Experiences for K-8 Students District-wide
Through this new collaboration, SBCSC’s K-8 educators will advance the district’s transition towards captivating digital learning environments by integrating Discovery Education Streaming Plus and Science Techbook™ and into classroom instruction.
Beginning this fall, SBCSC’s K-8 educators will begin using Discovery Education Streaming Plus, a comprehensive digital service supplementing instruction across all K-12 curricular areas, to help build students’ mastery in interpreting, understanding, and evaluating information. Through Streaming Plus, students can access a variety of digital assets including images, primary source documents, podcasts, oral interviews, books on tape, articles, videos, and are empowered to become content creators with a suite of tools that help teachers and students safely and easily collaborate in real-time on virtual projects. Teacher resources include lesson plans, instructional strategies, and content collections organized around themes, as well as a collection of new STEM resources designed to fuel a cultural shift in teaching and learning. While Streaming Plus was originally purchased to satisfy the district’s current health adoption, the breadth and depth of the service’s content and its powerful content creation tools will support all K-8 teachers in all subject matters.
SBCSC’s K-8 educators will also begin using Discovery Education’s Science Techbook to create more engaging science lessons at the start of the 2017-2018 school year. Discovery Education’s Techbooks are breakthrough digital textbooks that are aligned to rigorous standards, support a comprehensive curriculum, and are updated regularly at no cost. The series encourages all learners through interactive features that change the reading level of text and enable text to be read aloud. The Techbook series saves teachers’ time with a comprehensive design that places model lessons, student activities and assessments at their fingertips. Techbooks are platform neutral and can be used in one-to-one or one-to-many configurations and in any instructional environment.
Utilizing an inquiry-based format built on the Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate (5E) model, each Science Techbook includes rich, standards-aligned content such as video, audio, text, interactives with hands-on activities, and virtual labs that help educators differentiate instruction and provide a rich and engaging learning experience for students. Additional student features include bilingual text-to-speech and leveled reading tools, and note-taking and highlighting capabilities.
The Science Techbooks series also includes valuable STEM resources as well. STEM Project Starters encourage students to connect math, technology, and engineering to their understanding of science concepts to produce creative solutions to real world problems. In addition, the STEM In Action resources help students connect their work to STEM careers, which promotes a clearer understanding of how skills used in school can be applied to jobs “in the real world.” Embedded formative assessment opportunities that help educators monitor student progress are embedded into each Techbook, and like all Discovery Education digital textbooks, the Science Techbooks work on any device and can be implemented in any instructional setting.
“The South Bend Community Schools are dedicated to being the region’s choice for exceptional education, with expert staff and exemplary programs that engage our diverse students in quality learning and equip each one, academically and personally, to thrive in and shape an ever changing world,” said Dr. Kenneth Spells, SBCSC Superintendent. “Our talented staff is passionate about this mission and our decision to move forward in our digital transition, and we are pleased to partner with the great team at Discovery Education on this endeavor.”
The Discovery Education Community will also support the SBCSC’s educators’ efforts to transform students’ learning experiences with dynamic digital media. A global community of education professionals, the Discovery Education Community connects members across school systems and around the world through social media, virtual conferences, and in-person events, fostering valuable networking, idea sharing and inspiration.
“Discovery Education is honored to be part of South Bend Community School Corporation’s work to create modern digital learning environments,” said Kelly Hoce, Discovery Education’s Educational Partnerships Director. “We look forward to closely supporting Dr. Spells, Facilitator of Science Tracy Slattery, and the rest of the district’s talented team in our joint effort to prepare all students for success beyond graduation.”
For more information about Discovery Education’s Digital Content Services, Science Techbook, or other resources, visit www.discoveryeducation.com, and stay connected with Discovery Education on social media through Facebook, follow us on Twitter at @DiscoveryEd, or find us on Instagram and Pinterest.
About Discovery Education
Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-based digital content for K-12, transforming teaching and learning with award-winning digital textbooks, multimedia content, professional development, and the largest professional learning community of its kind. Serving 4.5 million educators and over 50 million students, Discovery Education’s services are in half of U.S. classrooms, 50 percent of all primary schools in the UK, and more than 50 countries. Discovery Education partners with districts, states, and like-minded organizations to captivate students, empower teachers, and transform classrooms with customized solutions that increase academic achievement. Discovery Education is powered by Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the number one nonfiction media company in the world. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.