Wednesday, January 12, 2000

In Perpetuity Programming

For the past two years, PeachStar has been acquiring programming that Georgia schools may record and keep in perpetuity - that is, you may keep a copy in your school library and check it out to teachers, parents and students forever. Some of the series were either produced or bought by PeachStar and are permanent additions to our collection. Those are always available to you to tape, keep and use for as long as you wish. Other series we are leasing for a certain period of time. Schools may use these leased series in perpetuity too, but only if they are taped from PeachStar before the end of the period covered under the lease agreement. Below you will find a list of series that schools may tape from PeachStar and keep in perpetuity. Those that are being leased are so designated. The leased programs will not be aired by PeachStar after May 31, 2000, so be sure to tape them before that date.

If there is other programming you would like to add to your in perpetuity collection, let us know and we will contact the producers or distributers to see if that is possible.

Economics
Marketplace: Explaining the Stock Market
Gr 9-12, 1 Program (Lease)

Money Maze
Gr 6-12, 12 Programs

Foreign Language
SALSA
Gr K-3, 42 Programs

Guidance
Ultimate Choice
Gr 6-12, 1 Program

Driving Ambition
Gr 9-12, 1 Program

Multiple Choice
Gr 9-12, 1 Program

The Parenting Principle
Gr 9-Adult, 1 Program

History
The Great American Christmas Tree
Gr K-12, 1 Program (Lease)

American History Collection
Gr 3-8, 4 Programs (Lease)

The People's House
Gr 3-12, 1 Program

"We the People": The Story of the Constitution
Gr 4-8, 1 Program (Lease)

Georgia Stories I & II
Gr 4 -12, 37 Programs

The Declaration of Independence
Gr 5-8, 1 Program

The New England Colonists: Pilgrims & Puritans
Gr 5-8, 1 Program

The American Civil War
Gr 5-9, 4 Programs

George Washington Carver
Gr 5-12, 1 Program

The American Revolution
Gr 6-12, 1 Program (Lease)

America's Westward Expansion
Gr 6-12, 1 Program (Lease)

A More Perfect Union: The Three Branches of the Federal Government
Gr 6-12, 3 Programs (Lease)

We Shall Overcome: A History of the Civil Rights Movement
Gr 6-12, 1 Program (Lease)

Colonizing The American West
Gr 7-12, 1 Program

Great Black Innovators
Gr 7-12, 1 Program

Electing A President
Gr 8-12, 1 Program (Lease)

The Holocaust: A Teenager's Experience
Gr 9-12, 1 Program

Journalism
Reading the Newspaper Intelligently
Gr 8-12, 1 Program (Lease)

Language Arts
Favorite Author Collection
Gr 3-8, 5 Programs (Lease)

Famous Authors
Gr 9-12, 10 Programs (Lease)

Math
Count On It!
Gr K-3, 20 Programs

Science
Coastal Naturalist I & II
Gr 5-12, 10 Programs

Saturday, January 1, 2000

The Going the Distance Tele-Learning Consortium

A strategic partnership of Georgia Public Broadcasting, institutions of the University System of Georgia, and Georgia G.L.O.B.E.(Georgia Learning Online for Business and Education)

A 1998 study commissioned by Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) and a 1999 study commissioned by Georgia G.L.O.B.E., confirm the need and the opportunity to deploy technology on behalf of learning for Georgians. A survey of 500 registered voters statewide revealed:

* 50 percent of all respondents (including 30 percent of Georgians over age 60) were interested in attending a college or university during the next three years either to earn a degree or to take non-credit courses;
* 62 percent expressed interest in pursuing a degree in computer science or information technology during the next three years;
* 66 percent of respondents indicated that they had access to the Internet from home, work or both, and 55 percent expressed a willingness to take college credit or professional development courses via the Internet if offered by one of Georgia's 34 public colleges and universities; and
* 52 percent would take a video-based college credit or professional development course if offered over GPB's educational network.

Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) and the University System of Georgia are planning together to improve access to postsecondary learning for Georgians statewide by using existing and emerging technologies, including open air broadcast, cable and satellite television and video delivered over the Internet. One effort under discussion is the Going the Distance Tele-Learning Consortium. Individual institutions in the University System will coordinate telecourse offerings based, in part, on content provided by the Public Broadcasting Service's (PBS) Going the Distance and Ready To Earn initiatives and broadcast over GPB's expanded broadcast network. Initial course offerings scheduled for summer 2000 will satisfy most of the freshman and sophomore requirements of the University System.

The consortium will provide all support services needed to assist students enrolled in telecourses. In addition, four-year institutions will work with two-year campuses to ensure that students have access to services nearest the students' homes or places of work.

Georgia G.L.O.B.E., an initiative of the University System, and GPB will collaborate in providing marketing throughout the state to increase awareness of the expanded availability of postsecondary learning from the University System institutions. The two organizations will work together to secure a statewide broadcast license from PBS, thereby avoiding the costs of individual institutional licenses. GPB will provide production and broadcast services for the consortium.

The consortium builds on and compliments the Board of Regents June 1999 directive launching Georgia G.L.O.B.E. to use technology-based learning to:

* expand access to quality postsecondary education and thereby increase the numbers of Georgians earning degrees in occupational fields of strategic importance to the state's economic development;
* pool and leverage Georgia's educational and technological assets; and
* avoid unnecessary duplication of effort among University System institutions and among state agencies.

PeachStar Education Services looks forward to its very active involvement in the work of this new and exciting consortium.