Adventist School Is First With Digital Technology in Nicaragua

By Inter-American Division staff

A Seventh-day Adventist school in Nicaragua’s capital, Managua, was featured on national television as the country’s first high school to integrate digital technology in the classroom.

Last-year students at Colegio Vocacional Adventista de Nicaragua, or Adventist Vocational School in Nicaragua, began using digital boards and tablets at the start of the school year last month.

Channel 2 News Media, one of the largest television stations in the Central American country, featured a five-minute report about the initiative, which allows students to file homework online and no longer carry heavy textbooks to school.

School principal Juan A. Guevara said the project was implemented to improve the learning level of the fifth-year students.

“We believe that these are powerful tools, so teaching can captivate our young students and they can discover the world,” Guevara said. “We know that this new academic field will bring growth because students are not here to pass a grade but to learn.”

Students are using the interactive digital boards in all subjects, including math, history, and geography, Guevara said. The digital boards have an audio system that allows students to interact and further their learning.

The school plans to expand the technology to the other grades in the coming year.

The school’s initiative has motivated other Adventist schools in Nicaragua to begin planning and investing in similar technology, said Marvin Gomez, associate education director for the church in Nicaragua.

The Adventist Church runs 17 elementary and eight secondary schools in the country. It also has nearly 137,000 church members worshipping in 504 congregations.

Students and teachers alike are pleased with the new technology at Colegio Vocacional Adventista de Nicaragua, which has about 250 elementary and high school students.

“We can … check and turn in our assignments online,” student Gabriel Irigoyen said.

Student Dayana Downs told Channel 2 news that the tablet eliminated the need for heavy textbooks.

“It’s such a relief that we don’t have to carry all of our books in our backpack and we can avoid back pain,” Downs said. “It’s so great to have the tablet because everything that you need is in one place.”

Teacher Maria Cardoza said the technology is helping students learn.

“The student learns more when he or she is interactive with digital tools instead of us just lecturing, so we are improving their learning process,” Cardoza said.