CIO in Training

By Peter Bosco
Chief Information Officer (CIO)

In mid-March, New Jersey K-12 schools announced they would be closed until at least the end of the month. During this “stay at home” order all students would be required to complete their lessons online. Our daughter’s friend, a single father of a six-year-old boy, was trying to figure out how to balance homeschooling his son, CJ, and going to work. Seeing that we could help, my wife Joanne and I offered to watch the boy.

The man appreciated our offer, but he was concerned that CJ wouldn’t be able to understand the technology needed to access his kindergarten courswork online. “No problem,” I said, “I’m a CIO, and Joanne is a teacher. I’m certain we can figure it out.”

On Monday morning, CJ arrived. “C’mon,” I said, “Let’s go to school! I’ll help you get started.” We sat down at the computer, and I read the email from his teacher that explained how to log into Clever, the school’s online learning portal. I clicked a few links, but it wasn’t working. I read another email and clicked more links. Nothing.

“Mr. Pete, let me show you how to do it,” he said, taking control of the mouse. “I want to finish this so I can watch my shows.”

“OK, smart aleck, go ahead.” I sat back and watched as he navigated the system flawlessly. After standing for the Pledge of Allegiance with the school principal, CJ scanned his QR code, logged in to Clever, and began his assignment. “See Mr. Pete? This is how you do it.”

Needless to say, Joanne took over for the rest of the week.

We often think that technology is already outdated the minute we buy it, but this experience reminded me that the combination of young minds, technology, and learning is far outpacing anything we can implement.

Thanks to Peter and all our road warriors who go stay the distance to serve our clients! 

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