“Digital Knowledge Center (DKC) is a virtual library coordinated by Education Service Center, Region 20 for the educational communities in the state of Texas. We firmly believe in making online databases available to students, teachers, librarians, administrators, and parents anytime, anywhere in order to promote information literacy skills and enrich the K-12 curriculum in all content areas.”

DKC schools have a variety of NewsBank products that include both databases and project-based resources.

The NewsBank databases they use cover all content areas and serve all grade levels through current and retrospective articles from a wide variety of sources. The resource is organized by categories and classroom topics for easy and efficient research.

All articles are carefully selected for their research value and their appropriateness for K-12 students and are indexed to assist students in determining a research topic. The wide range of regional sources and diversified source types provide opportunities for students to use their critical thinking skills. All articles are aligned with state standards and have a Lexile/reading level indicator.

NewsBank was chosen as one of the core DKC products because it:

• provides information not found in most textbooks
• provides current information on national and world events that is relevant and age-appropriate
• aligns content with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills
• can be sorted by Lexile to allow differentiated instruction which is very important to teachers
• supplements information found in other products they have
• “all NewsBank projects follow the Big6™ model of information problem solving, which has been adopted by numerous school districts in our state, and is the most widely used research model in the world.”

In addition to the NewsBank databases, many districts also subscribe to TCR Connections and Connections for Kids.

TCR Connections and Connections for Kids contain a collection of over 1500 inquiry-based projects covering all classroom areas and all reading levels. The projects are easily accessible by subject area and topic. The lessons relate the real world to classroom topics and provide for experiences in utilizing the Big6™ research process and critical thinking skills.

The Connections projects include “critical features that are the essence of good technology enriched instruction,” such as:

• appropriate content that may be used with the entire class, a small group, for individual instruction or for independent learning
• coverage of all content areas, grade levels, and state standards
• tools to create custom-made research projects
• use of “an inquiry-based approach that promotes higher order thinking, problem solving and decision making”
• provides a bridge between classroom and library

Susanna Garza sums up the DKC’s experiences with NewsBank and TCR Connections and Connections for Kids: “The overall feedback from NewsBank (DKC) and TCR Connections users is extremely positive. The Center provides numerous training sessions throughout the year on how to navigate as well as how to integrate both resources in the curriculum.”

NewsBank databases and projects “address information literacy, curriculum and technology applications skills, which are essential for 21st century teaching and learning.” The “projects are varied and reduce planning and preparation time and effort for teachers.”

Note: Concepts and quotes for this article are courtesy of Susanna Garza, Coordinator, Instructional Technology & Media Education Service Center, Region 20