In a move that could help extend students' learning after school hours, the state of Indiana, Comcast Corp., and Discovery Education have teamed up to provide students with free on-demand digital resources that are aligned with state standards.

Discovery Education On Demand By Comcast is a first-in-the-nation service that will give Indiana families instant, at-home access to educational video clips, hands-on activities, interactive content, subject guides, puzzles, and homework help tools. Content is available at no additional cost to local Comcast Digital Cable customers on their cable TV service and to all Indiana parents and students online. (With free registration, persons outside of Indiana may access the content as well.)

Currently, more than 200 videos are available on demand through the service, and all "engage students in learning, and support and supplement the work of educators in classrooms across the state," said Stephen Wakefield, communications manager for Discovery Education. "These videos, aligned to state standards and organized by grade level and subject area, cover core academic disciplines including math, science, English/language arts, and social studies."

Content will be continually refreshed with new videos, and new content will be added online regularly as well, said Wakefield.

Discovery Education On Demand By Comcast was inspired by the personal experience of Scott Tenney, senior vice president of Comcast's Indianapolis region. Nearly 20 years ago, Tenney and his wife were seeking tools to supplement the education of their son, who had been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and dyslexia. They found that Discovery's educational content was a resource that engaged their son in learning and made a difference in his academic progress. 

Motivated by this experience, Tenney and Comcast partnered with Discovery Education, a division of Discovery Communications, to make educationally relevant media available to Indiana parents and caregivers.

"Every parent wants to help [his or her] child succeed in school," said Tenney. "By combining the power of our two-way interactive fiber-optic network with the outstanding content from Discovery Education, Comcast is pleased to provide a service that helps parents partner with their child's educator and further engage children in learning."

"A handful of states, such as California, Texas, and Indiana, are leading a migration away from traditional textbooks toward digital content," said Wakefield. "In Indiana, the state Board of Education recently made changes to [its] textbook adoption process, further embracing digital media."

The state education board voted a few months ago to issue a blanket waiver allowing state-accredited public and private schools to use a broad range of multimedia, computer, and internet resources to supplement or replace traditional textbooks.