The News Literacy Project is offering teachers a new cutting-edge e-learning platform and first-rate resource for the classroom. The Checkology™ e-learning platform incorporates many of the best practices in e-learning, including self-pacing, blended and experiential learning, personalization, rich formative assessment, and student challenges….just to name a few.

“We decided to create the platform because the demand for news literacy programming and resources across the country is great at a time when many schools, especially those that serve large numbers of under-resourced teens, are underfunded,” Alan Miller, President and CEO of the News Literacy Project, said. “Schools are looking for effective and engaging resources that are also cost-effective. We designed the checkology™ platform to fill that need.”

Leading journalists from media organizations like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, NBC News, Bloomberg and the Chicago Sun-Times are joined by experts on the First Amendment and digital media in video-based guides found on the platform.

Miller said the platform is more than just a curriculum. Instead, he said it includes a core unit that provides a survey of news literacy, but it also has evergreen resources for students. For example, The Check Tool is a process that guides students through a comprehensive process by helping them evaluate a piece of information they encounter.

“It is well aligned with next-generation teaching standards and 21st-century learning skills,” Miller said.

The News Literacy Project is launching it May 2 with ten initial core lessons. It plans to continue to build an extensive library of additional core and supplemental lessons. The News Literacy Project is offering a limited number of mini-grants to teachers who want to try the program in May and June.

Teachers who would like to apply for a mini-grant to provide premium access licenses for their students can do so at www.thenewsliteracyproject.org/checkology. The grants are awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis and are provided to teachers with significant numbers of under-resourced students. The grants are available to educators to pilot the platform next fall, as well as this spring.