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.

3M and Discovery Education Name 10 Grant Recipients Supporting Nation’s Young Scientists 

St. Paul, Minn. and Charlotte, NC. – 3M (@3M) and Discovery Education (@DiscoveryEd) today announced the 10 recipients of the inaugural 3M Young Scientist Challenge Alumni Network Alumni Grants Program. Launched in 2023, the program supports past participants and future scientists as part of the 3M Young Scientist Challenge ( #YoungScientist).  

As the nation’s premier middle school science competition, the annual 3M Young Scientist Challenge invites students in grades 5-8 to compete for a mentorship with a 3M scientist, a $25,000 grand prize, and the chance to earn the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist.” The new Alumni Network and Alumni Grants Program offers previous participants networking opportunities, resources, events, and funding for existing science projects. Former finalists must be registered members of the 3M Young Scientist Alumni Network to apply. 

The Alumni Grants Program awarded a total of $25,000 in funding to ten 3M Young Scientist Challenge alumni. The 2023 3M Young Scientist Challenge Alumni Grants Program recipients across three funding areas are as follows:  …Read More

Georgia’s Glynn County Schools Renews Multiyear Partnership Supporting Science Instruction in K-5 Classrooms

Charlotte, NC — Georgia’s Glynn County Schools (GCS) today announced the renewal of its multiyear partnership with Discovery Education supporting the district’s youngest learners. The renewal of this partnership ensures students and teachers in the district’s K-5 classrooms will continue to use the company’s award-winning Mystery Science service to explore the natural world and more deeply engage in science instruction. Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports instruction wherever it takes place. 

Located in Southeastern Georgia, Glynn County Schools’ dedicated staff of more than 3,600 professionals serves more than 12,000 students in 21 schools. Driven by their vision to create 21st century learning environments that offer opportunities for all students to pursue higher education and develop skills that meet workforce needs while producing informed, conscientious, and productive citizens who give back to their community, GCSS fosters a culture of continuous assessment and improvement.  

This year, following a careful review of the district’s usage and success with the Mystery Science service, school administrators elected to renew the partnership with Discovery Education that brings Mystery Science to GCSS’s K-5 students. By doing so, the district will continue to create hands-on instructional experiences that engage students and build their capacity for success for both the remainder of their career at GCSS and beyond. …Read More

Illinois’ Geneva School District 304 Renews Longterm Partnership with Discovery Education Supporting Science Education

Charlotte, NC — Illinois’ Geneva School District 304 (Geneva CUSD 304) today announced it has renewed its multi-year partnership with Discovery Education supporting science education in grades K-5 through the year 2026. This continued collaboration ensures K-5 students and teachers districtwide will continue enjoying access to Discovery Education’s award-winning Mystery Science service, which is helping drive deeper engagement in science instruction. Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports instruction wherever it takes place. 

Each day, Geneva CUSD 304’s teachers, administrators, and staff seek to educate the nearly 5,500 students they serve within an environment that encourages the desire to learn and meets the unique academic, personal, physical, and social needs of each child. In 2016, district educators selected Mystery Science to support hands-on elementary science instruction and foster within each student a love of science. Today, Mystery Science continues to fulfill that mission as it helps district students develop into complex, creative thinkers. 

Mystery Science, which joined the family of Discovery Education services in 2020 and is a winner of SIIA’s Best Science Instructional Solution CODiE Award for Grades PK-8, provides K-5 educators simple-to-use, open-and-go, hands-on lessons that inspire students to love science. Each lesson begins by posing a question commonly asked by young students. Students then explore these questions through interactive videos featuring real-world visuals fostering a sense of wonder and actively supporting student engagement in the accompanying discussion prompts.  …Read More

Free Resources for Mental Health Month from Discovery Education 

Charlotte, NC — To help educators nationwide observe Mental Health Month, Discovery Education is presenting a curated collection of free standards-aligned resources empowering educators to support student mental health. Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place.  

Established in 1949 by Mental Health America and observed each May, Mental Health Month raises awareness and educates the public about mental illnesses and strategies for attaining mental health and wellness. This year’s theme, “Look Around, Look Within,” encourages communities to explore and understand how factors like education and the environment impact mental health. In recognition of Mental Health Month and the 2023 theme, Discovery Education presents the following collection of resources in collaboration with partners: 

Virtual Field Trip 
Grades 3-5 …Read More

Latest Enhancements to Discovery Education Services Drive Deeper Student Engagement 

Charlotte, NC — Discovery Education—the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports instruction wherever it takes place—has announced a host of exciting updates to the company’s award-winning services. Together, these new enhancements drive deeper student engagement and offer even greater support to educators.

Discovery Education’s award-winning products and services have long been recognized as the “teacher’s choice” for their high-quality digital content, grab-and-go lessons, and teaching tools that drive deep student learning in all K-12 topics. Through these latest enhancements by Discovery Education’s expert product development team, educators using the company’s innovative services now have even more ways to drive inquiry, excitement, and exploration in the classroom. Among the updates made recently to the Discovery Education platform are: 

  • A new Discovery Education Original Series, Real-World Phenomena Jr. Featuring short videos in English and Spanish that are paired with ready-to-use instructional activities, this exciting new content brings compelling natural science phenomena alive for students.   
  • 10 new learning games from Arcademics. These skill-building, multi-player games help students build critical skills in math, language arts, and social studies in a fun and entertaining way.   
  • A new collection of compelling social studies and civics education resources from Sesame Workshop which can be found in the Discovery Education platform’s Sesame Learning Channel.  

