Nearly 80,000 elementary and middle school students across several states will be using a new core instructional resource, the interactive Discovery Education Science Techbook, in their classrooms this fall instead of traditional textbooks.
Each edition of the Discovery Education Science Techbook series is built from the ground up to address individual state standards and is intended to serve as the primary instructional resource in elementary and middle schools nationwide. The Techbook provides virtual labs, video clips, ebook passages, an interactive glossary, and more. Also included is a real-time assessment component that measures students’ progress and recommends individualized resources that reinforce classroom instruction.
Unlike traditional textbooks, the Discovery Education Science Techbook has the ability to address individual student’s learning modalities and abilities, and prescribe resources targeted to how each student performs. The Techbook is dynamic and updated in real time, providing teachers the opportunity to incorporate up-to-date scientific issues into their curriculum, such as the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Finally, the Discovery Education Science Techbook is a substantially less expensive option per student than textbooks, with additional savings derived from a lack of textbook replacement or inventory costs.
“After a thorough evaluation of a variety of textbook options, our instructional materials committee concluded the Discovery Education Science Techbook was the resource best suited to meet the needs of our teachers and students in Collier County,” said Curt Witthoff, district science and environmental education coordinator. “The ability to search for resources by state benchmark is an important feature and this service provides an efficient way for teachers to access their resources. Overall, the Discovery Education Science Techbook provides a relevant and rigorous curriculum that meets the needs of our 21st century learners in Collier County and we are looking forward to engaging with this dynamic learning tool in classrooms beginning this fall.”
Since introducing the Techbook last year, Discovery Education has made several updates, including hundreds of new Spanish-language content resources, upgrades to the site to improve Accessibility compliance and simplified access to highly utilized elements, such as model lessons. Discovery Education is the leading provider of high quality curriculum-based digital content, professional development and assessment resources whose services are available in more than half of U.S. schools.