellor) April 5, 2020

Many are already using @GoogleEdu & we can now confirm their Meet tool is a safe, secure virtual meeting service for schools. We’ll share guidance for @NYCSchools educators about Meet soon. If you're using K-12 @GoogleEdu tools like Classroom, Drive, & Meet, keep going! [2/4]

— Chancellor Richard A. Carranza (@DOEChancellor) April 5, 2020

Our goal is to get more classrooms videoconferencing on a safe and secure platform. We know the transition away from Zoom will take time for many educators and we will support them. We know maintaining continuity of teaching means it won’t happen overnight. [3/4]

— Chancellor Richard A. Carranza (@DOEChancellor) April 5, 2020

We’ve also been training educators on Microsoft Teams, another great option that schools are also already using. Educators will get a calendar of training on Google Meet & Microsoft Teams. Any staffer with Qs about online meeting platforms can visit https://t.co/gL9qqjvT3Q. [4/4]

— Chancellor Richard A. Carranza (@DOEChancellor) April 5, 2020

At this time, schools have been asked to suspend their Zoom usage and transition to Microsoft Teams or Google Meet until proper safety measures are in place. In the coming days, educators, students and families can expect new details about how to make the switch, according to The New York Post. 

There are certainly challenges that come along with adapting to this new way of learning, but fortunately there are also plenty of resources to help: Check out free one-on-one virtual tutoring from the New York Public Library and keep little minds active with virtual museum tours, storytimes and other fun events and activities. 


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