The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) is tapping Discovery Education for its digital curriculum. 

School systems around the country are trying to figure out how to teach their children well, remotely, for the balance of the school year and potentially the beginning of the next. 

Discovery Education provided digital curricula for K-12 classrooms, which will now be virtual classrooms.  

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“In this moment, Excellence in Learning takes many forms. As RIDE began preparations to embark on Distance Learning last month, we wanted to provide our educators, students, and families with resources that would enrich their at-home experience,” said Angélica Infante-Green, RIDE commissioner of elementary and secondary education. “Discovery Education is an ideal partner for us in meeting that goal." She said the online offerings will include "learning events," instructional support for teachers, and "grab-and-go" lessons. 

The Discovery Education suite of offerings are mobile compatible so they can be accessed by a mobile device from the nearest hot spot. "RIDE and Discovery Education recognize the inequalities that exist for families that lack up-to-date computers or reliable internet access," said the company.   

Private equity firm Francisco Partners has agreed to purchase a majority interest in Discovery Education, a unit of Discovery Communications that provides digital content and professional development for public schools around the world, for about $120 million.

Discovery Communications will continue to hold a minority interest in Discovery Education, and will license the “Discovery Education” brand to Francisco Partners

Discovery Education was formed in 2004 after the combination of Discovery Channel School and United Learning Inc. Since then the unit has grown to become a 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. Discovery Education serves 4.5 million educators and over 50 million students and its services are in half of U.S. classrooms, 50% of all primary schools in the U.K., and more than 50 countries.

“This transaction represents an incredibly exciting opportunity for Discovery Education to accelerate its growth with Francisco Partners, while also maintaining its longstanding partnership with the Discovery Communications family,” said Discovery Education CEO Bill Goodwyn in a statement. “We are well positioned to continue investing in our market-leading products and services, and this investment allows us to further expand our reach and impact both domestically and around the world.”

Discovery Education’s current management team, led by Goodwyn, will operate the company as a standalone business upon the closing of the transaction.

“From its earliest days, education has been rooted in Discovery’s DNA and we are extremely proud of the world-class business that Bill and his team have built and the impact Discovery Education’s products and services have made in transforming student achievement,” said Discovery Communications chief development, distribution and legal officer Bruce Campbell in a statement. “This transaction allows Discovery to focus on driving value and growth across our core media businesses, while maintaining our strong commitment to Discovery Education and its mission to promote and inspire learning. We are excited for its next chapter with Francisco Partners.”

Discovery Education partners with administrators, teachers, students and like-minded organizations worldwide to create dynamic digital learning environments that support the success of all learners. By combining award-winning digital textbooks, or Discovery Education “Techbooks,” and best-in-class supplemental services such as Discovery Education Streaming and STEM Connect with sustained professional development resources, Discovery Education is inspiring student curiosity and empowering educators every day to reimagine teaching and learning.

“We are thrilled to partner with Bill and the entire Discovery Education team as the company embarks on its next stage of growth,” said Francisco Partners partner Jason Brein in a statement. “We are impressed by Discovery Education’s positive impact on student learning, and are excited to help support Discovery Education as it transforms teaching and learning around the globe.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to occur in the first half of 2018.

“With this additional investment, Discovery Education will continue its laser-like focus on creating and delivering the innovative services today’s educators need to prepare students for success beyond the classroom,” added Dsicovery Education president K-12 Education Scott Kinney in a statement. “In the short term, our partners will see no change in their relationship with Discovery Education. However, long term, this new relationship tremendously enhances our ability to create the next generation of digital services and initiatives for educators worldwide.”

Discovery Education is holding a virtual conference for kindergarten through 12th grade teachers and administrators on Saturday, April 25.

Available at no-cost, the day-long professional development event offers both virtual and face-to-face opportunities for educators to learn actionable tactics and strategies for integrating of digital media into classroom instruction.

“Discovery Education is pleased to once again offer the VirtCon as a professional learning opportunity for educators around the world to connect, collaborate and grow their practice,” said Lance Rougeux, vice president of learning communities and instructional implementation for Discovery Education.  “This is an ideal experience for educators who want to learn new strategies for transforming their classrooms or schools into dynamic digital learning environments to support the success of their students. I am looking forward to an inspiring event and invite educators worldwide to attend.”

Among the scheduled keynote presenters are:

     * Dr. Todd Wirt, Assistant Superintendent for Academics at North Carolina’s Wake County Public School System. Dr. Wirt’s presentation will explore how the digital transformation of classrooms worldwide has given students many opportunities to experience an environment of choice. With increased freedom and creativity, failure is naturally going to become a part of the process. Dr. Wirt will share with participants his recommendations for designing classrooms that foster creativity and embrace failure.

      * Don Levy, Former Senior Vice President of Marketing for Sony Pictures, Faculty at Boston University. Levy’s presentation will discuss how the increasing availability of digital production tools and a growing market of trained and experienced talent creates new and important opportunities to apply visual techniques to communicate, educate and develop understanding.

     * Dacia Jones, District Science Specialist at North Carolina’s Durham Public Schools. During her remarks, Jones will share her insights on how to engage students with inspiring activities that raise expectations in the classroom, include students in the planning process, and tie authentic learning to standards.

Additional presentations during the Spring Virtcon will explore a variety of timely education topics.  Among the scheduled presentations are:

     * 6 Ways to Show What You Know, presented by Dennis Grice, K-8 Technology Teacher at St. John’s Lutheran School in California. During his session, Grice will demonstrate practical ways to give students ownership of their own learning that empower them to use their creativity to ‘show what they know.’

