Ideas for Using the AASL Best Websites: Discovery Education November 14, 2011

For this blog post we are going to visit our list of Landmark Websites and talk about Discovery Education. In 2009, the Best Websites for Teaching and Learning Committee decided to create a landmark list of sites to be released along with our first list of Web 2.0 best Websites. The Landmark Websites are honored due to their exemplary histories of authoritative, dynamic content and curricular relevance. They are free, Web-based sites that are user-friendly and encourage a community of learners to explore and discover and provide a foundation to support 21st-century teaching and learning. 

Discovery Education (http://community.discoveryeducation.com/) is a one stop shop of free resources for teachers, administrators, teacher-librarians, students, and parents. There are resources for teachers in all grade levels in language arts, math, social studies and science. With the Puzzle Maker and Clip Art features, teachers can add bonus activities to their lessons. There are also contests, online student adventures and brain booster activities. With its vast collection of resources, Discovery Education continues to take teaching to the next level, empowering educators by providing them with high quality, dynamic, digital content.

Discovery Education Streaming is a fee based video on demand service that integrates content specific video clips and images in K-12 curriculum in six core areas. With the new Explore 2011 tools, using the presentation, video, mobile and community tools, users can discover new ways to collaborate, edit and share content. http://web2011.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm. Also included are excellent resources for Internet safety, media literacy and tech tip blogs. Education- based blogs can be accessed by state.

One of the most popular features in the Discovery Education Website is Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators. Kathy created this site in June, 1995 and continues to update it daily. Recently retired, she continues to teach online graduate courses for Wilkes University, as well as  speak, write, and blog about educational technology. Her passions include online tools to support instruction, emerging technologies in the classroom, intellectual property and any type of gadget. Since 1999, Kathy’s site has been a wonderful part of Discovery Education. On this site educators can find many subject based lists as well as teacher helpers, evaluation tools, thematic ideas, and new sites of the month.

Discovery Education was voted as a Landmark site by the Best Websites committee two years ago. It was relevant then, it is no less important now. Use it in your library; recommend it to your educators. If you haven’t already checked it out, make sure to take the time and investigate the wealth of resources that Discovery Education and Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators can provide. 

By: Heather Moorefield-Lang (Committee Chair) and Susan Hess (Committee Member)