Chipotle and Discovery Education Teach Kids the Importance of Maintaining a Healthy Diet and Caring for the Environment with Immersive Virtual Field Trip
— Chipotle and Discovery Education’s ‘RAD Lands in School’ New Virtual Field Trip sets off on an epic journey where students can explore techniques to preserve the environment and lead healthy lifestyles —
Denver, Co. | Silver Spring, Md. (Tuesday, November 7, 2017) – Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) and Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital education content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, are expanding their joint program RAD Lands in School to release a new Virtual Field Trip. The immersive experience will broadcast tomorrow, November 8, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT. During the Virtual Field Trip, students grades K-5 will be transported to a distant galaxy where they will meet virtual characters who will teach them about sustainable eating, and protecting the environment’s plants and animals. The virtual adventure will feature cooking demonstrations with celebrity chefs, engaging lessons about the science behind where food comes from, and animated action segments that bring health and science content to life. The presentation will combine useful food literacy expertise with Rad Lands entertainment for an engaging 20 minutes of learning and fun.
“Chipotle is thrilled to continue the RAD Lands in School partnership with Discovery Education by launching this exciting Virtual Field Trip to classrooms nationwide,” said Mark Shambura, executive director of marketing at Chipotle. “The goal of Rad Lands is to foster curiousity and inform young people and their families about where their food comes from in a captivating and informative way. By bringing this to life via a virtual experience, we can further that mission and educate even more families across the country.”
RAD Lands in School aims to educate and entertain students about where their food comes from and how it is prepared. Through the initiative, Chipotle and Discovery Education have provided educators with no-cost resources that are U.S. science and health standards aligned. While focusing on encouraging students to make healthy food choices, RAD Lands in School engages youth in the interconnections between care for our environment, understanding where our food comes from, and the importance of including fresh food in our daily diets.
With childhood obesity at an all-time high, we applaud organizations who make a sustained commitment to supporting educators in their effort to integrate health and wellness conversations into classroom instruction,” said Lori McFarling, senior vice-president and chief marketing officer, Discovery Education. “Discovery Education is proud to continue in its work to support student understanding about the importance of adopting healthy lifestyle habits.”
Launched in March 2017, Rad Lands was released by Chipotle as an original video series about food for kids between the ages of 7 and 10. The episodes were unbranded and produced in partnership with CAA Marketing and The Magic Store, the powerhouse behind the Daytime Emmy-nominated series Yo Gabba Gabba! Each enthralling, upbeat episode featured special guests such as celebrity chefs and YouTube personalities, grabbing the attention of families and their children about where their food comes from and how it is prepared. There are currently six episodes available on radlandsinschool.com and iTunes.
“The RAD Lands in School Virtual Field Trip is an exciting addition to our school’s curriculum because it shows students that learning can be fun,” said Brandon Wislocki, Elementary Teacher, Beacon Park School, Irvine Unified School District. “Incorporating an immersive virtual experience such as a Rad Lands video to a day’s lesson has proven to better engage and leave them more likely to retain the information presented. We are looking forward to even more productive classroom conversations after viewing RAD Lands in School’s latest production.”
For more information on RAD Lands in School or to access the online resources, visit radlandsinschool.com. TheRAD Lands in School Virtual Field Trip is also available through Discovery Education Streaming Plus. For more information about Discovery Education’s digital content and professional development services, visitdiscoveryeducation.com. Stay connected with Discovery Education on social media through Facebook, follow us on twitter at @DiscoveryEd, or find us on Instagram and Pinterest.
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About Chipotle
Steve Ells, Founder, Chairman and CEO, started Chipotle with the idea that food served fast did not have to be a typical fast food experience. Today, Chipotle continues to offer a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, and salads made from fresh, high-quality raw ingredients, prepared using classic cooking methods and served in an interactive style allowing people to get exactly what they want. Chipotle seeks out extraordinary ingredients that are not only fresh, but that are raised responsibly, with respect for the animals, land, and people who produce them. Chipotle prepares its food using whole, unprocessed ingredients and without the use of added colors, flavors or other additives typically found in fast food. Chipotle opened with a single restaurant in Denver in 1993 and now operates more than 2,200 restaurants. For more information, visit www.chipotle.com.
About Discovery Education
Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-based digital content and professional development 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. Serving 4.5 million educators and over 50 million students, Discovery Education’s services are in half of U.S. classrooms, 50 percent of all primary schools 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.
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WASHINGTON, DC (Nov. 7, 2017) – The Education Technology Industry Network (ETIN) of SIIA will host its annual Education Business Forum (EBF) on Dec. 5-6 at The Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. EBF, the premier event for education business leadership and the investor community, welcomes attendees to engage in interactive sessions, gain insight from peer-reviewed product showcases and participate in one-on-one networking events.
EBF attracts senior management teams of education software companies and platform technology firms, as well as financial analysts, solution providers and distributors, publishers, private equity firms and venture capitalists. This year’s conference boasts a powerful line up of sessions and speakers who will share insight on a range of topics, including new paths to revenue, capital and profit, industry trends, artificial intelligence, AR and VR, new markets, and more.
