A training program launched this Tuesday (24), promoted by the Secretary of State for Education (Seduc), has begun the implementation of the Google for Education internet resources platform in public schools. It is a technological solution that facilitates teaching and learning activities inside and outside the classroom, through the use of any mobile device connected to the internet.

Almost 55 teachers, technicians and servers from Seduc’s Educational Technology Centers (NTEs) will participate until Thursday (26) in a training provided by the company Inteceleri (official representative of Google in the North Region, winner of a national bid by the Secretariat) , located in the Campus of the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), in Belém. It is another Seduc initiative to improve the quality of education in Pará.

This training is being directed to Seduc professionals with an adequate profile to act in the administration of the platform in the environment of schools throughout the State. More than 100 Seduc servers will be trained. A second class, with professionals focused more on the pedagogical area of this technology, will receive the training in November.

According to Denise Mesquita, head of the Coordination of Technology Applied to Education (Cetae), linked to the Assistant Secretary of Education (Saen) Seduc, “the use of this platform in the schools will undoubtedly represent a change of practice in the classroom. We will move on to the concept of an inverted classroom – the teacher will become a mediator of the knowledge already brought by the students, who have been enjoying this technology practically since they were born. The teacher only needs to direct the use of this technology”.

New practices – During the training, Google consultants talked about the current student landscape, which requires new teaching practices. “It is a need for us, teachers, to have access to technological and digital tools. We were educated in universities from a nineteenth century education and today we are dealing with 21st century students. These students can not understand the logic of a traditional education, of a classroom where only the teacher speaks. 21st century students need 21st century methodologies. And teachers need to be prepared to deal with these students”, said Professor of Physics Bruno Santos, from the NTE of Benevides, municipality of the Metropolitan Region of Belém.

English language teacher Dennis Machado, who works at NTE of Ananindeua, also in the Metropolitan Region, is the father of a boy with cognitive disorder, and sought in the technology more dynamic methods to make the child learn the school contents. “The key today is to understand that the students have transformed, they also have knowledge, and share this with us, teachers. We not only teach, but also learn from the students. And Google brings simple tools through which it is possible to develop dynamic and interactive activities with students, who are much more interested, because these technologies are part of their universe”, he said.

Through the Google for Education platform, Seduc will provide the school community with a package of Internet communication products and services, aimed primarily at teachers, managers and students. They will have access to an e-mail messaging system; classroom planning tools; preparation of tests and simulation, among other resources. Together, they will facilitate access to curricular content, the organization of study groups and school management.

This is another action by Seduc of the Program for Quality Improvement and Expansion of Coverage of Basic Education in the State of Pará, – main component of the Education Pact.

Text by Elck Oliveira
Translation by Matheus Castelo Branco