Discovery Education Offers Free Tools for Teachers, Students

  • By Tim Sohn
  • 10/11/11

Discovery Education has partnered with a variety of organizations and companies to offer free educational technology tools for the classroom and several sweepstakes programs for teachers.

The tools are:

  • New Teacher Survival Central, which provides online resources to educators just entering the classroom. It consists of four components: Technology 101, Survival Tool Kit, Homeroom Headquarters, and It's Elementary. The grand-prize winner of the New Teacher Survival Central Sweepstakes will be sent on a free trip to Costa Rica, and will receive a set of Nook Color tablets, a STEM survival prize pack, an Elmer's classroom prize pack, a scholarship toward a master's degree, and a variety of Discovery Education DVDs. In addition, anybody who refers a winning educator will receive an Elmer's classroom prize pack, and a free trip to the professional development conference of his or her choice. Deadline to apply is Dec. 17;
  • 3M Science of Everyday Life, a Web site that provides K-12 science-related curriculum and tools, as well as family activities. The program, which is aligned to national standards, includes activities in the areas of life science, physical science, earth science, and technology and innovation;
  • Siemens Science Day, which provides teachers hands-on programs in science through grade 6 and is cosponsored by the Siemens Foundation. Each activity includes a Discovery Education video. Teachers also can apply for an Ultimate Cool School Assembly featuring interactive demonstrations and experiments and a professional development workshop for teachers. Deadline to enter the sweepstakes is Feb. 28;
  • USADA True Sport Awards Program, which is cosponsored by the United States Anti-Doping Agency and currently taking submissions. Those interested in participating should propose and create programs that encourage youths to lead healthy, ethical lives, free of performance-enhancing drugs. Entrants could win more than $3,500 in prizes. Awards will be distributed to top student and administrator applicants. Deadline to enter is Dec. 1; and
  • Web 20.11, an online resource for educators in the areas of media literacy, Internet safety, Web. 2.0, presentation tools, and blogs from education experts. Teachers can apply to the Web 20.11 Tech Tune-Up Sweepstakes. The winner will receive an AverMedia AverVision F50 document camera, a trip to ISTE 2012 in San Diego, CA, and a $1,500 digital media grant from Discovery Education. Two runners up will each get a Lenovo ThinkPad tablet. Deadline is Dec. 31.

For more information, visit discoveryeducation.com.

About the Author

Tim Sohn is a 10-year veteran of the news business, having served in capacities from reporter to editor-in-chief of a variety of publications including Web sites, daily and weekly newspapers, consumer and trade magazines, and wire services. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @editortim.

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