Paraíso Colégio is the first educational institution in the Northeast to be recognized as a Microsoft Showcase School. As a part of the leadership team, Bruna Lima, Bilingual Program Coordinator, and Raniere Candido, Director of IT and Innovation, always wanted to integrate technology education into their classrooms and teaching.

As a Microsoft Showcase School, Paraíso Colégio is an expert in using technology in an educational setting and the team was seeking new ways to incorporate hands-on, project-based STEAM education into their curriculum. Paraíso Colégio selected Digital Media Academy’s courses as they were easily integrated into their curriculum. Additionally, the school was delighted that Digital Media Academy enabled engaging, remote, STEAM learning using Microsoft Teams.

When the whole world started staying home, kids started learning from home as well. Bruna and Raniere saw Digital Media Academy’s (DMA) online courses as a perfect fit to help their students learn remotely and stay engaged. Teachers shared that the courses worked very well through Microsoft Teams. Educators at Paraíso Colégio also commented that the lesson plans were very clear, and the lessons provide great ways to extend learning beyond the classroom.

Students at Paraíso Colégio have shown increased independence and creativity as they explore these new lessons. Students are developing their critical thinking skills and becoming less dependent on their teachers for information. This has been particularly important in a remote learning environment. Students saw major increases in their creative use of technology because of DMA courses. Students for the first time were able to practice their design skills and create with computers to exercise their imagination. Educators also noted that shy students were able to find their voice through creativity with technology.

Teachers remarked on students having their eyes opened to the possibilities of using digital tools to enable their creativity. Moving from painting in notebooks to painting using a computer held their attention and excited them to learn new things. Students in older grades and classes were even noted to have asked to take the course too. They also wanted to use technology to practice their creativity.

The onboarding process led by Digital Media Academy’s Education team explained the core skills the students would learn from each course and taught all the teachers how to use the online platform and lesson structure to deliver impactful learning for their students. This training was key to also helping teachers adjust to the new reality of teaching online.