Center of Educational Technologies

Blackboard and Discovery Education Partner to Support the Use of Digital Content in Higher Education

01.05.2014
Source: PR Newswire

K-12 Launch Planned for Later this Year

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackboard Inc. and Discovery Education today announced a powerful new partnership supporting the integration of digital content into university and community college courses nationwide. Through the partnership, higher education faculty and students can now access Discovery Education's dynamic digital media through Blackboard's teaching and learning environment and on their mobile devices. In addition, the two companies are building a K-12 focused integration with plans to launch later this year.

Featuring course-aligned digital content focused on preparing students with the knowledge and skills to compete in the competitive global economy, the integration of the Discovery Education Higher Ed digital content service into Blackboard's teaching and learning environment creates a seamless course design experience for faculty to search, preview, select and embed over 90,000 award-winning learning resources directly into their courses. This includes videos, images, audio learning guides, writing prompts and more.

Later this year the planned integration for K-12 students and instructors will provide access to Discovery Education Streaming Plus content, which provides teachers and students with more than 151,000 standards-aligned resources that address multiple learning styles and support the Common Core State Standards.     

"Educators need education technology and content providers to be partners with them in creating effective lessons that not only drive high-quality digital resources into courses, but also appeal to students," said Katie Blot, senior vice president of Blackboard's Education Services. "We are excited to partner with Discovery Education to offer a robust, yet streamlined, workflow for teachers and help students access engaging and dynamic content in the learning environment they are in every day and on the mobile devices they use every day."

Both higher education and K-12 students will see and hear real-life applications that enhance traditional courses. For example, they can see videos that solve mathematical problems, images of the body's systems, and footage from historical events, all within the Blackboard learning environment they use daily. Additionally, digital content is continuously refreshed so instructors can pull topical and timely material in real time.

"Discovery Education is pleased to partner with Blackboard on this initiative to continue to provide effective resources for educators and students across the country," said Scott Kinney, Discovery Education senior vice president. "Integrating Discovery Education's rich digital content into Blackboard's teaching and learning environment creates powerful new systems that support our shared goal of preparing all students for college, careers and citizenship." 

Higher education institutions can click here to request a free trial of the integration and K-12 schools can click here to receive information on integration availability.

For more information about Blackboard, click here or follow @Blackboard on Twitter. For more information about Discovery Education, click here or follow @DiscoveryEd on Twitter. 

About Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard Inc. is a global leader in enterprise technology and innovative solutions that improve the experience of millions of students and learners around the world every day. Blackboard's solutions allow thousands of higher education, K-12, professional, corporate, and government organizations to extend teaching and learning online, facilitate campus commerce and security, and communicate more effectively with their communities. Founded in 1997, Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

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 that supports the implementation of Common Core, professional development, assessment tools, and the largest professional learning community of its kind.  Available in over half of all U.S. schools, community colleges and in 50 countries around the world, Discovery Education partners with districts, states and like-minded organizations to captivate students, empower teachers, and transform classrooms with customized solutions that accelerate 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.

Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for Blackboard represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release. Actual results may differ materially as a result of various important factors. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Company's views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so.  Statements regarding Blackboard's product development initiatives, including new products and future product upgrades, updates or enhancements represent Blackboard's current intentions, but may be modified, delayed or abandoned without prior notice and there is no assurance that such offering, upgrades, updates or functionality will become available unless and until they have been made generally available.

CONTACT

Lauren Dyke, Blackboard Inc.
(202) 463-4860 ext. 2860 or lauren.dyke@blackboard.com

Christina Scripps, Discovery Education
(240)-662-6502 or christina_scripps@discovery.com 

SOURCE Blackboard Inc.



RELATED LINKS
http://www.blackboard.com