       * It’s About Learning, Not the Device, presented by Rachel Yurk, Instructional Technology Specialist at Cedarburg School District in Wisconsin. This session will explore instructional models that support the effective integration of technology into instruction.  Educators will learn more about valuable digital resources and how to implement them to make the classroom environment stronger, while increasing learning and motivation.

      * Building Community Through Creativity, delivered by Tracy Carpenter, Technology Integration Specialist at the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Maryland. In this session, participants will focus on infusing creativity into the classroom to create environments that transcend geographic limitations and provide spaces for students to create, make mistakes, collaborate and solve problems.

      *Farm to Table: A SAMR Immersion Lesson, delivered by Matt Monjan, Vice President of Partnerships at Discovery Education. During this session, Monjan will lead a Farm to Table transdisciplinary lesson through the lens of the Substitution Augmentation Modification Redefinition (SAMR) Model, which helps educators infuse technology in teaching and learning.

More information about the 2015 Spring VirtCon, including details on registration, online and in person events, and hosting local events, can be found http://www.discoveryeducation.com/springvirtcon2015

Discovery Education Streaming and Discovery Education Streaming Plus services have added hundreds of new digital titles for more than half of U.S. schools in grades K-5, the network announced today.

Streaming content will include early elementary assets in core curricular areas, as well as a weekly series on current events. Discovery Education Streaming Plus will contribute to national curriculum standards with instructional videos, skill builders, writing prompts, multimedia activities and articles, and more than 350 titles have been added for math, language arts, social studies, science and health.

“Since Discovery Education Streaming was first introduced in 2001, the service has empowered educators to improve student achievement through the integration of high-quality digital content into instruction,” said Discovery Education's Senior Vice President Scott Kinney in a release. 

Video content available to stream includes, the alphabet, counting strategies, inventors and inventions, media literacy, healthy eating, phonics, handwriting, basic needs of plants and animals and problem-solving, along with Global Stories to cover current events.

Discovery Education said it has expanded its partnership with Missouri’s Poplar Bluff Public Schools bringing the Discovery Communications’ unit’s digital social studies and science textbooks to junior and high school classrooms district wide.

Discovery Education will support the school system’s digital transformation in partnership with Mooresville Graded School District.

“We are thrilled to expand our collaboration with Discovery Education to provide our educators with resources that are relevant to the 21st Century learner, as well as critical to preparing students to be competitive in the global economy and meeting students’ instructional needs,” said Patty Robertson, assistant superintendent of curriculum at Poplar Bluff Public Schools in a statement. “Our partnerships with national leaders like Discovery Education and Mooresville Graded School District support us as we strive to educate all students to their full potential, and inspire them to be lifelong learners who possess the skills and knowledge necessary to be productive members in our changing world.”

Over the past two years, Poplar Bluff Public Schools has worked closely with Mooresville Graded School District (MGSD), which is nationally recognized for the success of its digital transformation and long-time partnership with Discovery Education,  in order to ensure their conversion to digital learning environments continues to positively impact student outcomes and engagement. The school district has hosted teachers from MGSD for numerous professional development days throughout the year, including the “Mooresville Institute,” which focused on the effective integration of digital technology into instruction.

The expanded six-year partnership with Discovery Education will support the district’s goal of providing creative and meaningful learning experiences for students to improve learning outcomes by integrating Discovery Education Science Techbook into junior and high school classrooms and Social Studies Techbook for all junior high students. Discovery Education’s digital textbook series promotes collaboration, creativity and participatory learning. The series delivers individualized resources and engages students in learning concepts through rich digital assets, including virtual labs, video clips, an interactive glossary and more. Poplar Bluff junior and high school students will also continue to use Discovery Education Streaming Plus, a comprehensive digital library of more than 150,000 learning assets aligned to state and national curriculum standards.

As part of its efforts to provide dynamic and interactive learning opportunities to all students, the school district issued MacBook Airs to 800 junior high students for use at school and at home during the 2013-2014 school year. This coming school year, 1,400 high-schoolers will also receive a laptop as part of the 1:1 learning initiative.

“Discovery Education is proud to be a partner working towards Poplar Bluff Public Schools’ mission of achieving excellence through learning: every child, every hour, every day,” said Jason Barnes, vice president, Discovery Education in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to support Superintendent Chris Hon and the entire Poplar Bluff team in their digital transformation with the highest quality digital resources and customized, effective professional development.”

Discovery Education, the Discovery Communications’ branch which assists educators and administrators across various school districts in implementing digital learning environments in the classroom, has expanded its Educational Partnerships team with four new hires. 

Katie Morrison, Megan Haller, Kelly Hines and William Ward III all will join Discovery Education in the company’s Charlotte, N.C. office. 

Katie Morrison has been named Director of Urban Partnerships, and she will be tasked with integrating a digital curriculum in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools as well as other urban school districts nation-wide. Morrison joins Discovery Education from her previous concurrent roles at Chicago Public Schools as Chief of Staff for Innovation & Incubation and Director of Restructuring Operations. 

Megan Haller has been named Director of National Partnerships. She previously served as Director of Inside Sales for CPI Security. 

Kelly Hines has been named Professional Learning Community Advisor for Discovery Education’s Southeast region, and William Ward III has been named Education Partnership Specialist.

All new hires will assist in Discovery Education’s goal of helping school districts throughout the U.S. transition to digital learning environments.