Digitized class materials, including textbooks, is a growing category that will change the way classrooms operate. Media companies such as Discovery, who may not be tradition textbook publishers, are fueling the increased availability of online textbooks and other e-reading alternatives. Meanwhile, NBC is using its existing multimedia capabilities and large news archive to provide online text and video that is suited to meet educational standards.
At the same time, existing educational publishing companies such as McGraw-Hill are also offering entire textbooks in digital formats. In fact, McGraw-Hill's Connect service goes even further by providing a range of tools to animate online texts.
Education Dive has compiled the following list, looking at some of the best online services that could replace textbooks and in-class handouts:
1. SCIENCE TECHBOOK
Company: Discovery
Discovery is making big investments in its Science Techbook service to bring science to life in the classroom. The Techbook contains highly illustrated multimedia tools fitted to elementary and middle school curricula. Lesson management resources are also available for teachers to plan lessons and evaluate student work.
2. PEARSON E-TEXT
Company: Pearson
Class material can be accessed instantly and remotely through Pearson's eText service. There are both browser and app versions that allow students to digitally take notes, highlight, search and bookmark pages within their assigned textbooks.
3. THINKFINITY
Company: Verizon Foundation
Thinkfinity is a pool of educational resources offered by a wide range of partner organizations, such as the Smithsonian Foundation and the Kennedy Center. Educators are provided links to discussion groups and external websites for interactive teaching materials on a variety of subjects.
The news archives of NBC have been adapted to fit K-12 and higher education standards in NBC Learn, the media company's digital learning service. It features educational content extracted from NBC's vast news collections and condensed into video format. It also offers the CueCard, which integrates video streaming, document analysis, note taking and online sharing into a convenient "note card" interface.
BBC learning offers free online resources for people at every stage of education. It contains a section specially for providing primary and secondary teaching materials such as videos, games and interactive tools. There are also tools for parents to help engage their children with schoolwork.
6. CONNECT
Company: McGraw-Hill
McGraw-Hill provides class management tools through its Connect service. Students have access to textbooks anywhere by using Connect's digital eBooks. The reading experience of eBooks is enhanced by incorporated video, animation and assessments within the text. Connect also offers teachers an interface for important educational functions, such as tracking student progress and grading.
7. WILEY PLUS
Company: John Wiley and Sons
An engaged learning experience is the key feature of Wiley Plus's catalog of digitally integrated courses. Online supplements to reading material are offered in varying formats to suit individual student learning styles. Each course comes with digital textbooks for remote access, although print versions are also part of the package.
8. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EDUCATION
Company: National Geographic
National Geographic Education has taken the popular media company's documented content on nature and geography and adapted it for use in elementary, middle and high school classrooms. It contains videos and downloadable activities for teachers to integrate into their lessons. The site also provides special resources for promoting geographical reasoning, or "geo-literacy".
Want to see more education news and resources like this in your inbox on a daily basis? Subscribe to the Education Dive email newsletter! You may also want to read our "7 anti-plagiarism services for stopping cheaters" list and follow Education Dive on Twitter.
