AT-HOME LEARNING
A Florida Public Media Partnership
Tallahassee, FL, 03/17/2020 – As many schools and districts across Florida cancel classes beyond Spring Break to lessen the spread of COVID-19, PBS Stations in the state will begin airing a new, weekday television schedule of education programs aligned to state standards. The new programming begins Monday, March 23rd at 6 a.m. Stations will also offer a suite of free digital learning resources accessible from home. Florida stations are following the lead of California PBS Member Stations, KQED, SoCal and KCET.
“WFSU Public Media has a long history of providing quality educational content for our community. Designing a daily television schedule that pulls from the rich PBS programming archives such as Peg + Cat, NOVA, Nature, American Experience and others will help support students at home during this challenging time,” says Kim Kelling, Director of Content and Community Partnerships at WFSU. “WFSU and other Florida stations can play a critical role in helping create a learning environment with trusted and quality resources outside of the classroom and at home.”
WFSU will dedicate the daytime weekday schedule on its main channel to Florida standards-aligned educational programming The new 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. schedule includes specific blocks of time for pre-K through 12th grade levels and covers English language arts, social studies, science and math.
“Many students in our area do not have the needed devices or internet access to make online learning possible, but they do have a television,” says Tasha Weinstein, Education and Engagement Manager for WFSU Public Media. “Creating blocks of quality programming for teachers to assign to their classes to view at home, keeps everyone engaged. This is a game-changer that can level the technology playing field. PBS has always been about expanding knowledge, and these programs help harness the power of public media and put it in the hands of teachers and parents.”
Teachers can follow up with discussion questions, worksheets, or hands-on projects and experiments when they communicate with their students.
As part of this unprecedented collaboration, stations are aligning corresponding free digital content to the broadcast programs. In the weeks to come WFSU Public Media will be sharing local content and other resources that can specifically support the needs of our teachers and students.
How Teachers Can Navigate School Closures Due to the Coronavirus
- Educational TV schedule: WFSU-TV is broadcasting standards-aligned programs like Nova, SciGirls, History Detectives, American Masters, Breakthrough: The Ideas That Changed The World, and Africa’s Great Civilizations weekdays from 6am through 6pm. Daily schedule here.
- Digital Media Collections: Collections include curated media and lessons, sorted by grade level and subject area.
- Support for Teachers: PBS LearningMedia webinars. WFSU Virtual office hours are offered M, W and F from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- Curated Tips and Tools for Teachers: KQED is publishing a series of blog posts for teachers that point to articles and resources created and/or vetted by KQED, other public media organizations and other trusted education partners, including 3 Ways to Turn Your Classroom Remote in a Hurry and Misinformation, Data Literacy and the Novel Coronavirus.
About WFSU
WFSU Public Media provides quality public broadcasting services to the north Florida and south Georgia areas. WFSU Public Media is both an NPR and PBS member station, with both TV and FM housed together in one building near Innovation Park. In Panama City, WFSU Public Media is known as WFSG-TV and WFSW-FM. WFSU Public Media also provides community engagement and educational services. Examples include Ready To Learn Community Collaboratives for Early Learning & Media the American Graduate Project and children's projects associated with PBS KIDS. WFSU Public Media enriches lives and cultivates diverse perspectives by connecting our community through content and services that inform, educate, and entertain. WFSU's Education & Engagement team is comprised of educators and experienced media professionals with a desire to pair media with real-life experiences and hands-on learning while providing equity and access in education. wfsu.org/education
About PBS KIDS
PBS KIDS, the number one educational media brand for kids, offers all children the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television, digital platforms and community-based programs. Kidscreen- and Webby Award-winning pbskids.org provides engaging interactive content, including digital games and streaming video. PBS KIDS also offers mobile apps to help support young children’s learning. The PBS KIDS Video app is available on a variety of mobile devices and on platforms such as YouTube, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Android TV, Xbox One and Chromecast. For more information on specific PBS KIDS content supporting literacy, science, math and more, visit pbs.org/pressroom, or follow PBS KIDS on Twitter and Facebook.
Contacts:
Kim Kelling
Director of Content & Community Partnerships
WFSU Public Media
850-645-6056