TOWANDA -- Students in Bradford County are getting an even faster jumpstart to the world of technology that awaits them.
Inside Towanda Area Elementary School are hundreds of students embracing tablets over books as part of a relatively new program. For the second year, students in grades 5 through 8 are given Dell tablets to help complement learning in the classroom.
"It's going from a teacher-directed environment to a student-centered environment where our students are discovering the knowledge and the information," said elementary school principal Andrew Doster.
"It's using new technology because that's more likely we're going to grow up using," added Hannah Risch, a sixth grader.
"It gives them an additional boost into technology and a little more access so they're not always going to computer labs," explained Anthony Ward, IT director.
One of the biggest differences this year with the tablets is now teachers can limit which applications students can have on them.
"One of the big things in education with students and education is keeping the students engaged," said Dennis Peachey, junior/senior high school principal. "What we want to do is have a filtering process as to what apps the students can download onto their devices."
"Last year, we had all kinds of kids sitting there in class while other teachers were trying to teach and they were just sitting there playing games not paying attention, so I think this is going to help them pay attention more," said Kaleb Cassellbury, a sixth grader.
Funding for the tablets comes from a state grant as well as district funds.
