Madera Unified teachers are learning about the latest tech upgrades

MADERA, Calif. (KFSN) -- The school year may be over in Madera Unified but teachers are already preparing for the fall.

Teachers from Madera Unified's 26 schools were learning about Google Drive in this tech session on Tuesday. Summer Tech 15 is a four-day workshop designed to get teachers up to date with what the district will offer to students in the fall.

Instructional Tech Director Rebecca Malmo said, "We've got thousands of Chromebooks in the district now. Grades 4-12 have them in every classroom. We will be pushing them in the lower grades as well in the future."

In addition to the hands on sessions, faculty members also heard from Apple and Google personnel. It's important the teachers prepare over the summer since their students are so tech savvy.

Education Tech Coach Jamie Smith added, "Plus the teachers need to be able to create lesson plans, share them with students. Share lesson ides or templates with students through Google Classroom and Drive is essential to that."

Those heavy textbooks which have weighed down students for generations will soon be replaced by laptop learning.

Malmo said, "I really feel like textbooks are on the shortlist and we're going to be moving towards digital content largely in the next few years. Certainly in five years we won't see new textbooks."

Madera Unified has six education tech coaches and will soon hire three more to meet the district's growing demand.