New Enhancements to Discovery Education streaming Further Support Educators Integrating Digital Resources into Curriculum

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Stephen Wakefield, Discovery Education
240-662-2893
[email protected]

Sandy Fash, C. Blohm & Associates
608-839-9800
[email protected]

— Upgrades to leading digital content service include new media collections, updated assignment builders and expanded professional development opportunities —

Silver Spring, Md. (July 20, 2010) – Discovery Education streaming has been enhanced with a variety of new features to further support educators as they integrate digital content into school curriculum. In addition to new thematically organized media collections that allow educators to quickly find relevant resources for classroom instruction, Discovery Education has improved the service’s suite of Builder Tools and re-launched the professional development section of www.discoveryeducation.com . Containing more than 125,000 digital assets, the award-winning Discovery Education streaming service is available in more than half the schools in the nation.

“Discovery Education’s latest enhancements show their commitment to empowering educators to improve student achievement,” explained Traci Blazosky, educator at Clarion Area Elementary, Pennsylvania. “When my students return to school for the 2010-11 school year, I will have additional resources, content, and tools at my fingertips to create even more exciting classroom activities. Plus, I will enjoy access to a variety of professional development opportunities that can help me become a better teacher.”

Continuing Discovery Education’s efforts to support school systems transitioning to digital media as a core instructional resource, content has been organized around 60 common topics and themes – such as African-American history, historic speeches, and math in context – in 7 academic disciplines, further aiding educators in their quest for simple-to-find, relevant content. Before the end of the year, Discovery Education’s curriculum development teams will add 100 more thematic pages based on the top search terms of Discovery Education streaming users.

The company’s new content collections also help users find the relevant resources around specific video series. Fans of Discovery Channel’s LIFE, PLANET EARTH and other educational series from the Discovery Communications content vault can now find all the relevant multimedia content and lesson plans related to those series in one convenient place.

Discovery Education streaming’ s popular Assignment, Writing Prompt and Quiz Builder tools also have been improved, streamlining how educators assign content to students through the Student Center. Simple to follow forms help educators create digital assignments, writing prompts and quizzes in three easy steps, creating classroom activities that engage the 21st learner.

In addition, Discovery Education has re-launched the professional development section of www.discoveryeducation.com . Now featuring a comprehensive collection of case studies, a course catalog, delivery models, and other resources, the website’s professional development section is the go-to source of information for school administrators seeking to partner with Discovery Education to improve academic achievement through ongoing professional development.

Finally, the company’s already robust EdTechConnect online webinar series has been enlarged to help educators of every type and level of technological prowess incorporate digital content into their lesson plans. A slate of nationally-recognized educational technology experts, Discovery Communications personalities, authors, advocates, and more, are poised to provide a series of high-impact webinars to support educators throughout the year as they use digital content to help each student live up to their fullest academic potential.

“Since Discovery Education streaming was introduced in January 2001, it has been recognized as the leading digital content service for the classroom,” said Kelli Campbell, Discovery Education senior vice president of product and content strategy. “Schools across the country are choosing dynamic digital content over static textbooks as their core instructional resource. Discovery Education is supporting this transition with the highest quality content, services and professional development. We’ll continue to listen to our customer base of more than 1 million teachers and administrators for direction as to how we can improve our services to not only to stay ‘best in class,’ but also to have maximum impact on student academic achievement.”

For more information on Discovery Education streaming , please visit www.discoveryeducation.com or call 800-323-9084.

About Discovery Education
Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) revolutionized television with Discovery Channel and is now transforming classrooms through Discovery Education. Powered by the number one nonfiction media company in the world, Discovery Education combines scientifically proven, standards-based digital media and a dynamic user community in order to empower teachers to improve student achievement. Already, more than half of all U.S. schools access Discovery Education digital services. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com .

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