Milwaukee Public Schools Taps Digital Content

Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) has signed with Discovery Education to implement the company's streaming Plus in more than 140 schools. The program makes available a vast library of streaming digital video designed to enhance learning in all subjects.

streaming Plus offers more than 9,000 full-length video programs and more than 71,000 video clips, all aligned to Wisconsin state standards. "The most critical goal of Milwaukee Public Schools' strategic plan is to create student success through academic achievement," said Jim Davis, technology director for MPS.  He said he's convinced that this digital content can improve academic achievement, "making it the natural choice to support the district's long term goals."

In addition to the in-class value of enhancing learning and building student engagement using digital video, MPS has considered its value in learning continuity. "The digital content, assignment builders, quiz builders, and other available resources make Discovery Education streaming Plus a critical tool in our efforts to ensure students can continue their academic growth in the face of a prolonged disruption caused by H1N1 or any other source," said Thomas Hanley, principal of the Golda Meir Elementary School, an MPS school for gifted students. Given the city's geography and climate, prolonged closures owing to snow or other severe weather are far from unlikely.

Discovery Education is also providing professional development services to enable teachers to learn and master the technology's use in a classroom environment so that the tool's value will not be limited to playing a video to supplement a lecture. "For many MPS teachers, integrating digital content into classroom activities is a new experience," Hanley said.  "The professional development services from Discovery Education have been instrumental in helping our teachers maximize this new digital content service, as well as the other educational technologies they use each day."

About the Author

Scott Aronowitz is a freelance writer based in Las Vegas. He has covered the technology, advertising, and entertainment sectors for seven years. He can be reached here.

Featured

  • abstract geometric pattern of glowing interconnected triangles, hexagons, and circles in blue, gold, and white, spread across a dark navy-to-black gradient background

    OpenAI Introduces 'Operator' AI for Performing Web Tasks

    OpenAI has announced "Operator," an AI agent designed to perform web-based tasks autonomously using its own browser. Currently available as a research preview for Pro users in the United States, the tool aims to automate everyday activities such as filling out forms, ordering groceries, and even creating memes.

  • digital illustration of Estonia with glowing neural network-like connections spreading across the map

    Estonia to Roll Out ChatGPT Edu for all Secondary Schools

    In a nationwide artificial intelligence program dubbed "AI Leap 2025," the country of Estonia plans to provide free access to leading AI applications for all secondary school students and teachers. The initiative will launch with a rollout of ChatGPT Edu to 20,000 high school students in grades 10-11 and their 3,000 teachers, beginning Sept. 1.

  • glowing digital brain made of blue circuitry hovers above multiple stylized clouds of interconnected network nodes against a dark, futuristic background

    Report: 85% of Organizations Are Leveraging AI

    Eighty-five percent of organizations today are utilizing some form of AI, according to the latest State of AI in the Cloud 2025 report from Wiz. While AI's role in innovation and disruption continues to expand, security vulnerabilities and governance challenges remain pressing concerns.

  • DreamBox Math

    Discovery Education Announces Accessibility Enhancements for DreamBox Math

    Discovery Education has updated DreamBox Math, an online math program for K–8 students to supplement core instruction, to improve accessibility for K–5 students, according to a news release. DreamBox Math provides personalized instruction by adapting to individual learners’ responses and providing an engaging, dynamic learning environment.