NEW ULM — Following a presentation by Director of Curriculum and Instruction Amanda Thorson, ISD 88’s School Board approved social studies resources for grades 9-12 during Thursday’s board meeting. 

ISD 88’s Social Studies Department seeks to utilize multi-perspective sources and standards-based curriculum to assist students with becoming “lifelong learners” and “community-minded citizens.” The implementation of McGraw-Hill, Cengage, Pearson, and BFW Publishers programs provide tools that will benefit both students and educators with this goal, according to school officials. 

Lots of time and research went into the decision of which programs would best benefit students and staff. Thorson said the social studies team received feedback from staff and came to a unanimous agreement regarding the resource decisions. 

These resources will help the department with ongoing goals of creating online courses that meet student needs, implementing new standards on ethnic studies and indigenous civilizations and maintaining a variety of elective courses that align with interests and varying learning needs. 

McGraw-Hill, which will be used for many of the required social studies courses, contains a feature that allows offline textbook and resource use. Offline use will benefit students and teachers who may not have access to the internet, according to officials. Additional features include a built-in note taking feature, the ability to search keywords in the textbook which allows for easier navigation, and practice questions to access progress. 

Online programs like McGraw-Hill, Cengage, Pearson, and BFW provide more learning opportunities for students than a physical textbook because they utilize multimedia resources, according to officials. Videos, audio, and an array of primary and secondary sources can easily be accessed through the programs, allowing students to use modes of learning that suit their specific preferences. 

Additionally, online programs ensure that new studies and developing research are being implemented in teaching, according to officials This is especially important in fields like psychology, which is offered as a college and non college elective course for 11-12 grade students.

The BFW program provides psychology students up-to-date statistics and research in the ever-developing field. The use of online programs also prevents the need to constantly upgrade textbooks, according to officials. 

Along with accessibility and content benefits, the new programs track how long students spend on various online assignments and readings. The tracking feature is a tool educators can utilize  to help assess whether artificial intelligence is being used for assignments. 

In-person training will be held for the Social Studies team so they can familiarize themselves with the program and assist their students with utilizing the new resources to full extent.