PBS Teachers December Webinar Explores Education and
Media Literacy in the Digital Age

MEDIA ALERT (Dec. 2, 2009) – PBS Teachers^® (pbsteachers.org) and Classroom 2.0 are hosting a free webinar for educators on Dec. 8 titled “Education in the Digital Age.” During the webinar, producer and director Rachel Dretzin will share insights and findings gleaned from her work on PBS FRONTLINE: “Digital Nation, Life on the Digital Frontier,” a year-long, multi-platform project exploring the impact of the Web and digital media on life in the 21st century. The project further explores key issues and topics revealed in Dretzin’s 2008 documentary, “Growing Up Online,” particularly in light of the continuing evolution of technology – and society’s relationship to it. The upcoming webinar will focus on the implications of the “Digital Nation” project for educators and allow educators to react and provide feedback to Dretzin on her findings.

The “Digital Nation” project includes a documentary that will air on Feb. 2, 2010, and a series of online video reports on how the Internet and technology are changing cultures, reshaping workplaces, and creating new approaches to the way we solve problems. Central to the “Digital Nation” Web site is a mosaic of user-generated content designed to let visitors, including educators, participate in the documentary process. The site also features a producers’ blog, embeddable video and other sharable content, and a schedule of live online events with expert guests. The issues examined in the project include the Web’s impact on education, how social media has changed the way individuals interact, and Internet safety and privacy. For more information on FRONTLINE: Digital Nation, Life on the Digital Frontier, visit www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation.

What: Education in the Digital Age: A Tour of FRONTLINE’s ‘Digital Nation’
When: Tuesday, Dec. 8, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET
Where: Online
How: Teachers can participate in the webinars after signing up for free membership in PBS Teachers. Membership provides preK-12 educators with access to all of PBS’s educational services, including the PBS Teachers online community and a searchable library of more than 9,000 free local and national standards-based teaching activities, lesson plans, on-demand video assets, and interactive games and simulations. For more information or to register for the webinar, visit www.pbs.org/teachers/webinar.

About Webinar Speaker
Rachel Dretzin is the producer and director for PBS FRONTLINE’s Digital Nation project. An award-winning journalist, Dretzin has been producing documentaries for FRONTLINE since the mid-1990s. She and her husband, filmmaker Barak Goodman, are joint partners in Ark Media, a documentary production company based in Brooklyn, N.Y. Together, they have produced and directed numerous documentaries for FRONTLINE, including: “The Lost Children of Rockdale County,” winner of the George Foster Peabody Award; the three-part series “Failure to Protect,” winner of the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton award as well as the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award Grand Prize; “Merchants of Cool”; “The Persuaders”; and “A Hidden Life.” Independently, Dretzin's films for FRONTLINE include “Betting on the Market,” “The High Price of Health,” “The Search for Satan,” and “Growing Up Online.” She has also produced for WNET New York, NPR's All Things Considered, MSNBC's Edgewise, and most recently, The New York Times Magazine on the Web.

About PBS Teachers

PBS Teachers (www.pbs.org/teachers) is the Web portal designed for preK-12 educators to access PBS’ educational services and a searchable library of more than 9,000 free local and national standards-based teaching activities, lesson plans, on-demand video assets, and interactive games and simulations.

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