Teachers getting digital edge in Austin

AUSTIN (KXAN) - What some teachers may view as distractions, are quickly becoming the latest and greatest teaching tools on the market.

This week, more than 10,000 educators from Texas and across the world have flocked to the capital city to attend the Texas Computer Education Association conference.

What's unique about the workshops being held at the Austin Convention Center -- all presenters are public school teachers.

Tuesday, Collette Barragan was demonstrating how she uses gaming in her own classroom. The fine arts teacher from Fort Stockton in West Texas had her eyes focused on a large projection screen while waving her arms around to solve math problems while playing an Xbox Kinect game. Barragan believes it has helped raise reading scores in her district.

"Your disabled kids to your high functioning kids -- everybody can use it," said Barragan. "It's my favorite part of the day at school."

Five years ago, Barragan paid for the first video game system and games out of her own pocket because she believed in what it could do for kids.

With shrinking school budgets, getting new technology into classrooms can be a struggle.

"You make a big 'ole wish list and you see what happens," said Chris Bates, an elementary school computer teacher in Aledo, west of Fort Worth.

This is her first year attending the conference. Tuesday, she attended a workshop that turned her on to several free iPad apps her kids can use in class. Bates said her campus is getting ready to use donation dollars to buy about a dozen iPads for students.

She is looking forward to heading back to school with a few more teaching tools in her belt.