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Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Louisiana Public Broadcasting Renews Long-Term Partnership Supporting the Design and Delivery of Engaging Learning Experiences in Classrooms Statewide

SILVER SPRING, MD (Wednesday, May 11, 2022)— Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) today announced the renewal of its long-term partnership with  Discovery Education, the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place. 

LPB’s renewal of its 19-year collaboration with Discovery Education provides educators high-quality digital content from Discovery Education’s award-winning K-12 learning platform that supports the design and delivery of engaging learning experiences in classrooms statewide. 

LPB is Louisiana’s largest classroom over the air, on every device, in schools, and in the community. LPB’s Educational Services Department is committed to providing extensive information, lesson plans, materials, and digital resources to support formal K-12 education statewide. Through its nearly two-decade long partnership with Discovery Education, LPB has offered educators and students a host of digital resources including Discovery Education’s flexible K-12 platform. …Read More

Sora App’s New Curated Bundles of Digital Comics Save Schools Time and Money

CLEVELAND – March 14, 2022 – In response to educators’ need for more digital content to engage students, OverDrive Education now offers popular digital comic books to schools around the world via the Sora student reading app. Schools can purchase age-appropriate and cost-effective curated bundles totaling more than 1,500 digital comic books. These titles include simultaneous use rights so all students can access titles for their age group instantly. Sora is the leading student reading app available in more than 53,000 schools worldwide.

An award-winning app known for assigned and choice reading of ebooks, audiobooks and magazines, Sora also provides a simple user experience for students to browse and read comics, even on phones. The “All Access Comics” bundles are grouped into three age ranges and contain the most popular titles for schools, including Avatar The Last Airbender, They Called Us Enemy, My Little Pony, Plants vs. Zombies, Samurai Jack, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Astro Boy, Hellboy, and Skyward. See the full lists of titles.

All Access Comics in Sora bundles also include Marvel titles that are not currently available in any other simultaneous use digital model for schools, such as brands or characters like Avengers, Spider-Man, Eternals, Star Wars, Hulk, X-Men, Thor and Venom.…Read More

4 tips for an effective digital citizenship program

Today, students are not merely digital natives; they are voracious consumers and creators of digital content both in school and out. This increased access has also increased the risk that students will engage in riskier behaviors online or be exposed to content that’s inappropriate, or even dangerous. How to interact online in an appropriate way, and how to navigate difficult issues such as sexting and cyberbullying, often aren’t addressed in school curriculum, despite the huge impact they can have on students both emotionally and academically if things go wrong.

At the San Juan School District in Utah, we took some concrete steps in an effort to get out in front of the issue. As the district’s HR director and Title IX coordinator, I was hearing more concerns and seeing some worrying trends relating to cyberbullying, hazing, and sexual harassment, including some serious allegations involving students that occurred off of school grounds.

As a leadership team, we recognized the need to be proactive in order to ensure incidents like this would not happen in the future, and to accomplish this we needed tools to help us facilitate better communication among both students and staff about sensitive student safety and wellness topics.…Read More

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Digital Magazines Now Available to K-12 Schools Worldwide in Sora Reading App

In response to educators’ need for more digital content to support classroom learning, OverDrive Education now offers popular digital magazines to schools around the world via the Sora student reading app. Schools can purchase an affordable bundle of 50 always-available educational and recreational magazines for all students who use Sora. Sora is the student reading app available in more than 50,000 schools worldwide.

An award-winning app known for ebooks and audiobooks, Sora unifies a simple user experience for students, including easy issue selection and single article view. Educators can now purchase the curated collection of the most popular titles for schools includes National Geographic Kids, TIME for Kids, The Week Junior and more. Schools can choose Juvenile, Young Adult and Adult packages and remove any titles from their collection as needed. More information about the magazine titles can be found here (title availability may vary by region).

“We’re so excited to offer a range of periodicals across the grade levels,” said Susan Nakasone, Librarian at Ewa Beach Elementary in Hawaii. “Adding these to our shared collection will provide greater accessibility and choice in reading material to all our students. Our students’ nonfiction informational reading engagement just got a huge boost!”…Read More

OverDrive Education Donates Juvenile & Young Adult Titles to Schools Worldwide

CLEVELAND – September 1, 2021 – To help schools meet growing demand for digital content without increasing budget, OverDrive Education donated over 280 juvenile and young adult titles to more than 50,000 schools around the world. This updated Sora Starter Collection bundle includes high-interest ebook, audiobook and Read-Along titles that are always available to students through September 1, 2023. Sora is the leading student reading app for schools worldwide.

