Pearson Canada and Destination Imagination Launch 21st Century
Learning Alliance
CHERRY HILL, N.J. and
TORONTO, Jan. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Destination
Imagination and Pearson Canada announce a 21st Century
Learning alliance to develop Destination Imagination: Classroom
Edition for Canadian schools.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120510/DC05048LOGO
)
Destination Imagination: Classroom Edition is designed to
engage students in grades 3 to 9 in a positive learning environment
through Challenges. These are rich cross-curricular problem-solving
opportunities that foster the development of social and emotional
skills and the 4 Cs -- collaboration, critical thinking,
creativity, and communication -- arguably the core of
21st century learning.
Destination Imagination: Classroom Edition Challenges are
adapted from Destination Imagination's library of Challenges
created for its extra-curricular program. The Challenges are
enhanced by Pearson's world-class expertise in assessment for
learning, and professional development. They are correlated to the
subject area curricula of each province in Canada.
Internationally, educational leaders have recognized that
facility with the 4 Cs is essential for students to thrive in the
global knowledge economy. The alliance between Destination
Imagination and Pearson Canada was
formed to address the growing need for in-school resources and
teacher professional development designed to advance these
21st century skills and competencies.
For students to succeed in a 4Cs learning environment, teachers
will need appropriate tools and new expertise. Many teachers across
Canada are already shifting focus to become facilitators of
learning rather than sources of knowledge. This alliance will
benefit that effort. Destination Imagination: Classroom
Edition will feature extensive professional learning resources
and services for teachers, school administrators, and district
leaders, to ensure the successful implementation of the program and
21st century learning.
Fourteen proof-of-concept classroom pilots of Destination
Imagination: Classroom Edition were successfully completed in
six provinces in the spring of 2012, and a robust, scalable program
is now being developed to be accessible on Pearson's Canadian
Learning Exchange (CLE) system.
"Destination Imagination is delighted to be joining forces with
Pearson…their experience in Canada's classrooms, knowledge of working with
teachers, curricula and assessment expertise and track record of
success all make for a winning combination," said Chuck Cadle, CEO of Destination Imagination,
Inc.
"We are honored to form an alliance with an organization that is
a leader in providing proven 4 Cs programming to students. Based on
the success of the early pilots, we have every confidence that this
new program will become a must-have standard in classrooms across
Canada", explained Marty Keast,
President, School Division, Pearson
Canada.
About Pearson Canada
Pearson Canada, Inc. is part of
Pearson, the world's leading learning company. Pearson has global
reach and market-leading businesses in education, business
information and consumer publishing (NYSE: PSO). Pearson has one
defining goal: to help people progress in their lives through
learning. Pearson champions innovation and it invests in models for
education that deliver on the promise for effective, accessible,
and personal learning from early literacy, college and career
readiness to professional education, through data informed
instruction and inventive applications for mobile and digital
learning.
About Destination Imagination
Destination Imagination, Inc., is a non-profit organization
operating in more than 20 countries around the world, including 47
US states, all 10 Canadian provinces and two territories. Through
the efforts of more than 30 000 volunteers—educators, industry
experts, and parents-—Destination Imagination supports thousands of
student teams, who compete in developing and presenting solutions
to annual Challenges, culminating each May in the Destination
Imagination Global Finals hosted by the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN. During
its 30 year history, Destination Imagination has mastered the art
of engaging students' desire to learn, and has helped millions of
students around the world develop key 21st century
skills that last a lifetime.
SOURCE Destination Imagination