June 3 Summit Will Focus on Innovations in Math and Science and Transmedia Storytelling to Educate Children
Arlington, VA, June 3, 2011 – PBS KIDS today welcomes new members to the PBS KIDS Next Generation Media Advisory Board at the group’s annual summit. The meeting will be held today at PBS headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.
“The PBS KIDS Next Generation Media Advisory Board has consistently challenged us to develop new partnerships, build content across multiple platforms and pursue research to support the role of media in the development of young children,” said Lesli Rotenberg, Senior Vice President, PBS Children’s Media. “This year, we are eager to welcome new participants and discuss ways to extend our work in the areas of math and science content, building on the success of our work in literacy that has proven to accelerate the reading skills of young children, especially disadvantaged children.”
The following members have either recently joined the Board or are joining as of the 2011 Board meeting:
- Lisa Bernstein, Executive Director, What to Expect Foundation
- Joe Blatt, Senior Lecturer in Education, Faculty Director, Technology, Innovation, and Education Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education
- Matt Brown, President of Klutz and Senior Vice President of Scholastic, Inc.
- Kevin Clark, Ph. D., Associate Professor, Instructional Technology Program, George Mason University
- Alan Gershenfeld, President, E-Line Media
- Betsy Landers, President-elect, National PTA
- Jack McArtney, Associate Director, Advertising and Content Standards, Verizon Wireless
- Jeff McIntyre, Director of National Policy, Children Now
- Vicky Rideout, M.A., VJR Consulting
- Deb Sanchez, Senior Vice President, Education and Children’s Content, Corporation for Public Broadcasting
- Jesse Schell, Chief Executive Officer, Schell Games
- Yasmina Vinci, Executive Director, National Head Start Association
And, Val Kass, Program Director, National Science Foundation, is a new special liaison to the board for NSF.
The 2011 Board Summit will address the goals and PBS’ plans for the next Ready to Learn grant from the Department of Education, a five-year project addressing multiplatform math education, research and outreach; PBS’s upcoming content initiatives; and an evaluation of environmental shifts in the lives of early elementary school age children and their families. Drew Davidson, Director of the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University, will deliver the keynote presentation on crossmedia and learning.
The PBS KIDS Next Generation Media Advisory Board was launched in 2006 to provide PBS with strategic counsel in key areas of research, content and distribution, product development, and educational and community impact to continue to break new ground in serving children and their families. Board members have made a commitment to work with PBS KIDS to examine the rapidly evolving technology changes in the media and education, and the implications for our youngest learners.
As America’s largest classroom, PBS is available to all of America’s children – including those who can’t attend preschool – and offers educational media that help prepare children for success in school. PBS is the No. 1 source of media content for preschool teachers and the No. 1 place parents turn to for preschool video online, with content proven to improve critical literacy skills in young children.
About PBS KIDS
PBS KIDS, the number one educational media brand for children, offers all children the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television, online and community-based programs. Each quarter, more than 27 million viewers watch PBS KIDS on TV, and PBSKIDS.org, the number one kids’ entertainment site for free video streaming, attracts more than 9.5 million unique visitors per month (Nielsen, NTI Q42010; comScore Video Metrix; Google Analytics). For more information on specific PBS KIDS programs supporting literacy, science, math and more, visit PBS.org/pressroom, or follow PBS KIDS on Twitter and Facebook.
Contacts:
Stephanie Aaronson 703-739-5074 saaronson@pbs.org
Jake Landis 703-739-5362 jwlandis@pbs.org
