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PBS LearningMedia AND EIGHT-KAET LAUNCH NEW DIGITAL
EDUCATION SERVICE WITH WORLD-CLASS CONTENT FROM
PUBLIC MEDIA AND ITS PARTNERS

-- Free Innovative Classroom-Ready Media Available to Every Teacher and Student Across Arizona –

Phoenix, Ariz. – August 3, 2011 – To foster classroom innovation and engagement, PBS member station Eight-KAET has launched   PBS LearningMedia (http://az.pbslearningmedia.org), a free service for all teachers, students and families in Arizona created in collaboration with PBS and WGBH , and their   producing partners WNET and KET. In addition to a rich public media library, PBS LearningMedia has content contributed from other publicly funded organizations, including the National Archives, the Library of Congress and NPR, as well as content funded by NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Education, to deliver thousands of resources for use in the classroom and with home-schoolers.

“This is an exceptional partnership and we believe the quality of the materials we are bringing to Arizona classrooms will be a great tool to educators and students,” said Eight-KAET General Manager Kelly McCullough.   “The collective content now available to Arizona educators is extraordinary and we have been fortunate to have CenturyLink support our AZ PBS LearningMedia outreach efforts statewide.”

“We are proud to work with an organization that is focused on serving Arizona's students,” said Ken McMahon, CenturyLink's vice president and general manager for Phoenix. “CenturyLink's Arizona employees are honored to help facilitate the great work consistently done by everyone at ASSET.”

“As America's largest classroom, PBS and our local stations are helping to re-imagine classroom learning and is partnering with our producers and teachers to engage students to accelerate academic achievement,” said Paula Kerger, PBS President and CEO. “ PBS LearningMedia is a key part of the solution to one of the nation's biggest challenges – improving student progress to build our future workforce.”

Delivering unprecedented access to a robust digital library aligned to Common Core State Standards and available to all preK-16 classrooms, PBS LearningMedia is the next generation in digital media platforms with high-quality content drawn from more than 1,500 public media producers, 350 local stations, such as WGBH's NOVA science series among many others, and a growing list of other contributors.  

Teachers and students in Arizona have immediate access for their lesson and homework to more than 14,000 research-based instructional resources – including videos, interactives, images, audio files, mobile apps, lesson plans, and worksheets.

Combining dynamic and engaging instructional content with professional development support, PBS LearningMedia empowers educators to create media-rich curriculum lessons that meet the needs of 21 st century learners. Through PBS LearningMedia , teachers can:

•  Quickly and easily find relevant resources, localized to their needs, to differentiate instruction for a diverse range of learners;

•  Personalize the site by tagging resources and share ideas, recommendations and comments on how they've used media assets in their teaching with their professional learning networks via email or social media tools, such as Facebook and Twitter; and

•  Develop “class pages” - curated content lists - for student viewing, feedback and instruction on interactive white boards and school-based intranets and other networking tools.

The PBS LearningMedia platform also offers a flexible infrastructure designed for customization and seamless media integration into existing services provided by state and local school district systems.

Currently, PBS LearningMedia is co-branding with 34 local PBS stations around the country, including KAET – Phoenix, Alabama Public Television, Blue Ridge PBS, Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation, Idaho Public Television, Illinois Public Media, Iowa Public Television, KACV-TV, KCTS Television, KET (Kentucky Educational Television), KLRN, KNME-TV, KNPB, KSPS-TV, Louisiana Public Broadcasting, New Hampshire Public Television, PBS SoCal, Rhode Island PBS, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, WNET New York Public Media , UNC-TV, Vegas PBS, WGBH Educational Foundation, WGCU Public Media, WGVU, WHRO, Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, WJCT, Inc., WOSU Public Media, WPSU/Penn State Public Broadcasting, WQED Multimedia, WSIU Public Broadcasting, WTCI, and WVPT.

About Eight's Educational Outreach
Arizona Pre K-12 students benefit from outreach programs and educator professional development distributed statewide by Eight Educational Outreach-ASSET. For more information visit www.azpbs.org/asset .

ABOUT PBS
PBS , with its nearly 360 member stations, offers all Americans — from every walk of life — the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and online content. Each month, PBS reaches 124 million people through television and 20 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front-row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS' broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry's most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. PBS' premier children's TV programming and its website,   pbskids.org , are parents' and teachers' most trusted partners in inspiring and nurturing curiosity and love of learning in children. More information about PBS is available at   pbs.org , one of the leading dot-org websites on the Internet, or by following   PBS on Twitter ,   Facebook   or through our   apps for mobile devices . Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom   or by following   PBSPressroom on Twitter .

About WGBH
WGBH Boston is America's preeminent public broadcaster, producing such award-winning PBS series as Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow, Frontline, Nova, American Experience, Arthur, Curious George, and more than a dozen other prime-time, lifestyle, and children's series. WGBH's television channels include WGBH 2, WGBH 44, and digital channels World and Create. Local WGBH TV productions that focus on the region's diverse community include Greater Boston, Basic Black, and María Hinojosa: One-on-One. WGBH Radio serves listeners from Cape Cod to New Hampshire with 89.7 WGBH, Boston's NPR® Station for News and Culture; 99.5 All Classical; and WCAI, the Cape and Islands NPR® Station. WGBH also produces the national radio news program The World. WGBH is a leading producer of online content and a pioneer in developing educational multimedia and new technologies that make media accessible for people with disabilities. Find more information at www.wgbh.org

About Eight, Arizona PBS

Eight, Arizona PBS specializes in the education of children, in-depth news and public affairs, lifelong learning, and the celebration of arts and culture -- utilizing the power of noncommercial television, the Internet, educational outreach services, and community-based initiatives. The PBS station began broadcasting from the campus of Arizona State University on January 30, 1961. Now more than 80 percent of Arizonans receive the signal through a network of translators, cable and satellite systems. With more than 1 million viewers each week, Eight consistently ranks among the most-viewed public television stations per capita in the country. Arizonans provide more than 60 percent of the station's annual budget.

Eight is a member-supported service of Arizona State University.