University of Phoenix and NBC News Donate NBC Learn Subscriptions to 250 Phoenix-area Schools

To promote the use of technology in the classroom, the gift grants access to the award-winning "NBC Learn K-12" collection for two years

PHOENIX, Dec. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- University of Phoenix announced yesterday that the company is partnering with NBC News to donate licensed subscriptions to the award-winning "NBC Learn K-12" to 250 middle and high schools in the Phoenix area. The gift grants schools two years' worth of access to the rich collection of NBC News videos, primary source documents, images, and resources specifically designed for use in the K-12 classroom.  The donation was received by State Superintendent of Education, John Huppenthal in a special ceremony during the Arizona Cardinals home game against the San Francisco 49ers on December 11, 2011.

Phoenix is the fourth city to receive this type of donation from NBC News and University of Phoenix. In Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, an additional 250 schools in each city are already implementing the resource into their classrooms for the 2011-2012 school year.

NBC Learn provides access to over 12,000 NBC News archival video resources that help bring subjects to life in the classroom. Each video is mapped to curriculum, state standards, and the Common Core, and the database is updated with current events on a daily basis. A subscription to NBC Learn allows all teachers, students, and their parents to access the resource at school and at home with 24-hour customer support. As part of the donation to Phoenix-area schools, NBC Learn also provides product and professional development training for teachers and administrators.

"It's important that we empower our community educators with the resources and knowledge to improve the quality of education in our schools," said Dr. William Pepicello, president of University of Phoenix. "Toward this goal, I'm excited to partner with NBC News to grant NBC Learn licenses to Phoenix-area schools, which is proven to be a powerful tool for the learning process."  

"In the face of budget cuts, and challenges to innovate around student engagement in the classroom, NBC Learn is creating strategic partnerships that enable its award-winning digital learning content to be used free of charge," said NBC News President Steve Capus. "We are excited to share the resources of NBC Learn with Phoenix-area schools. We believe that by incorporating high-quality video reports and content into the classroom, students can get excited and engaged with their course subjects in new ways. "

In addition to its subscription resources, NBC Learn also produces original video collections that are made available for free on NBCLearn.com. These include the Emmy Award-winning "Science of NFL Football," and "Science of the Winter Olympic Games" collections, as well as "Changing Planet" and "Chemistry Now."

For more information about NBC Learn, visit http://www.nbclearn.com or check us out on Facebook: facebook.com/nbclearn.

About University of Phoenix

University of Phoenix is constantly innovating to help students balance education and life in a rapidly changing world. Through flexible schedules, challenging courses and interactive learning, students achieve personal and career aspirations without putting their lives on hold. University of Phoenix serves a diverse student population, offering associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs from campuses and learning centers across the U.S. as well as online throughout the world. For more information, visit www.phoenix.edu.

About NBC Learn

NBC Learn is the educational arm of NBC News dedicated to providing resources for students, teachers, and lifelong learners. The online resources NBC Learn has created for the education community leverages nearly 80 years of historic news coverage, documentary materials, and current news broadcasts. "NBC LEARN K-12" gives students and teachers access to thousands of video clips from the NBC News archives, including great historic moments – from the Great Depression to the Space Race to the latest political coverage. NBC Learn also offers primary source materials, lesson plans and classroom planning resources, and additional text and image resources from our content partners.

SOURCE University of Phoenix