Newswise — August 9, 2021 -- With a shared vision to inspire kids to learn 21st-century skills, Arizona State University and Encantos, the global story-teaching platform, today announced at the ASU+GSV Summit a groundbreaking partnership to launch a first-of-its-kind elementary curriculum partnership that inspires students with next generation skills through culturally relevant, exploratory digital learning and print material.
This partnership will embed Encantos’ award-winning blended learning products into ASU Prep Digital, ASU’s K-12 digital learning platform that teaches learners and collaborates with schools around the globe. Because of this partnership, learners, teachers, and parents will now have access to a robust library of audio, videos, games, activities and storycasts that enhance their understanding of the world and the Spanish language with embedded social emotional benefits.
Arizona State University and Encantos -- two recognized leaders in education, pioneering innovations to impact learners and educators of all demographics, backgrounds, and economic levels -- come to this partnership with a shared vision and mission for a more inclusive educational system that democratizes and diversifies learning. The program is based upon national content standards along with a rich infusion of SEL (social emotional learning) and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion learning.) The student experience is bilingual and delivered in an innovative platform that encourages community, play, and learning. The development of a core curriculum based on 21st-century skills will unlock educational advantages for all children that will help them succeed in a changing world, where future jobs require different skills than have been needed in the past. This co-designed curriculum is the first of a wide-ranging set of innovative learning approaches that the two partners will seek to develop together over the coming years.
The collaboration will help validate educational efficacy and learning goals and will develop a sustainable educational model that lifts up all children, regardless of race, income, or household dynamics. ASU Prep Digital’s K-5 offerings, enhanced by Encantos’ proprietary mapping of 21st century skills, align to DEI and SEL standards to make it easy for new school partners to join in the future and empower learners at home as well as innovative school teachers looking for blended and hybrid assets mapped to standard that put students on individual paths to mastery.
By Fall 2022, it is anticipated that schools nationwide will join ASU Prep Digital’s kindergarten and first grade cohorts and growing network of school partnerships to leverage the Encantos tools for their learners. Each year a new grade level will be released along with a repository of assets that powerfully engage elementary age learners.
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“This partnership was developed to leverage the unique approach Encantos plays in teaching through the lens of story and play,” said ASU President Michael Crow. “We are very enthusiastic about how education can be reinvented by offering some of the principles that Encantos has pioneered into ASU Prep Digital’s growing global footprint.”
Encantos CEO, Steven Wolfe Pereira adds, “ASU is the undisputed leader in progressive education, modeling a stance on universal access with excellence, inclusivity, access and impact as the core. We share these values and are thrilled to partner to introduce 21st century skills, story-teaching, and learning through play to their schools, to ensure the 2 billion kids around the world all have an equal chance to reach their fullest potential.”
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About ASU
Arizona State University has developed a new model for the American Research University, creating an institution that is committed to access, excellence and impact. ASU measures itself by those it includes, not by those it excludes. As the prototype for a New American University, ASU pursues research that contributes to the public good, and ASU assumes major responsibility for the economic, social and cultural vitality of the communities that surround it. For more information, please visit ASU.edu.
About ASU Prep Digital
In 2009, ASU launched ASU Preparatory Academies as a network of charter schools in Arizona designed to serve K-12 learners and provide pathways to college. ASU Prep Digital expands that reach and impact by bringing online offerings to K-12 learners nationally and globally who are looking to learn in a digital environment with opportunities to accelerate pathways to college. ASU Prep Digital partners with U.S. and international schools to offer single course enrollments and full -time, diploma-granting programs. To learn more, visit www.asuprepdigital.org.
About Encantos
Encantos is a global creator platform where kids can learn from the world’s best storyteachers. Named by Fast Company as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies in education, Encantos is on a mission to inspire kids to learn 21st-century skills by democratizing and diversifying both what and how kids learn. Encantos creators are called storyteachers and they build immersive play-based digital and physical experiences including audio, video, books, games, and more. Kids and parents experience these creator-led storyworlds through a subscription that offers a safe, curated environment with unlimited access across a wide range of learning, literacy, and life skills, including creativity, critical thinking, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and resilience. Encantos helps kids, parents, creators, and learners of all ages and backgrounds connect with the tools and 21st-century skills they need to build a brighter future and a better world. An award-winning public benefit corporation, Encantos is based in Culver City, CA. For more information, visit encantosbrands.com and follow @encantosbrands on Instagram and Twitter.
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