You may have noticed the complete lack of an Internet connection to be found on the Lincoln campus for most of the day Tuesday. While it had the benefit of keeping certain Internet-obsessed students off of Facebook or Twitter and instead focusing on their classwork, it also threw a curveball at teachers who wanted to use the Internet as a part of their lesson plans. The staff of Lion Tales perhaps noticed this Internet failure more than most other classes.

Our journalism class, which maintains an online newspaper as its main project, was acutely affected by the Internet outage. Reporters could not access e-mail, Vimeo, the Lion Tales social media accounts, Google Drive, or WordPress, which are all used daily as tools to produce our various types of content. Instead of taking to computers as soon as they got to class, the staff took to pen and paper to compose stories or think up interview questions. Staff members also spent time editing photos and video on computer applications that did not require the Internet.

The Internet was not just out at Lincoln, but countywide. This took a toll on many schools in San Jose Unified and neighboring districts. In an e-mail sent to SJUSD employees at 1:24 PM on Tuesday, Public Information Officer Jorge Quintana said that “the SJUSD Department of Technology and Information Services is aware that the internet is down countywide. The Technology and Information Services staff members are working with the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) to resolve this matter which is affecting several school districts. We appreciate your understanding.”

Since then, the problem with Internet connection has been repaired, and the Web is now up and running in the Lion Tales newsroom and campus-wide.