This free collection allows over 50,000 schools and millions of students with the Sora app to encourage community engagement with young readers through book clubs, classroom discussions and more. The Sora Starter titles expand schools’ individual digital collections, removing barriers and providing access to more resources for literacy 24/7 anytime, anywhere. Notable titles include The Great Gatsby, Iggy Peck, Architect, Separate Is Never Equal and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Ebooks, audiobooks and Read-Alongs in this collection come from Sourcebooks, Jump!, Bellwether, Triangle, Lerner, Kaleidoscope, Rosen, Abrams and Duke Classics. More information about the titles can be found here (title availability may vary by region).

“The collections of Simultaneous Use ebooks and audiobooks have been wonderful during the pandemic – the titles are often among our most circulated,” said Denise Hull, Technician, Learning Resources at Aurora Public Schools in Colorado. “I want to offer my sincere gratitude to the Sora team and to the publishers for making this happen. We’re excited for our students to enjoy the new titles added into this refreshed Sora Starter Collection.”…Read More

New Features Added to Discovery Education’s K-12 Learning Platform Gives Teachers New Ways to Engage Students with Digital Content Everyday

SILVER SPRING, MD (Tuesday, July 13, 2021) — Discovery Education today announced new features and enhancements to its award-winning K-12 learning platform. The latest Discovery Education platform combines dynamic new tools with the amazing, timely content educators have come to know and love to give all users new ways to seamlessly create exciting and engaging learning activities each day. Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art K-12 digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place.

Ever since its debut as United Streaming more than 20 years ago, Discovery Education’s learning platform has been known for its expansive treasury of digital resources, which now includes more than 200,000 videos, text-based passages, interactives, audio, podcasts, and images that span all grades, subjects, and critical topics of today. Each month, Discovery Education adds hundreds of new resources—including ready-to-use activities, Virtual Field Trips, video from trusted partners, podcasts, and relevant, curated channels—to excite, engage, and connect students to the real world.   

Now, Discovery Education is building on its legacy as the leader in digital content by adding a host of new, time-saving features to its platform supporting teaching, creating, and professional growth. Among those enhancements are:…Read More

Post-pandemic tools are focusing on engaging digital content for all learning scenarios

Engagement–whether students are hybrid or in person–is a top priority for educators, particularly after the rollercoaster year COVID delivered to schools. Another thing COVID made clear? The need for impactful edtech tools and digital content.

New updates to Discovery Education‘s K-12 learning platform combine engaging tools with timely, vetted, and easy-to-access content. The updates give educators and students new ways to seamlessly create learning activities each day.  

“Where we are really focusing is that we want to bring joy back to teachers’ lives,” said Jason Ediger, Discovery Education’s chief marketing officer. “There’s something magical around the way teachers are inherently creative; they want to connect with a student and give them that hook for understanding. They want to help them see the possibilities available to them in the world.” …Read More

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5 ways this district evaluates its digital content purchases

K-12 schools spend billions on edtech tools, but often, many of the tools go unused or aren’t evaluated for effectiveness. So how can district technology teams ensure an effective evaluation and purchasing process for digital content and new software?

The Pickerington Local School District in Ohio has done just that, with a carefully-honed process that ensures communication and transparency between its curriculum and technology departments, as well as with teachers.

“The big problem is that we spend a lot of money on edtech,” said Brian Seymour, PLSD’s director of instructional technology, during an ISTELive 21 session. “Now, with everything that happened with COVID, so much more money was invested into edtech so much more quickly than in the past, because we had to adapt. The problem is that we’re spending a lot of money, and are we really doing it in a wise way?”…Read More

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Louisiana Public Broadcasting and Discovery Education Renew Long-Term Partnership Serving Educators and Students Statewide

SILVER SPRING, MD (Tuesday, June 15, 2021)— Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) today announced the renewal of its long-term partnership with  Discovery Education, a leader in standards-aligned digital curriculum resources and engaging content for K-12 classrooms worldwide. LPB’s renewal of its 18-year collaboration with Discovery Education empowers K-12 educators across the state to create dynamic digital learning experiences in the classroom and beyond with high-quality digital content from Discovery Education’s award-winning K-12 learning platform.

LPB is Louisiana’s largest classroom over the air, on every device, in schools, and in the community. LPB’s Educational Services Department is committed to providing extensive information, lesson plans, materials, and digital resources to support formal K-12 education statewide. Through its nearly two-decade long partnership with Discovery Education, LPB has offered educators and students a host of digital resources including Discovery Education’s flexible K-12 platform.

Discovery Education’s platform connects educators to a vast collection of compelling high-quality, standards-aligned content, ready-to-use digital lessons, and professional learning resources. Together, these resources give educators everything they need to facilitate instruction in any learning environment and create lasting educational impact.…Read More