Connecting a world of knowledge to current events studies

Take your Newspaper in Education (NIE) program beyond the printed page and connect students to a vast world of knowledge as they learn about the latest news and events.

Introducing WebCurrents , an innovative product that links your newspaper to the best educational resources on the World Wide Web. It provides the most compelling reason yet for schools to integrate current events studies into the content-area classroom.

Consider this: even the most in-depth newspaper coverage can only provide a limited amount of background information. Literate adults may know it, but students often lack the context of a compelling story because they don't have the foundational knowledge.

That is where WebCurrents comes in. Each week we choose a major national or international news story and go behind the scenes, infusing the story with detailed information from several engaging, grade-appropriate sites on the Web. WebCurrents is a student self-guided online activity consisting of an introduction and directions, direct links to online resources, and questions that promote higher-order thinking. Each lesson finishes with a newspaper activity that ties the instruction right back to your NIE program; students can complete the activity using a printed newspaper, or they can browse back to your online newspaper site.

WebCurrents makes an outstanding weekly feature for your NIE Web site because it positions the newspaper as a trusted information source for current events instruction. WebCurrents also serves a compelling traffic driver that can increase demand for classroom newspapers. Teachers and students can look forward to an engaging new topic each week, all year long.

WebCurrents is currently used by NIE programs across the United States, including:
  • The Dallas Morning News
  • Salt Lake Tribune
  • Chicago Tribune
  • San Diego Union Tribune
  • The Pioneer Press
  • The Sacramento Bee
  • Chicago Daily Herald
  • Rapid City Journal
  • Houston Chronicle
  • Jacksonville Daily News

To learn more about WebCurrents or to receive a quote, please contact Mary Ashmore at 800.672.6988 or via email:
mary@learnersonline.com.
"WebCurrents aligns perfectly with our newspaper's short- and long-term online strategy. Most teachers want to integrate technology into classroom learning, and it is vital that teachers and students think of the newspaper as a source of quality online instruction."

Angelina Mance