Arlington, Va. (June 26, 2009) – With educators facing limited funding and time, it’s imperative that they have easy access to free high-quality instructional content that is effective and practical for classroom use. PBS Teachers^® (pbsteachers.org) has redesigned its Web site to make it easier and quicker for educators to find appropriate instructional and professional development resources from across all PBS’ education services. This includes content and offerings from PBS Teachers and its online education community, PBS Teachers Live! webinars, and PBS TeacherLine.

PBS Teachers is the national Web destination for preK-12 educators to access PBS’ educational services and a searchable database of more than 9,000 free local and national standards-based teaching activities, lesson plans, on-demand video assets, interactive games, and simulations. Many of the resources feature PBS’ award-winning programming and content, including on-demand streaming video from select PBS programs. PBS Teachers hosts an online learning community for educators to share ideas, collaborate, and discuss technology and digital media integration in the classroom. Within the community, educators can search for instructional resources that fit their needs; then easily bookmark, annotate, share, and manage their tagged content.

New digital media resources are regularly added to the PBS Teachers site and designed for use in school and home-based learning environments. Recent additions include classroom activities on civil and human rights based on the American Experience television program, and a series of video clips from NOVA, a national broadcast program on science and one of television’s most acclaimed series, that teach students about the thinning polar ice caps and its effect on animal and human populations.

The new PBS Teachers Web site features:

• A navigation bar at the top of the page with tabs for each grade level and a pull-down menu of subject areas for quick searches. All content and services are categorized by grade level, subject area, media type, topic, and PBS program.

• Additional search capabilities to find resources and offerings from across all PBS’ education services including multimedia resources, professional development courses, webinars, and Activity Packs. The PBS Teachers Activity Packs are Web-based widgets that contain links to high-quality PBS education resources and activities focused on a specific curricular theme for multiple grade levels.

• Rotating spotlights on high-quality instructional resources such as Sid the Science Kid classroom activities and on-demand video.

• Information on the latest news from PBS and its education-related initiatives such as PBS KIDS Raising Readers, the national literacy campaign focused on building reading skills at home, in school, in child care, and in the community.

• Highlights of new classroom-ready, digital media resources that are available to educators.

• Discussion threads and topics from the PBS Teachers online learning community for education professionals.

Teachers can sign up for free membership in PBS Teachers to enjoy access to the PBS Teachers community and free webinars, and to receive discounts to ShopPBS for Teachers.

More Information

For more about PBS, go to www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org Web sites on the Internet.

About PBS

PBS, with its 356 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 week, PBS reaches more than 115 million people and invites them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; hear diverse viewpoints; and 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 Web site, pbskids.org, are parents’ and teachers’ most trusted partners in inspiring and nurturing curiosity and love of learning in children.

Contacts

PBS
Kevin Dando
703-739-5073
kdando at pbs dot org
www.pbs.org

C. Blohm & Associates, Inc.
Kristen Plemon
608-839-9805
kristen at cblohm dot com
www.cblohm.com

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