Discovery Education has also enhanced its Pivot Interactives solution, which  joined the Discovery Education family in 2022. Pivot Interactives makes teaching science with active learning and scientific phenomena engaging and easy with 10,000 authentic, video-based science interactives crafted by Pivot’s expert curriculum team and teacher community. Recently, Pivot’s product team added several new enhancements to the service including the additions of: …Read More

Celebrating Earth Day with Resources from Discovery Education 

Charlotte, NC — In celebration of Earth Day 2023, Discovery Education presents K-12 teachers and students a diverse array of cross-curricular digital resources inspiring exploration of the natural world and environmental stewardship. Available on Discovery Education’s Earth Day website and award-winning K-12 learning platform, this collection of high-quality digital content is organized by grade band and has been curated by Discovery Education’s team of curriculum experts. Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place. 

The Earth Day resources from Discovery Education and its partners have been curated to be easily integrated into educators’ lesson plans and schools’ Earth Day observances. Included in the resources available on the Discovery Education Earth Day website are sustainability-focused materials created in partnership with Sesame Workshop, Seeker, Vooks, and Scripps News, including: 

Grades K-12 
Vooks: Earth Day Activity Sheet 
Vooks is an entire library of storybooks brought to life with beautiful animation, read-aloud narration, engaging music and sound, and read-along text. Use these fun activities to highlight the importance of Earth Day including discussion questions, a coloring sheet, vocabulary cards, and more. …Read More

Free Resources from Discovery Education Support Financial Capability Month

Charlotte, NC — Discovery Education—the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place—is providing an array of free digital resources to support National Financial Capability Month. 

Taking place annually in April, National Financial Capability Month was founded by the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) and is produced by the Jump$tart Coalition. In support of financial literacy education Discovery Education offers a curated collection of resources in collaboration with partners committed to giving students the financial skills they need to be successful in life: 

Self-Paced Modules 
Grades 6-12 
On-demand, self-paced modules take high school students on a journey of choices they can make around concepts such as using credit and making major financial decisions. Nationally recognized with the Jump$tart Coalition’s 2021 Innovation Award, Pathway to Financial Success in Schools is a personal finance education resource complete with classroom activities, family connections, educator guides, and a master class series on teaching financial education topics. This series sparks ideas, connects educators, and helps prompt conversations with administrators about the need for financial education and was created by Discover Financial Services and Discovery Education.  …Read More

New Mexico’s Aztec Municipal School District Renews Multiyear Partnership Driving Student Engagement in Science  

Charlotte, NC — New Mexico’s Aztec Municipal School District (AMSD) today announced the renewal of its multiyear partnership with Discovery Education supporting science education in three district elementary schools. This renewed collaboration ensures students and teachers in the district’s K-5 classrooms will continue to use the company’s award-winning Mystery Science service to drive deeper student engagement in science instruction. Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports instruction wherever it takes place. 

AMSD serves 2,800 K-12 students in a rural community located in the northwest corner of New Mexico within the “Four Corners region” where New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona meet. AMSD’s diverse student population is approximately 63% Anglo, 22% Hispanic, and 13% Native American. The district employs over 200 certified staff members and a support staff of more than 150 to provide transportation and educational services to students. The family-oriented district is a nurturing learning community in which everyone has a job title, but their key role is to improve learning for all students.  

AMSD’s talented team of educators are dedicated to ensuring all learners develop a strong educational foundation that will serve as a launching point for future success. In 2021, the district selected Mystery Science to help teach students how to think like scientists and develop a life-long love of learning. This year, following a careful review of the district’s usage and success with the Mystery Science service, school administrators elected to renew for two additional years the partnership with Discovery Education that brings Mystery Science to ASMD’s elementary school classrooms. By doing so, the district believes they are helping build young learners’ knowledge of the scientific fundamentals that will drive future success in the subject in middle school, high school, and beyond.  …Read More

Discovery Education Launches New Digital Citizenship Resources in Partnership with Norton 

Charlotte, NC – Discovery Education, in partnership with Norton, a leading Cyber Safety brand of Gen™, recently launched a new digital citizenship resource center – My Digital Life – on the award-winning Discovery Education K-12 platform. The My Digital Life resource center offers standards-aligned resources designed to empower students and educators with activities about digital citizenship. Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place. 

Digital citizenship refers to the responsible use of technology by anyone who uses computers, the internet, and digital devices to engage with society on any level. By developing digital citizenship skills, students will become inclusive, informed, engaged, balanced, and alert while in digital spaces. 

“Equipping educators and families with digital citizenship tools helps students develop the critical skills to stay safe online early,” said Kim Allman, head of corporate responsibility for Gen and its family of consumer brands including Norton. “With the Norton resources created in partnership with Discovery Education, students will learn how to best conduct themselves in the digital environment.” …Read More

DPS STEAM Launches Innovative Discovery Education Program

DENVER, CO – The Denver Public Schools STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, PE, Health and Media Literacy) Department is excited to announce the launch of a new initiative with Discovery Education which will help educators district wide provide K-12 students with innovative and engaging multilingual learning experiences and resources.

“We are thrilled to bring Discovery Education’s digital resources to our students,” said Nadia Madan Morrow, Chief of Academics of Denver Public Schools. “This initiative will help us enhance and enrich the educational experiences of our K-12 students, while also empowering our teachers with tools and resources to enhance the district’s adopted curriculum.”

Discovery Education, a worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place, offers K-12 educators a range of digital tools and resources that support the design and delivery of exciting educational experiences every day. The program includes science simulations, STEM connection videos and activities, virtual field trips and more!…Read More