– Free Innovative Classroom-Ready Media Available to Every Teacher and Student Across the Country –
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Philadelphia, PA, June 27, 2011 – To foster classroom innovation and engagement, PBS and WGBH, and their producing partners WNET and KET, along with 31 other PBS member stations, today launched PBS LearningMedia (pbslearningmedia.org), a free service for all teachers, students and families nationwide. In addition to a rich public media library, PBS LearningMedia has content contributed from other publicly funded organizations, including the National Archives, the Library of Congress and NPR, as well as content funded by NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Education, to deliver thousands of resources for use in the classroom and with home-schoolers.
“As America’s largest classroom, PBS and our local stations are helping to re-imagine classroom learning and are partnering with our producers and teachers to engage students to accelerate academic achievement,” said Paula Kerger, PBS President and CEO. “PBS LearningMedia is a key part of the solution to one of the nation’s biggest challenges – improving student progress to build our future workforce.”
Delivering unprecedented access to a robust digital library aligned to Common Core State Standards and available to all preK-16 classrooms, PBS LearningMedia is the next generation in digital media platforms with high-quality content drawn from more than 1,500 public media producers, 350 local stations, such as WGBH’s NOVA science series among many others, and a growing list of other contributors.
Beginning today, teachers and students have immediate access for their lessons and homework to more than 14,000 research-based instructional resources – including videos, interactives, images, audio files, mobile apps, lesson plans, and worksheets. Combining dynamic and engaging instructional content with professional development support, PBS LearningMedia empowers educators to create media-rich curriculum lessons that meet the needs of 21st century learners. Through PBS LearningMedia, teachers can:
- quickly and easily find relevant resources, localized to their needs, to differentiate instruction for a diverse range of learners;
- personalize the site by tagging resources and share ideas, recommendations and comments on how they’ve used media assets in their teaching with their professional learning networks via email or social media tools, such as Facebook and Twitter; and
- develop “class pages” -- curated content lists -- for student viewing, feedback and instruction on interactive white boards and school-based intranets and other networking tools.
Currently, PBS LearningMedia is co-branding with 34 local PBS stations, including Alabama Public Television, Blue Ridge PBS, Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation, Idaho Public Television, Illinois Public Media, Iowa Public Television, KACV-TV, KAET – Phoenix, KCTS Television, KET (Kentucky Educational Television), KLRN, KNME-TV, KNPB, KSPS-TV, Louisiana Public Broadcasting, New Hampshire Public Television, PBS SoCal, Rhode Island PBS, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, WNET New York Public Media, UNC-TV, Vegas PBS, WGBH Educational Foundation, WGCU Public Media, WGVU, WHRO, Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, WJCT, Inc., WOSU Public Media, WPSU/Penn State Public Broadcasting, WQED Multimedia, WSIU Public Broadcasting, WTCI, and WVPT.
This fall, PBS LearningMedia will also be available as a custom solution, developed and distributed in partnership with state education departments or local school districts. The platform offers a flexible infrastructure designed for customization and seamless media integration into existing services. Texas PBS is the first to offer a custom integration service, bringing the full collection of PBS LearningMedia through the “Project Share” service, a collaboration with the New York Times and Epsilen, to all Texas educators this summer.
ABOUT PBS
PBS, with its nearly 360 member stations, offers all Americans — from every walk of life — the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and online content. Each month, PBS reaches 124 million people through television and 20 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front-row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’ broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. PBS’ premier children’s TV programming and its website, pbskids.org, are parents’ and teachers’ most trusted partners in inspiring and nurturing curiosity and love of learning in children. More information about PBS is available at pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the Internet, or by following PBS on Twitter, Facebook or through our apps for mobile devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom or by following PBSPressroom on Twitter.
About WGBH
WGBH Boston is America’s preeminent public broadcaster, producing such award-winning PBS series as Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow, Frontline, Nova, American Experience, Arthur, Curious George, and more than a dozen other prime-time, lifestyle, and children’s series. WGBH’s television channels include WGBH 2, WGBH 44, and digital channels World and Create. Local WGBH TV productions that focus on the region’s diverse community include Greater Boston, Basic Black, and María Hinojosa: One-on-One. WGBH Radio serves listeners from Cape Cod to New Hampshire with 89.7 WGBH, Boston’s NPR® Station for News and Culture; 99.5 All Classical; and WCAI, the Cape and Islands NPR® Station. WGBH also produces the national radio news program The World. WGBH is a leading producer of online content and a pioneer in developing educational multimedia and new technologies that make media accessible for people with disabilities. Find more information at www.wgbh.org
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Contacts:
Stephanie Aaronson, PBS, 703-739-5074, saaronson@pbs.org
Jeanne Hopkins, WGBH, 617-300-4363, jeanne_hopkins@wgbh.org
Kristen Plemon, C. Blohm & Associates, 608-839-9805, kristen@cblohm.com
