Education

Some Metro Atlanta School Districts Begin Digital Learning

March 24th, 2015

There’s no way around it—schools are going digital. A bill in the Georgia Legislature would require public schools to convert to digital textbooks by the year 20-20. Some districts are transitioning to tech-based instruction now. WABE visited a Fulton County school to see how its transition is going.

Susie McFarlane’s class is busy. They’re working in groups. Each has a different task– from building food webs to studying biomes. And they’re using technology to help them.

Every Fulton school will eventually get a technology upgrade, like Webb Bridge. The school has interactive projectors and digital tablets in every class. The money comes from a Special Local Option Sales Tax.

Fulton Schools Chief Information Officer Serena Sacks is in charge of implementing these changes for the district. She says the first step is training teachers.

“They did not learn using hand-held technology when they became a teacher, even if it was recent,” she says. “It’s not in the teacher education programs yet. So, we need to help them get up to speed before we put the tablets in the students’ hands.”

Susie McFarland admits she fell into that category.

“Technology’s not been my thing, but now I’m trying to make more of it,” she says. “I kind of stayed away because I was scared.”

But she’s getting used to it, like most teachers here, as the school becomes technology-based.

The proposed legislation would require schools to convert to digital textbooks in five years. But districts would have to come up with the money. The bill still has to pass the Georgia House. But states like California and Florida have already passed similar legislation.