Texas Schools Adopt Discovery's Digital Textbook -- THE Journal

STEM and STEAM

Texas Schools Adopt Discovery's Digital Textbook

By Mike Hohenbrink
11/18/11

Schools across Texas will go digital as they move from traditional textbooks to an electronic version.

Students in grades 5 through 8 across the state will use Discovery Education's interactive Science Techbook as a digital resource for learning this fall. The move is expected to affect more than 100,000 students, according to information provided by Discovery Education.

The digital textbook meets the standards of Science TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) and can be used by students who speak English or Spanish.

Features of the Science Techbook include:

Virtual labs;
Video clips from series such as Planet Earth, Life, and Mythbusters;
An interactive glossary; and
Passages from ebooks.

The Science Techbook is frequently updated to bring in real-world examples for instruction. Recent examples of real time updates to Techbooks include the earthquake and resultant tsunami in Japan and severe weather events such as the tornadoes that struck the southern United States this year. This updating allows learning to be more current than would be possible with standard textbooks that fall out of date.

Not only is information more current, but districts also avoid the costs associated with replacement and inventory for standard textbooks.

The inquiry-based digital product also allows real-time assessment of student learning and customized resource recommendations for individual learners.

"This unique, all digital science adoption choice by Texas signals a systemic shift toward the acceptance of digital content as a textbook alternative," said Dr. Yolanda Rey, executive director for the Texas Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. "The Discovery Education Science Techbook highlights how digital can bring the world of science alive for every type of learner through dynamic videos, reading passages, hands-on activities, interactive virtual labs, and more. Texas is proving itself to be a leader in the transition to 21st century digital learning resources."

For more information visit discoveryeducation.com.

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