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May 28, 2023

Portugal giving away $1.3 million worth of tablets to community schools teaching Portuguese in the U.S. 12 schools are in Mass. and R.I.

NEW BEDFORD – Although it wasn’t Christmas, nor even Christmas in July, it

NEW BEDFORD – Although it wasn't Christmas, nor even Christmas in July, it surely felt like it at the Consulate of Portugal in New Bedford last Saturday as representatives of the Camões Institute were handing out hundreds of new Microsoft Surface Go 3 tablets to students and teachers from local community schools that teach Portuguese, courtesy of the Portuguese government.

"I am so happy and excited," said Isabella Gomes, a first grader at the Discovery Language Academy of New Bedford, who was picking up her tablet with her mother Jessica Fernandes Gomes. "I really like electronics, and this will help me learn more words in Portuguese just the way I like it."

In all, about 1,900 tablets with access to digital learning content are expected to be distributed by September among students and teachers of dozens of community schools scattered across the United States as part of the project "Digitalization of Portuguese Teaching Abroad," representing an investment of about $1.2 million euros ($1.3 million) by the Portuguese government just in this country.

"This is a very important project, which has a big investment of $18 million euros (about $19.3 million) from the Portuguese government, aimed at enhancing the teaching of Portuguese abroad," said Rui Vaz, the Director of Language Services at the Camões Institute, the lead Portuguese government unit responsible for the promotion of the Portuguese language and culture abroad.

"The project, as a whole, involves the distribution of 22,000 devices in 48 countries," he added.

The implementation of the "Digitalization of Portuguese Teaching Abroad" project in the United States will be carried out by Camões Institute and the Portuguese Teaching Coordination in the USA (CEPE-EUA), which has an office at the Consulate General of Portugal in Boston.

The tablets were purchased with Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPR) funds approved by the European Union.

"Our main intent here is to bring better content into the classrooms," Vaz said. "The [computer] equipment is being brought to remove the barrier of inequality to access that content."

According to Camões Institute officials, the tablets will allow for the development of a digital educational ecosystem of content, tools, services and platforms that will accelerate pedagogical and didactic processes. They will empower both teachers and students to engage in new ways of collaborative and digital teaching/learning, using face-to-face, online or hybrid models.

Each tablet comes with a keyboard and a digital pen. It is set up with Microsoft 365 software and gives access to the "Ler em Rede" digital platform developed by Camões Institute, which contains numerous Portuguese teaching/learning tools, including texts, audio lessons and interactive exercises.

Students can keep the devices as long as they are enrolled in Portuguese classes at the schools.

There are presently 12 community schools teaching Portuguese in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. They are located in New Bedford, Fall River, Taunton, Cambridge/Somerville, Ludlow, Lowell, Hudson, Milford, Peabody, Cumberland, East Providence and Pawtucket. In all, they are receiving about 600 tablets.

New Bedford's Discovery Language Academy (DLA) alone is receiving more than 150 devices.

"I think it's a tremendous opportunity for the students," said Jessica Gomes, Isabella's mom. "It's an amazing connection for students to have between Portugal and the United States, and it will make it easier to learn the language."

Jennifer Freites, who was picking up a device for her daughter Aria, a first grader at DLA, agreed.

"It gives the kids a different outlet to learn, and probably one they are more familiar with," she said.

Dora Alexandre, who was getting a tablet for her daughter Sofia, a third grader at DLA,

liked the idea that the tablets will "help students learn culture and language together."

Jennifer de Matos, who teaches at the Taunton Portuguese School and was picking up 30 devices at the Consulate, said the tablets will be "a great help" since the school only uses textbooks.

"It's been a little bit difficult to teach without technology," said Matos. "This will allow us to have more relevant lessons and bring the school into the 21st century."