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.
The next top scientist could win $25,000
The next generation of STEM leaders is invited to solve tomorrow’s challenges and compete for $25,000 in the annual Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge
Discovery Education and 3M have opened the annual Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, a national science competition for students in grades 5-8.
Through the program, young inventors have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work closely with a 3M Scientist Mentor, compete for $25,000, and earn the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist.”
The Challenge rewards students who use their science acumen and innovative thinking to create new ways to solve the issues we face every day. Hannah Herbst, who won last year for her energy probe prototype that seeks to offer a stable power source to developing countries, entered the contest because she wanted to help her 9-year-old pen pal living in Ethiopia who lacks a reliable source of power and electricity.…Read More
Infographic: What can Transdisciplinary STEM Learning Look Like in Your School?
Learn how students can build critical thinking skills and bring a meaningful, real-world understanding to all subjects by collaboratively questioning and exploring the world around them, through the lens of “Concepts of Inquiry”.
Problems worth solving
Did you know that 74% of high school seniors score below grade level in math achievement? Or that the U.S. ranks 25th internationally for mathematics education? This exclusive infographic from Discovery Education presents the latest data about where we are and an honest assessment of where we can go from here.
Transforming Math Education for a Digital Era
A new digital textbook aims to improve conceptual understanding for lasting procedural fluency in math by focusing on real-world situations, using video and interactive games to engage students, and providing teachers with immediate feedback on student performance.
How a digital science textbook helped raise student achievement in Collier County
Florida’s Collier County Public Schools partnered with Discovery Education to implement a digital textbook replacement for its science curriculum, using Discovery Education Science Techbook™. An independent study was completed by Merola Research to identify Techbook™’s impact on performance. This paper demonstrates a relationship between Discovery Education Science Techbook usage and enhanced student achievement.
Discovery Education offers free STEM camp
In an effort to bridge the equality gap, as well as give kids and teachers an opportunity for some summer excitement, Discovery Education recently announced that the company is offering its science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) summer camp resources for free.
“We know that too often, unequal access to summer and after-school learning opportunities contribute to disparities in student achievement,” said Cindy Moss, director of global STEM initiatives for Discovery Education. “After-school hours and summer months provide rich opportunities to broaden all students’ exposure to the STEM concepts we know are critical for their success in the classroom today and that are vital to prepare them to compete for the jobs of tomorrow.”
According to Discovery’s website, the STEM Camp is a “dynamic series of standards-aligned curricula available at no cost to schools, districts, non-profit organizations, and parents for use as part of summer camps, after-school STEM programs or wherever support is needed.”…Read More
Albuquerque schools embrace ‘techbooks’ instead of textbooks
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New PBS deal could shake up video streaming market for schools
A new agreement between the Public Broadcasting Service and SAFARI Montage will make SAFARI the main provider of national PBS video content streamed to schools—an arrangement that could shake up the market for school video streaming services.
In the figurative arena of content distribution, it seems that SAFARI Montage—a K-12 digital media management and distribution solution—has been taking no prisoners, as evidenced by the company’s announcement of a deal with PBS to provide hundreds of additional PBS videos. The deal also reportedly terminates PBS’ national contracts with other major players such as Discovery Education and Learn360.
Building on a working relationship that dates back nearly 25 years and has encompassed now-obsolete technologies such as VHS and Beta tapes, SAFARI and PBS have struck an agreement that not only renews their current contract, but expands it to include hundreds of new titles—and makes SAFARI Montage the primary major commercial digital distributor of PBS’ library of full-length programs to schools nationwide.…Read More
Digital textbooks get a boost with new offerings
Apple recently made a splash when it unveiled its iBookstore, featuring digital textbooks for high school math and science education from McGraw-Hill and others. Now, Discovery Education has given digital textbooks another jolt with the release of its own high school science offering—and a middle school social studies product as well.
Discovery Education’s new “Techbooks” expand on an instructional delivery model that Discovery launched for K-8 science in 2010. Much more than just digitized versions of static textbooks, the Techbooks include videos, embedded assessments, and other interactive features that leverage the power of the internet, the company says.
With the Techbooks, “we started from scratch with new content, interface, and tools designed to specifically address learning objectives from a digital perspective,” said Kelli Campbell, senior vice president of global product and content strategy for Discovery Education. “Because we didn’t have to build an experience that mirrored a print publication, we were freed from the linear page format, which allowed us to build a platform specifically designed to promote inquiry-based learning. We developed the Techbook platform so that our chosen instructional model guides the path instead of a page.”…Read More