Discovery Communications : New Enhancements to Discovery Education’s Science Techbook Support Deeper Student Engagement in Phenomena-Driven Learning and STEM Instruction

-Guided by Educator's Best Practices and Latest Research, New Features Added by Discovery Education's Instructional Experts Support Pedagogical Best Practices-

Silver Spring, Md. (June 27, 2016) - Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, today announced significant enhancements to the instructional content and design of the award-winning Discovery Education Science Techbook ™. A complete digital solution built from the ground-up, Discovery Education's Science Techbook combines different types of media to explain and reinforce complex science concepts.

Guided by pedagogical best practices, educator feedback, and the latest research synthesized by Discovery Education's instructional experts, these updates will change the way students and teachers experience science instruction. Among the enhancements is a new, simplified design that provides all students an even easier-to-follow experience, accessible from any device. Science Techbook's streamlined look and feel helps students find and focus on what's important. Additional enhancements to Science Techbook include:

·New STEM resources across STEM subjects and careers: Discovery Education is introducing two newauthentic resources that drive student engagement in STEM instruction and provide students context for learning. STEM Project Starters allow students to connect math, technology, and engineering to their understanding of science concepts to produce creative solutions to real world problems. STEM In Action helps students connect their work with STEM careers, developing clearer understanding of how skills used in school can be applied to jobs 'in the real world.'

· New phenomena-driven, relevant learning experiences: Phenomena in science are instances in the real-world that may seem extraordinary to students, such as weather events, animal migration, and lunar eclipses. Each concept in the enhanced Science Techbook now begins with a phenomena-driven question that acts as a catalyst for the inquiry process, triggering students' natural sense of curiosity and wonder.

·New features supporting differentiated instruction: The Core Interactive Text feature blends text with multimedia resources and focuses on phenomena, problems, and questions that are relevant to students of different learning styles and abilities. Students can have the text read aloud, highlight text, or add sticky notes. Text can also be modified for different reading levels or viewed in Spanish. Also, an extensive collection of Technology Enhanced Items (TEIs) are embedded in digital text to help teachers uncover what students already know about a concept and to support further interaction and understanding.

'The new enhancements to Discovery Education's Science Techbook make this breakthrough service even more intuitive and accessible,' said Jennifer Zolikoff, teacher at Scottsdale Unified School District's Anasazi Elementary in Arizona. 'The expanded content and functionality will help me even more deeply engage my students in science instruction, and help improve overall academic achievement, no matter the student's learning style.'

Utilizing an inquiry-based format built on the Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate (5E) model, Science Techbook includes rich, standards-aligned content such as video, audio, text, interactives with hands-on activities, and virtual labs that help educators differentiate instruction and provide a rich and engaging learning experience for students. Embedded formative assessment opportunities help educators monitor student progress, and like all Discovery Education digital textbooks, the Science Techbook works on any device and can be implemented in a variety of instructional settings.

Discovery Education understands the importance of supporting educators as they implement new learning initiatives, so each Science Techbook includes research-based professional development that empowers teachers to effectively integrate new digital content and resources into classroom instruction. The Discovery Education Community, a global network of education professionals, provides additional assistance to educators as they transform learning experiences with digital media. By connecting members across school systems and around the world through social media, virtual conferences, and in-person events, the Discovery Education Community fosters valuable networking, idea sharing, and inspiration among participants.

A study conducted by independent research firm Merola Research, LLC found that usage of Science Techbook is associated with higher science achievement scores in South Carolina elementary school students. After one year of implementation in the state's Rock Hill Schools, fourth grade students whose teachers used Discovery Education Science Techbook scored higher on average on the 2013 Science Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS) than students whose teachers did not use Science Techbook.

'Since its debut in 2011, Discovery Education's Science Techbook has empowered educators to transform science instruction through a unique combination of high-quality digital content and sustained, job-embedded professional development,' said Kelli Campbell, senior vice president and digital learning officer at Discovery Education. 'The latest enhancements to the Science Techbook represent a quantum leap forward in Discovery Education's ongoing effort to provide educators the resources they need to improve student engagement, address multiple learning styles and advance student achievement in their classrooms.'

For more information about the enhanced Science Techbook or other Discovery Education services, please visit www.discoveryeducation.com.

About Discovery Education
Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-based digital content for K-12, transforming teaching and learning with award-winning digital textbooks, multimedia content, professional development, and the largest professional learning community of its kind. Serving 3 million educators and over 30 million students, Discovery Education's services are in half of U.S. classrooms, 50 percent of all primary schools in the UK, and more than 50 countries. Discovery Education partners with districts, states and like-minded organizations to captivate students, empower teachers, and transform classrooms with customized solutions that increase academic achievement. Discovery Education is powered by Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the number one nonfiction media company in the world. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.