Sunday, February 27, 2005

Just Who Can Use Video Streaming, Anyway?

Since August 2001, Georgia Public Broadcasting has made programming available not only through its satellite network, but also via Internet delivered video streaming. More and more Georgia public school classroom teachers are becoming familiar with video streaming, but there are other entities in Georgia which may access to our over 26,000 video clips at no charge.

ELIGIBLE ENTITIES

- Independent Schools - accredited Georgia independent schools can apply to us for a username and password at no cost. We ask that independent schools send us a letter from the principal or headmaster on school letterhead requesting a username and password and providing the contact information (name, school phone, and email address) of the media specialist or technology specialist who will be responsible for disseminating the username and password to the faculty. Enclosed with the letter should be evidence of the school's accreditation.
- Public Libraries - public libraries may contact us at 1 (888) 501-8960 to obtain a username and password. According to our video streaming user policy, usernames and passwords may not be freely disseminated to students (for example, they may not be posted on a computer station in the media center), so public librarians may wish to designate one or more computers as video streaming stations, and keep those stations logged in throughout the day.
- Technical Colleges - media specialists or technology specialists at Georgia 2-year and 4-year technical colleges may request a username and password for their faculty, and for use in the media center. We ask that technical colleges, like independent schools, send us a letter from the school administration on school letterhead providing contact information for the media or technology specialists, as well as evidence of the college's accreditation.
- Home Schools - parents and teachers who have established a licensed home school may request a username and password. Home schools must be registered with their local school district superintendent. A copy of such registration, along with a letter of request, a description of the home school (number of students, teaching format, etc.), and current contact information should be sent to Georgia Public Broadcasting.
- State Educational Agencies -organizations such as the Georgia Youth Science and Technology Centers, and the DOE's Educational Technology Training Centers have usernames and passwords to use when training teachers; individual agencies such as the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia also have access. Similar agencies not currently using video streaming may contact us at 1 (888) 501-8960 and request a username and password.

INDIVIDUAL USERS

- Media Specialists - Each school is assigned one password that may be used by all teachers at that school to access the GPB Education Video Streaming Portal. This password, which may be obtained by calling GPB Education at (888) 501-8960, may be used by multiple users simultaneously.
- Teachers - GPB is now offering individual passwords to teachers so that you can create playlists of your favorite clips for easy recall and playback. Each teacher may use either the school password or his or her own password to access streaming resources, however playlists are only accessible to the owner of the account. Teachers wishing to create a playlist to share with other teachers should create that playlist under the school's account; private playlists may be created under the teacher's personal account.
- Students - Students are allowed access to the content available through the GPB Education Video Streaming Portal, but are NOT allowed access to the login information. Because of copyright liability and the sensitivity of some materials, only teachers and media specialists should have access to the username and password.

When assigning independent research that requires students to search for streaming resources on their own, teachers or media specialists should always log in themselves, rather than sharing login information with students. Once logged into the site, students will be able to conduct searches without any further need of login information.

If you do not know your school username and password or would like to create an individual account, please feel free to contact GPB for assistance. All written requests for video streaming access should be sent to: Georgia Public Broadcasting Education and Technology Services 260 14th Street, NE Atlanta, GA 30318 ATTN: Jascenda Pasley

Tuesday, February 8, 2005

Slavery and the Making of America

GPB is proud to present a new PBS series, entitled Slavery and the Making of America, which will air February 10 and 17 at 8:30 AM on Channel 420. This four-hour documentary, according to scholar Dr. James Horton, makes it clear that slavery was essential to virtually every aspect of the creation of our nation. Dramatic recreations from the perspective of slaves capture the struggles and triumphs of unsung heroes such as Harriet Jacobs, John Punch, and Robert Smalls, among many others. The series addresses the physical and psychological abuse that composed the daily life for those who didn't escape and shows that they were not passive victims, but survivors who refused to concede their culture, character, or spirit to the system that persecuted them.

Slavery and the Making of America is complemented by two extensive educational websites. The first site, located at www.pbs.org/slavery, expands on the program's content and enhances its impact through oral histories of former slaves, photographic collages, a multimedia timeline with links to interactive quizzes, maps photo essays, and more. The second site, located at www.slaveryinamerica.org, provides previously inaccessible resources, including narratives, literature, maps, essays, lesson plans, and historic images.

