Those of you who are veteran users of PeachStar programming and services may remember our huge programming acquisition initiative over the spring of 2001. More than 300 Georgia teachers participated in the initiative, reviewing and evaluating existing and potential PeachStar programming to ensure that it met the needs of classroom teachers across the state. The result of the combined efforts of those teachers and PeachStar staff was a repository of quality video programming large enough to fill three satellite channels dedicated to elementary, middle and high, and post-secondary and professional development programming.
Since the completion of the 2001 initiative, PeachStar staff have streamlined the programming acquisition process, performing the preliminary screening and evaluation process themselves and relying on teacher input to review and evaluate only that programming that has passed this initial screening; PeachStar recognizes the value of your time, and by streamlining the acquisition process, we have maximized the time you will spend in the reviewing process. Read on to learn more about the plans for 2003 programming acquisition and to see where you, as teachers and content experts, fit in.
In March 2003, PeachStar staff began the work of programming acquisition by reviewing and enhancing the evaluation rubric that will be used to determine which programming PeachStar should keep, acquire, and discard. Staff used the month of April to review all programming currently being aired via PeachStar according to the rubric and to generate a list of program titles that no longer meet PeachStar?s high standards for broadcast based on the criteria in the rubric. PeachStar staff will use the months of May and June to review potential new programming using the evaluation, which examines such criteria as relation to the Georgia QCC?s and production quality. Staff will generate a list of all programs that meet or exceed the evaluation criteria to be reviewed by teachers in the next phase of the acquisition process. PeachStar staff will identify content gaps and locate additional program offerings to address those gaps.
PeachStar staff will begin preparing materials for reviewers during the months of July and August. They will pull together copies of the evaluation rubric; dub and organize videos to be reviewed; and collect any ancillary materials including print, online, and CD materials, to be reviewed in conjunction with video assets. Teachers will join the process during the months of September and October. Teachers serving as reviewers will either come to the GPB facility in Atlanta or work offsite to review the video assets PeachStar staff have identified and prepared for them. Using the evaluation rubric, reviewers will suggest programming to keep, acquire, and discard. During the month of November, PeachStar staff will analyze and compile the results of the reviewers? evaluations. Using teacher suggestions, PeachStar will generate a list of programming to acquire. The list will be arranged in priority order, with programming that addresses stated content gaps receiving higher priority. PeachStar staff will then begin negotiating rights and arranging the actual acquisition of programs to be added to the PeachStar video repository.
