PBS MATHLINE Makes It Even Easier for Educators to View Actual Classroom Examples of Standards-based Instruction
ALEXANDRIA, VA., November 16, 2000 -- Enlisting state-of-the-art online technology to provide customized professional development tools for K - 12 math teachers, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) today announced the availability of PBS MATHLINE's searchable online video library. This new resource puts MATHLINE'S comprehensive collection of videos and lesson plans for grades K-12 at educators' fingertips, 24 hours a day - just in time for the first school year in which the new Principles and Standards for School Mathematics guidelines from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) will be in place. PBS MATHLINE, available at PBS.org/mathline, is a free service made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
PBS MATHLINE's video library consists of 72 programs showing actual teachers in classrooms around the United States implementing Standards-based instruction. Thanks to PBS's technology partnership with Virage, Inc., educators can now search PBS MATHLINE'S entire video library online by mathematical topic, teaching methodology, MATHLINE lesson plan title, and/or keyword. Search results list relevant video clips from 1-10 minutes in length that can then be viewed right on a computer screen via videostreaming technology. Teachers also have the option of viewing online the entire video from which a selected clip is drawn. In addition, educators who want to try out the same activity that they see modeled in a video can print out the video's comprehensive lesson plan from the MATHLINE Web site, as well as discuss the lessons and other relevant math education topics with educators in an online discussion community.
"PBS MATHLINE's new searchable video resource is a significant breakthrough in math education," says Jerry Cummins, President of the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics. "Such an innovation gives math teachers around the world on-demand access to quality professional development resources at a time when educators are re-energizing their commitment to improving mathematics instruction."
"PBS MATHLINE'S searchable video library puts math educators at the cutting edge of professional development technology," said Pat Mitchell, PBS president and CEO. "With this tool, teachers can drive their own professional growth and can quickly find just the right video clips they determine to be most relevant for the needs of their students."
While the improved database was just unveiled, PBS MATHLINE has been operating since 1995, providing more than 500,000 math teachers with resources and teaching strategies to advance the original standards that the NCTM developed.
Teachers' responses have been enthusiastic. "For me, the real strength of MATHLINE stems from being able to see a number of outstanding teachers from all over the country testing variables in a variety of school situations," says Steve Crandall of Inverness, Florida. "Such professional development resources really shape good ideas into great ones, and make my best even better."
Kristin Emmons of Del Norte, Colorado says, "I love watching my students Îdoing' and Îtalking' math. The MATHLINE activities really encourage and support this active learning. The video lessons are easy to replicate, or in my case, easy to adapt."
The videos in PBS MATHLINE's searchable online library were produced with the financial support of the U.S. Department of Education, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the AT&T Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
PBS, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, is a private, nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation's 347 public television stations. Serving nearly 100 million people each week, PBS enriches the lives of all Americans through quality programs and education services on noncommercial television, the Internet and other media. More information about PBS is available at PBS.org.
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Kevin Dando
PBS
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