Sunday, February 6, 2005

Earn PLUS Through GPB and TeacherLine

Georgia educators have become familiar with the high quality originally produced and Annenberg/CPB professional development programming GPB provides. We are pleased to announce that we now offer access to PLU (professional learning unit) credit-bearing courses through our partnership with PBS TeacherLine, which offers online solutions for teacher professional development.

TeacherLine, developed through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, offers more than 80 research-based courses at every grade level from Pre-K through 12. The No Child Left Behind Act's standards for highly qualified teachers makes these courses: which include math, reading, technology integration, teaching strategies, science, and curriculum mapping: a necessary component of every responsible educator's professional development plan.

TeacherLine courses stand apart from other online courses not only because they are approved for PLU credit by the U.S. DOE, but also because they:
- Assure research-based instructional design
- Deliver standards-based content from recognized experts in the field
- Blend in-person and online instruction geared towards educators in the classroom
- Create learning communities
- Model best teaching practices with classroom video segments
- Provide authentic tasks with real-world applications
- Select best teacher resources such as lesson plans and essential questions.

TeacherLine courses are available online, and are facilitated either locally or nationally by teachers holding Master's Degrees or higher. Courses are developed to fit in with teachers' individual needs. Assignments are due weekly, but you can choose when you go online to do them. You need to log into your course at least three(3) times a week to read articles, read, and respond to discussion boards.

The decision to include TeacherLine in your professional development plan will have tangible results beyond your own increased knowledge of content and teaching strategies. A recent study from Hezel Associates and the Education Alliance at Brown University showed that schools in which at least ten percent of the teachers participated in TeacherLine courses had statistically significant achievement gains over schools that did not use TeacherLine. These gains were measured both in state report cards and standardized test scores.

Tuition for each course is $150, which covers facilitation and online course materials. Each course is worth three PLUs, which must be granted through your local school district. National courses may be taken for 2 hours of graduate credit, awarded by Adams State College, for an additional $90 fee per course.

Courses currently scheduled for March include:
- The Smart Chalkboard: Using the Computer for Dynamic Presentations K-12
- Data Analysis and Probability for Grades K-5
- Curriculum Mapping II: Intermediate Curriculum Mapping K-12
- Fostering Cooperative Learning, Discussion, and Critical Thinking in Elementary Math (Grades 1-5)
- Integrating the Internet into the K-2 Language Arts Curriculum
- Using Multimedia to Develop Understanding

Friday, February 4, 2005

February Sees Launch of New Pipeline E-Zine

As you read in the January issue, GPB is launching the electronic version of Pipeline this month. In addition to this hardcopy version, you may access all of the articles in an easy to navigate online format.

The new Pipeline E-zine (electronic magazine) will arrive directly in your email mailbox each month, so individual teachers as well as media specialists can have a subscription. Those who have already signed up should receive your copy of the E-zine by February 1; if you have not yet subscribed, fill out the online subscription form on the Pipeline page. Anyone will be able to access the Pipeline E-zine online, but you will need to subscribe in order to receive the email version with time-sensitive updates each month.

The sooner you register, the more time you will have to ease into the transition to the electronic version while you still have your hard copy available. Beginning with the 2005-2006 school year, Pipeline will be a completely electronic publication. The shift to a Pipeline E-zine will not only allow GPB to provide you with more timely, dynamic information, but the cost savings from printing and mailing will allow us to direct more dollars toward the purchase of high quality programming and the delivery of professional development training.

Student Media Festival Seeks State's Finest

As you read in the September issue of Pipeline Georgia Public Broadcasting is hosting the 2005 State Media Festival for the second year in a row on April 22nd at our headquarters in Atlanta. By now, most schools participating in the media festival should have held their local festivals to determine which projects will be sent on to the system level festival. It is recommended that building level festivals be held no later than February 18th this year, and that system level festivals be held no later than March 11th.

Projects to be submitted may be created specifically for the media festival, or may have been submitted by a student as a classroom project or assignment. They may be created individually or in groups, however the work must be entirely student produced. (Teachers may assist in the technical creation of the project - for example, instructing students on how to operate DVD creation software or assisting students with burning media files to a CD-ROM).

Projects may be submitted to Georgia Public Broadcasting for entry into the State Media Festival beginning March 14th, 2005. Projects must be received by April 8th, 2005 - two weeks prior to the State Festival - in order to be considered. If you have questions about a building level festival at your school, contact your media specialist. For information about system level festivals, contact your school system's media coordinator. Projects may be submitted directly to the State Festival even if your school or system does not hold their own festivals. Direct submission of projects to the State Festival should be handled through your school system's media coordinator.