Grand Valley State University College of Education will Partner with PBS Member Station to Offer PBS LearningMedia Custom Service to Educators and Students at the College Level
GRAND RAPIDS, MI, September 10, 2014 – To meet the growing demand for customizable, digital resources in the classroom, PBS LearningMedia and WGVU Public Mediayesterday announced an innovative partnership with Grand Valley State University. Announced by PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger during WGVU’s Fall Preview event, the partnership will combine the rich digital content and resources available from WGVU through PBS LearningMedia Custom Service with the hands-on Liberal Arts education provided by the Grand Valley State University College of Education. WGVU is the first member station to partner in this way with a university to educate and empower the next generation of teachers with the latest digital tools made specifically for classroom use.
Beginning today, professors and students attending Grand Valley State University College of Education will have access to the PBS LearningMedia Custom Service, a media-on-demand content platform designed to support technology and digital resource integration into the classroom. The College of Education will utilize the custom service to train future teachers on how to successfully incorporate digital media to fuel deeper discussions and understanding of curriculum topics, as well as provide thousands of valuable resources for research and support. The custom platform also provides educators with the opportunity to personalize the tool for local classroom instruction by adding additional unique content.
“WGVU is very proud to collaborate with the Grand Valley State University College of Education to create an innovative partnership in support of students and future teachers,” said Michael Walenta, WGVU General Manager. “Our ongoing work with PBS and the College of Education through the WGVU/ PBS LearningMedia Custom Service is important as it aligns with a core principle of our mission to educate, inform and entertain.”
“The College of Education at Grand Valley State University is delighted to partner with WGVU and PBS LearningMedia,” said Dr. Elaine C. Collins, Dean, GVSU College of Education. “This partnership provides our faculty and students with invaluable access to leading edge resources that can be used to differentiate classroom learning. Additionally, it is indicative of our commitment to serving the evolving needs of today’s students.”
“WGVU is leading the way for public media,” said Paula Kerger, President and CEO of PBS. “Education has always been at the heart of our mission, and by training the next generation of teachers, WGVU’s partnership with Grand Valley State University will make a tremendous impact for a new generation of teachers and students.”
WGVU Public Media and the College of Education have a long history of partnership and support for education in Michigan. The College of Education is a supporter of the WGVU Cool Teacher Contest as well as partnering for Groundswell to create opportunities for hands-on environmental learning for students. In addition, several faculty and staff members from the college serve on the WGVU Engage Education Committee.
About WGVU Public Media
WGVU Pubic Media’s continued mission is to provide educational, informative, and entertaining programs and events to the community as a service of Grand Valley State University. WGVU is proud to serve the 28 counties of west and southwest Michigan providing PBS programming on television, and the only local NPR radio station affiliate in the area. WGVU offers the opportunity to explore new ideas through television, radio, in the community, and online.
WGVU's continued mission is to provide educational, informative, and entertaining programs and events to our community as a service of Grand Valley State University.
About Grand Valley State University College of Education
Grand Valley State University’s College of Education has offered quality educator preparation programs throughout Michigan since 1965, and celebrates its 50th anniversary throughout the 2014-2015 academic year. Growing from a small initial cohort of just 84 candidates, the College of Education today serves approximately 4000 students through both undergraduate and graduate programs. With our main offices located in the Richard M. DeVos Center of GVSU’s Pew Campus in downtown Grand Rapids, the College of Education connects with students across the state through courses offered at GVSU’s campus locations in the Holland, Muskegon, Traverse City, and Detroit areas.
The College of Education prepares candidates who enhance the individual growth of their students while working to establish policies and practices that promote the principles of a democratic education. The College articulates this mission as “Teaching, Leading, and Learning in a Democratic Society.” Our goal is to become one of the nation’s premiere teacher education programs, grounded in the tradition of a liberal education.
About PBS LearningMedia
As America’s largest classroom, 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 LearningMedia, a partnership of PBS and WGBH Educational Foundation, is a free media-on-demand service offering educators access to the best of public media and delivers research-based, classroom-ready digital learning experiences to engage students in exploring curriculum concepts that align with National and Common Core State Standards. Nationwide, more than 1.5 million teachers have registered access to more than 87,000 digital resources available through PBS LearningMedia. More information about PBS LearningMedia is available at www.pbslearningmedia.org or by following PBS LearningMedia on Twitter and Facebook.
The custom service provides an enhanced classroom experience and is available for purchase today. To inquire about how to purchase the service, contact PBS LearningMedia at LearningMedia@pbs.org or 1-800-572-6386.
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Media Contact:
Timothy Eernisse, WGVU Public Media; 616-331-6630; eernisst@gvsu.edu
Atiya Frederick, PBS; 703.739.5147; anfrederick@pbs.org
Meredith Gandy, 360 Public Relations; 415.216.3441; mgandy@360pr.com
