PBS Adds Curated Smithsonian Content to Free LearningMedia
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 02/09/21
The Public
Broadcasting System (PBS) and
the Smithsonian
have begun collaborating to bring
curated Smithsonian
content directly to K-12
educators through the free online education site, PBS
LearningMedia. New content is
expected to be added to the collection on a regular basis.
The
collection will focus on three main areas:
-
Interdisciplinary
resources that connect content from across the Smithsonian's many
museums and research centers, to encourage teachers and students to
explore new ideas by connecting concepts across subjects;
-
Classroom-ready
content on contemporary issues of local and global importance; and
-
Signature
Smithsonian collections and programs, including virtual tours and
highly-popular programs, such as the National Air and Space Museum's
STEM
in 30
series.
All
of the resources are aligned to Common Core and national and state
standards and made available in a number of formats: documents,
videos and interactives. Lesson plans are also posted. Teachers can
browse content and filter by standards, grade level, subject and
special collections.
"Education
has the power to transform young lives, particularly in communities
that have been traditionally underserved, underfunded and left out of
the conversation," said Lonnie Bunch, secretary of the
Smithsonian, in a statement. "We are proud to work with PBS on
this endeavor to provide free Smithsonian resources to pre-K-12
educators, helping them in their efforts to launch a lifetime of
achievement for their students."
Smithsonian
resources for teaching and learning are available on
the PBS LearningMedia website.
About the Author
Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.