Discovery Education Chosen by California’s Oxnard Union High School District as Strategic Partner in Creating Digital Education Environments Districtwide

California’s Oxnard Union High School District (OUHSD) today announced it has chosen Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, as its strategic partner in creating digital education environments districtwide.  Through this new collaboration, all OUHSD educators will soon begin integrating Discovery Education’s award-winning Streaming Plus service into instruction.  In addition, educators in six OUHSD schools will begin using Discovery Education’s digital Math Techbook and Science Techbook (https://goo.gl/RV13RK) as core instructional resources, while educators in three schools will begin using Discovery Education’s Social Studies Techbook (https://goo.gl/EgL2xD) for teaching and learning. A robust, job-embedded professional development initiative will support teachers’ use of these dynamic new resources, helping educators across the school system transform their classroom practice to meet the ever-changing needs of today’s students.

OUHSD has a strong vision of high expectations and powerful futures for every student and is aligning their programs, curricula, instruction, services and supports to challenge each student to reach his or her own greatest potential.  OUHSD’s new partnership with Discovery Education is a critical component of the district’s ongoing effort to achieve this vision.  This new collaboration will increase academic rigor, improve student engagement, and create digital, student-centered education environments utilizing the highest quality digital content.

Discovery Education Streaming Plus is a comprehensive digital service supplementing instruction across all K-12 curricular areas that help build students’ mastery in interpreting, understanding, and evaluating information. Students can access a variety of digital assets including images, primary source documents, podcasts, oral interviews, books on tape, articles, videos, and more, then are empowered to become content creators with a suite of content creation 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.

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 5E model, Discovery Education’s Science Techbook helps teach students to read, write, and think like scientists through hands-on labs, digital explorations, an interactive glossary, and data analysis activities. The Social Studies Techbook series uses an inquiry-based instructional approach that emphasizes informational text literacy, analytical writing, and problem-solving skills that students will apply in the classroom and beyond. Each subject area includes primary source documents and activities, digital investigations, multimedia reference library, interactive maps, and more.  Discovery Education’s Math Techbook is a digital textbook that connects students to math through real-world problems worth solving, combines conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application to help all students develop a long-lasting mastery of mathematics.

“At Oxnard Union High School District, we are committed to providing our educators the digital resources and professional development they need to deliver 21^st-century educational opportunities that support the academic growth and success of every student,” said Dr. Penelope DeLeon, OUHSD Superintendent. “We are excited to partner with Discovery Education on this initiative, as they share our vision for modern education and are strongly committed to helping us achieve this goal.”

In addition to providing dynamic digital content to OUHSD educators and students, Discovery Education will also conduct sustained, job-embedded professional development for teachers districtwide.  This immersive professional development, provided by Discovery Education’s expert faculty, will help district educators evolve their teaching practice to better meet the needs of today’s learners and effectively use their new digital resources.  The Discovery Education Community will also support the OUHSD’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.

“We are deeply honored to work side by side with Oxnard Union High School District on this important effort,” said Andrew Bradigan, Education Partnerships Vice President for Discovery Education. “We look forward to supporting the district in their mission to transition towards a digital education environment that energizes every students’ classroom experience and expands educators’ skill sets.”