For the full release, click here.
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New Report Reveals Gaps in Digital and Online Accountability Standards
Getting Smart proposes solutions for accountability practices for K-12 digital education.
November 7, 2017 — A new report published by Getting Smart, Exploring Accountability in K-12 Digital Education, investigates the factors influencing online and digital learning, the current state of accountability, and proposed solutions to best align practice and policy.
Today, 30 U.S. states have statewide online schools. Each online learning scenario is as unique as students’ individual circumstances. The flexible nature of online learning attracts a variety of students, which is the main reason it has grown and evolved rapidly over the past two decades. According to the report, the top three issues in measuring digital education accountability are the following:
- Existing standards are ill-fitting.
- Students’ mobility isn’t acknowledged or tracked.
- Time spent doesn’t reflect the quality of the learning experience.
The most significant hurdle for online education providers is accommodating an extremely broad spectrum of students that ranges from the academically struggling and disengaged to gifted students. The report details how many schools are penalized when working with struggling students over short periods of time, and goes on to suggest that online schools should have the option to measure students’ success based on achievement and growth as opposed to traditional standards.
“It is clear that we need to start having conversations about digital accountability and how we can make adjustments to help students succeed,” says Tom Vander Ark, Getting Smart’s CEO. “Online programs have the power to help a wide variety of students achieve their goals. As the use of online and digital learning grows, we are seeing gaps between the providers and school accountability standards for their students. As thought leaders in the industry, we have identified areas where policy supported intiatives can boost student equity and set students up for success.”
The report concludes with best practices and recommended next steps to improve accountability standards, including improved outreach and information accessibility, engagement policies, trial periods, data integration and more.
To learn more, download Exploring Accountability in K-12 Education.
About Getting Smart
As a mission-driven organization, Getting Smart® is passionate about accelerating and amplifying innovations in teaching and learning. Getting Smart Services designs customized partnerships to amplify and extend the work of those dedicated to impacting the way the world learns. Through our advocacy, advisory and coaching services, we work with impact-oriented partners to invent the future of learning. Our innovations in learning blog, GettingSmart.com, is a community of learners and contributors that cover important events, trends, products and publications across K-12, early, post-secondary education and lifelong learning opportunities.
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myON Launches New Data Reports Allowing Educators to Measure Reading with Reading™
New reporting, goal-setting, and literacy tools free teachers to spend less time assessing and more time teaching
(Minneapolis, MN) November 7, 2017 — myON, leading provider of digital literacy solutions, today announced enhanced reporting capabilities to include opportunities for goal-setting, reporting, and text coding (literacy emojis), all aimed at inspiring growth and engagement in student reading.
myON encourages educators to assess student growth using real-time data collected while students read. Teachers are often not provided with student data collected during assessments in a timely manner. This makes personalization difficult for teachers as they are not able to provide student intervention until it’s too late. The real-time data collection gives teachers more time to teach, because they aren’t having to distribute and review assessments to see growth.
“myON is a growth-first platform that puts students in the driver’s seat of their own learning,” said Todd Brekhus, President of myON. “Our new features are designed to inspire students to develop a love for reading and to support their reading goals by providing a personalized pathway to success. It is also important to provide time saving features for educators that allows data to be easily accessed. Additionally, this allows students more time for reading and learning versus testing and assessments.”
myON’s new features include:
Real-time, Actionable Reporting Features: The real-time, actionable data allows teachers time to respond to the data and provide students the necessary guidance to ensure progress is being made. Original reporting features (such as time spent reading, number of books opened and completed, and Lexile® growth) are still available, along with additional reports to measure reading habits, word count, project involvement, news article consumption, and more.
Text Coding – Literacy Emojis: With the embedded Literacy Toolkit, students can now use emojis to mark passages in the text to express their thoughts and feelings. The codes help students remember connections they’ve made to the text, or respond to the text in a personal way. For example, students can place a star on a passage that is important, and a heart to confirm what they thought.
Goal Setting: Administrators and teachers can set goals for up to 14 different data measurements, including average minutes read per week, time spent reading outside of school, Lexile® growth, and more. Goals will be highlighted on the student and teacher dashboards and can be analyzed in myON’s reporting features to ensure students stay on track. This data can also be used to celebrate reading success as students reach their goals.
About myON
Since launching in 2011, myON has established itself as the fastest-growing digital literacy company for the K-12 education market. More than 7.5 million students have access to myON throughout 49 states and 20 countries worldwide. myON students have access to a personalized Literacy Ecosystem that offers unlimited reading in a curated library of more than 13,000 digital books and daily news articles dynamically matched to each learner’s reading level and interests.
myON is an award-winning personalized literacy environment that incorporates a state-of-the art learning platform, enhanced digital reading content including five daily news articles written for students, The Lexile® Framework for Reading, cutting-edge literacy tools, and embedded metrics to monitor activity and growth. Robust professional development ensures that educators have the support needed to effectively implement myON. Together, these components power a Literacy Ecosystem that is built upon five pillars: personalization, unparalleled content, unlimited access, collaboration, and success.
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