“This is the breakthrough students and teachers have been waiting for — a huge technological leap forward,” said Barry O’Callaghan, Chief Executive Officer, HMH. “By combining the technology innovation and curricula excellence of HMH with the multimedia assets of HISTORY, we’re truly changing the way students experience social studies and history.”

Today’s students are media savvy, and to maintain their interest, HMH and AETN are infusing the study of social studies and history with streaming video, games and interactive features. Multimedia engages students and puts them in the center of the discussion, and it is critically important to make an educational experience something that is memorable and educationally enriching.

“We have a generation of students who have grown up on multimedia, and it’s only natural that we develop this powerful medium to create teaching tools for the classroom,” said Abbe Raven, President & Chief Executive Officer, AETN. “As a former teacher, I am proud that our two companies are working together to completely transform the classroom. Together, we are making history by offering teachers new resources to help modernize traditional methods of teaching and engagement.”

Multimedia content and technology solutions that will be delivered to classrooms across the country as a result of this partnership include:

• Multimedia Classroom Packages: American History Multimedia Classroom Package and the Global History Multimedia Classroom Package are two sets of exciting social studies teaching tools drawn from award-winning HISTORY programming content that takes a look at the people and events responsible for shaping our world.
• Streaming Digital Library: With the click of a button, teachers can seamlessly bring any course to life with captivating and continually updated multimedia content for all social studies subjects from a rich collection of more than 10,000 instructional resources.
• Interactive Online Edition: An interactive textbook that links content with a world of enhanced features such as activities, interactive maps and assessments.

To kick off the new partnership, HMH and AETN will host We The People LIVE on September 17, a live Constitution Day educational event in Washington D.C. that will be simultaneously webcast to more than 3,500 schools across the country. The one-hour live program will include narrative about the ongoing story of our Constitution and will feature members of the entertainment industry, government and news media reading from primary source documents exploring the ongoing story of the U.S. Constitution. The program will be followed by a Q&A session with attending students.

“AETN and HISTORY have a long tradition of award-winning classroom and community outreach programs. This partnership with HMH brings together two industry leaders, each of whom has a vision of engaging students in an active way, and we are excited about the opportunity to transform the way history is taught in the classroom,” said Steve Ronson, Executive Vice President, Enterprises, AETN.

“HMH is committed to improving the teaching and learning environment with innovative, student-focused solutions,” said Bethlam Forsa, Executive Vice President of Content Development and Publishing Operations for HMH. “This partnership accomplishes this goal by bringing history to life through an interactive program never before seen in classrooms.”

To learn more about the partnership, access interactive educational content and resources, or register your school for this Friday’s webcast, visit www.hmheducation.com/history.