New Tablets Given to Santa Maria Teachers

Pioneer Valley High French teacher, Jessica Zambrano said that even in a Foreign language classroom, technology is important.

“It will definitely open the world to them because we’ll be able to use things like Skype and YouTube and really, instead of just talking about the culture, bring it alive and show it to them,” Zambrano said.

She was one of four hundred teachers to receive a Dell tablet today.

Zambrano remembered back to what high school was like for her and said it was a drastic difference.

“I remember we had a project,” she said. “We had to call all these insurance companies and get a quote from them where now it’s the click of a button.

Mark Recinos works in the IT Department for the District, he said he’s already having teachers come in and ask questions about how to use the tablet.

“Just a few connectivity questions, how do you do this how do you do that,” said Recinos. “Some basic things right now, I think everyone’s trying to get the feel for them.”

School officials said this is a huge step forward in the way students will learn in the classroom.

“It’s really important that as twenty first century teachers we have to be equipped with the technology to be able to train our students for the future,” said Zambrano.

Students are expected to receive tablets later in the spring.