Power Outage Disruption : Clarification Needed on Attendance & Reliability
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I’d like to share something that happened on September 3, 2025, around 9:00 AM Taipei time. during my online class ( 8:30am). There was an unexpected power outage, and although I quickly switched to my backup (mobile data and laptop), it still took about 10 minutes to reconnect so 9:10am Taipei time.
The student also joined the lesson late about 28 minutes into the 45-minute class. While waiting, I had already prepared some recorded slides to make use of the time. Unfortunately, the outage disrupted the session further.
I’d like to ask for your advice:
In this case, would it still be considered an absence on my part?
Could this incident affect how I am recorded as a reliable teacher even though it was beyond my control?
This was not intentional, and I did everything possible to continue the lesson as quickly as I could. I would appreciate it if someone who knows how these things are officially handled could guide me.
Please, no sarcasm I am already feeling upset about this situation and just want clear guidance.Thank you in advance for your advice and support.
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This type of one-off situation won’t affect your standing as a teacher, but repeated incidents could trigger a flag on your account. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a backup plan ready so you can quickly switch to another device or internet connection and continue the class.
That said, I am curious how you were able to be out of the classroom for about 10 minutes without the class being reassigned to a standby teacher. Normally, I would suggest that if an issue can’t be resolved within a couple of minutes, it’s best to log out and let a standby teacher take over so the student doesn't lose out on too much of their class time.
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@Meriam-1 Do you have a battery backup? Both my router, laptop, and all peripherals run off my backup. Could a battery backup help your situation in the future?
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This was actually the first time I ever got switched in the middle of a class. The lesson was at 8:30 AM, 45 minutes, one-on-one with a kid. The kid came in really late, around 8:58 AM (about 28 minutes into the lesson).
Before he joined, I was already lecturing and discussing the lesson alone so he could watch it in the video later. When he finally came in, we started talking, but then suddenly a power outage happened around 9:00–9:02 AM.
I immediately tried to use my phone’s mobile data because there was no WLAN, but I was on my desktop, so I had to switch over to my laptop, which took a few minutes to set up. When I connected my phone hotspot, the internet still didn’t go through, even though I had enough data. So I ran outside to a convenience store to buy extra data (in my country, we buy internet load like that for phones).
By the time I got back, it was already 9:10 AM. When I logged in, I saw that I had already been switched at 9:05 AM. So that’s what happened. I just wanted to explain to that student what really happened. Can we do that?
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@Jennifer-M I feel really sorry for my student he must have felt confused.
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Yes, I do have a battery backup. When the electricity went out, I was already trying my best to keep the class going. Unfortunately, my backup internet also crashed. I have proof and evidence from the electric company’s page, and they also issued an apology for the outage. Thank you for asking
