Kentucky Virtual Library

UPDATE with the Upcoming Airdates on our KET:

I hope you catch this show – I’ll be watching.

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I’m sharing this press release because it is important to all of us who work with K12 and hope to meet student needs, whether in the classroom, online or in the library.    It may be “old news” but the documentary is coming up on the TV schedule for 13 February.  Check the listings of your local PBS station. “The film, targeted at parents, teachers, and anyone concerned about education in America, explores how exceptional instructors are increasingly using digital media and interactive practices to ignite their students’ curiosity and ingenuity, help them become civically engaged, allow them to collaborate with peers worldwide, and empower them to direct their own learning.” I’ll be watching, I hope you do too.  Thank you, Enid

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For Immediate Release                                                                                                                              December 3, 2010

CONTACT:

Daniel Gumnit, (651) 229-1582

dgumnit@tpt.org

The Education Revolution Will Be Televised:

PBS Presents “Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century”

Premiering Nationwide February 13, 2010; check local listings

Blogging. Texting. Smart Phones. Gaming. Social Networks. YouTube. More than just diversions for America’s kids, these technologies are becoming intrinsic to how they live…and learn.

Increasingly present in kids’ formal and informal educational settings, digital media is as common as pencils and notebooks were to their parents.  Yet in many American classrooms and homes, these high-tech tools are severely limited or forbidden.  Teachers and parents wonder: What are students doing with these technologies?

Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century, a one-hour PBS documentary produced by tpt National Productions and Mobile Digital Arts, addresses this vital question, taking viewers to the frontlines of what is rapidly becoming an education revolution.  The film, targeted at parents, teachers, and anyone concerned about education in America, explores how exceptional instructors are increasingly using digital media and interactive practices to ignite their students’ curiosity and ingenuity, help them become civically engaged, allow them to collaborate with peers worldwide, and empower them to direct their own learning.

The documentary also dives into cutting-edge educational and cognitive research to explore how increasingly powerful forms of digital media impact today’s learner.  Viewers meet some of the country’s most noted educational experts and thought leaders in the digital education realm.  Nichole Pinkard, founder of the Chicago’s Digital Youth Network, connects the dots between digital afterschool programs and their potential relationship to in-school practices. Henry Jenkins from the Annenberg School for Communication discusses the Internet’s role in sparking student political participation. Katie Salen, Professor at Parsons School of Design and Founder of the Institute of Play, illuminates how gaming helps kids more effectively explore systems and processes.   And the University of California Irvine’s Mimi Ito shows parents how new media practices are creating new avenues for kids to interact, collaborate, and learn

Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century also criss-crosses the nation to highlight real-life examples of how digital media is exploding in educational environments.   In Manhattan, the innovative Quest 2 Learn public school employs game design to help students explore both academic subjects and human interaction. A Wisconsin classroom uses mobile devices and place-based learning to model civic activity and teach history.  Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute sponsors The Science Leadership Academy, a public magnet school integrating digital practices into all curricula.  Middle school campers race around D.C.’s museums on a digital scavenger hunt implemented by the Smithsonian Institute.  And students on Chicago’s South Side gain media literacy, social networking skills, and self-efficacy in a decade-old pioneering multimedia program.

From classroom to library to museum to mall, students are claiming digital media as a means of connecting, communicating, creating, and learning.  Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century explores this burgeoning phenomenon, interpreting its importance and offering parents, teachers, and everyone who cares about kids a window into 21^st-century education.

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tpt National Productions is based at Twin Cities Public Television (tpt), the PBS affiliate for Minneapolis/St. Paul. For more than 25 years, tpt has produced award- winning series, documentaries and specials for national audiences. tpt’s commitment to and expertise in producing educational content is evident in numerous science and technology programs, including the Emmy Award-winning series DragonflyTV and Newton’s Apple, as well as numerous science documentaries and NOVA specials.

Mobile Digital Arts produces films about innovation and reform in education. REBORN: New Orleans Schools is a feature documentary about the school reform movement after Hurricane Katrina. A 21st Century Education is a series of twelve short films that profile individuals who are at the forefront of using technology, project-based learning, and providing fair and just educational opportunities for all students.