Sofia Ribeiro, the Regional Secretary for Education, Culture, and Sports, highlighted the digitization process of Azorean schools on Thursday at the Digitization in Education event, which was organized by the Observador newspaper and Samsung and held in Lisbon.
She began by presenting the Computational Thinking project, which was “unique in the country,” with “voluntary implementation” by the schools but which ended up having “the support of all the organic units” in the region.
“The project designed for the 1st and 2nd cycles of basic education doesn’t involve using computers in the classroom, but rather leads students to structure their thinking and know how to transmit it,” she explained.
Sofia Ribeiro also presented the project to dematerialize school textbooks, which has been implemented since the 5th year of schooling and aims to be extended to the 12th year by 2026.
“It’s not a tool that transposes the paper book into PDF format and only gives information in reading format. It also presents and explains the information in audiovisual formats, allows tests to be administered, continuity work to be done, allowing the teacher to have faster feedback on the students’ knowledge and, therefore, guarantee more meaningful learning,” she explained.
For the Education Minister, the digital textbook “is a valuable tool” that should be used in the classroom “in addition to existing ones, stimulating more collaborative and innovative teaching practices.”
“There is no greater sign of equity in access to education than guaranteeing the same equipment, with the same tools, to all students in the same classroom,” she stressed.
Sofia Ribeiro added that it was a “very demanding” process, which included “implementing fast and effective internet access in all schools” and guaranteeing “a security component in accessing and tracking the equipment.”

In Diário dos Açores-Osvaldo Cabral, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.