Smart Learning Institute

Encyclopaedia Britannica is offering all schools and students free access to its "LaunchPacks" science and social studies learning content. The sets are intended for students in K-12 and provide articles, images, videos and primary sources of information, presented in an "engaging interface," optimized for smart devices. The resources are translated into multiple languages. https://britannicalearn.com/covid-19-free-resources/

Epic is providing elementary educators and librarians the ability to offer students remote access to its reading platform for free until Jun. 30, 2020, with no credit card required. Students may access the company's digital library, which has 35,000-plus books, read-to-me and audiobooks, videos and quizzes. Teachers and librarians can stay connected to their students by assigning books or collections and monitoring their progress. https://www.getepic.com/learn/freeremotestudentaccess/

Exploratorium, in San Francisco, has released a new online learning toolbox with free science activities and materials addressing public health topics around COVID-19 and more general science support activities and materials for virtual classrooms and at-home learning, covering the nature of viruses, the effect of soap on viruses, how we test for and fight against viruses, as well as the science of personal and social behaviors and interactions. The organization has also posted 285 science activities, called "science snacks," which use "cheap, readily available materials" and can be done at home. https://www.exploratorium.edu/learn

EZTexting is providing free emergency text alert services to schools. To quality, people need to sign up using their EDU email address. They'll receive 100,000 free outgoing text messages for six months, access to a set of coronavirus message templates and one-on-one consulting. They also get a free keyword, with a short code to distribute to the community for quick sign-up of text messages. https://try.eztexting.com/free-text-alerts-new

Follett has waived the cost for current Destiny customers through Jun. 30, 2020 for its "Classroom Ready Collections." These are pre-K-12 learning standards-aligned, educator-curated open educational resources with lesson plans, activities, videos and worksheets. The company reported that more than 2,300 free CRC licenses have been activated in less than a week. https://www.follettcommunity.com/s/article/follett-e-learning-resources

Follett has also worked with two partners to make their offers free to schools through Jun. 30, 2020. Weigl Publishers's Lightbox, is a pre-K-12 ebook platform that uses video, audio and text to explore content aligned with national and state standards. The learning includes slideshows, activities, quizzes, vocabulary and at-home printable worksheets, as well as Google Maps to provide further context. AV2 is making its World Languages available free over the same period. Intended for K-3, the program is a collection of 1,000 audio ebooks comprised of 100 high-interest titles in 10 languages. Both sets of programs can be accessed by educators, parents and students on all devices. Register on the Follett website for access to either program. https://cloud.k12edu.follett.com/lightbox-av2-offer

Science equipment reseller Flinn Scientific has compiled numerous resources for science education, including video labs with teacher and student guides and 40 at-home activities for middle and high school science students. The company is also offering broadcasts of lab experiments conducted by its own scientific staff, with scientists on hand to answer questions. https://www.flinnsci.com/athomescience/at-home-lab-series/