USA TODAY Education and SMART Technologies Collaborate to Provide Innovative Curriculum

MCLEAN, Va., Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- USA TODAY Education today announced a collaboration with SMART Technologies for the 2010–2011 academic school year. USA TODAY will supply news content and lesson activities, which will be available through the SMART Exchange™ website, SMART's online community of educator resources, and SMART Notebook™ collaborative learning software.

USA TODAY transforms national and global stories into relevant and comprehensive formats that engage students with innovative, interactive and unmatched multi-platform features.

Over the course of the school year, 50 SMART Notebook lesson activities will be developed and will cover a wide range of current event topics, including politics, economics, environment, world geography and culture, emerging technologies, science, engineering, health and weather. The SMART Notebook lesson activities are designed to improve literacy, help students gain higher-order thinking skills, conduct research and generate ideas.  

"We are excited to collaborate with SMART on this new initiative, combining real-world information, unique and interactive features and progressive curriculum developed by USA TODAY Education with the innovative technology of SMART.  This joint initiative will provide teachers with an unparalleled new resource to educate our nation's students and prepare them for the 21st century," said Diane Barrett, vice president, USA TODAY Education.

"Teachers are continually searching for timely educational content that will enhance their student's understanding of current events," said Nancy Knowlton, CEO of SMART. "This collaboration with USA TODAY Education will enable teachers and students throughout the United States and around the world to access high-quality learning resources that are relevant and engaging."

SMART Technologies introduced the world's first interactive whiteboard in 1991 and is the global interactive whiteboard category leader, providing easy-to-use, integrated hardware, software and services that improve the way the world collaborates and learns. For more than 20 years, innovation and commitment to excellence have been at the core of its business. SMART revolutionized the education market with products that empower educators to improve student outcomes by effectively implementing technology products that support all learning styles and environments. The company helps business people achieve better results with products that enable more productive meetings and collaborative work. Its success is driven by a deep commitment to and engagement with both the education and business communities. SMART offers products, resources and services that transform the way people learn and work. For more information on SMART Technologies, please visit www.smarttech.com.

Since 1983, USA TODAY has made a commitment to education that is unparalleled in the industry. USA TODAY's Education program is currently in place in over 30,000 K-12 classes across the country and on more than 450 university and college campuses, impacting over one million students daily.  Educators have reached out to USA TODAY for over 25 years because of the unique format, credible non-fiction text, and topics that are relevant and motivating for students. Students like reading USA TODAY because of our unique style, bold color and graphics and easy-to-access information.  USA TODAY covers contemporary issues that students can relate to and easily understand. For more information on USA TODAY Education, please visit www.education.usatoday.com.

USA TODAY is a multi-platform news and information media company. Founded in 1982, USA TODAY's mission is to serve as a forum for better understanding and unity to help make the USA truly one nation. Today, through its newspaper, website and mobile platforms, USA TODAY connects readers and engages the national conversation. USA TODAY, the nation's number one newspaper in print circulation with an average of more than 1.8 million daily, and USATODAY.com, an award-winning newspaper website  launched in 1995, reach a combined 5.9 million readers daily. USA TODAY is a leader in mobile applications with more than six million downloads on mobile devices.  The USA TODAY brand also includes USA TODAY Education and USA TODAY Sports Weekly. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).

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SOURCE USA TODAY