When leading educational publishers look for articles that decode complex issues for youth authoritatively and clearly, they turn to News Decoder.
Tira Shubart turns cosmology into understandable stories about the importance of space to humankind. (AP Photo/Stocktrek Images)
A few days ago, News Decoder received an email from a copyright clearance agency in Asia. The agency wanted to know if an educational institution in Japan could use one of our articles by correspondent Tira Shubart as a classroom handout.
I wasn’t surprised by the request. Shubart’s stories address mysteries of space that hold so much promise for young people who are eager for hope but who face the existential threats of climate change and armed conflict.
The story in question — “Decoder: Mining asteroids for minerals can help spare Earth” — explores how asteroids could be a plentiful source of mineral wealth and spare our planet the damage that comes from mining those same minerals on Earth.
Shubart turns complex cosmology into a clear, simple explanation of the importance of distant orbs to humankind’s future. It’s the kind of storytelling that educators love to share with students.
That’s why some of the world’s leading educational publishers turn to News Decoder for articles aimed at young people.
‘News Decoder’s article was perfect for the study material.’
Our partner Independence Educational Publishers of Cambridge, UK, has used a string of News Decoder stories in their books for youth. The articles have touched on sport, electic vehicles, endangered wildlife in Africa, vaping, dating violence, abortion, immigration and climate change.
News Decoder also has partnerships with Newsela — an edtech startup serving more than 37 million U.S. students — and Newstex — a leading provider of news and commentary about emerging trends in business, law, politics, lifestyle and technology.
When I asked the copyright clearance agent in Asia how the school in Japan had discovered News Decoder, he wrote back: “They were searching for something interesting and easy to read for the students online and the article was perfect for the study material.”
Teachers at our 22 partner schools around the world use our stories in their classrooms to inform students and stimulate discussion about big, global issues. Our monthly Educators’ Catalog offers teachers classroom exercises based on content on our website.
Shubart does more than explain the mysteries of space in understandable terms.
More than a year before the U.S. space agency NASA sent a spacecraft crashing into an asteroid as part of a test of our planetary defences, Shubart wrote about how scientists are on the lookout for space rubble that could endanger our planet but which could also hold the key to understanding life’s origin.
Read News Decoder to stay informed and ahead of the curve.
(Nelson Graves is the founder of News Decoder.)