Stories of Impact : Education
Goal: Increase and strengthen platform-intentional content that
is relevant, compelling and credible to enrich our communities.
Fun and Learning At Home for the Whole Family
The goal of Family & Community Learning is to provide resources and to create playful, hands-on activities and experiences that children, families, and educators can use along with the accompanying app. There are songs, books and ebooks, short videos, activity ideas, and more.
To create, curate, and pilot these materials, WXXI Education partnered with Nazareth College Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Rochester Childfirst Network, RCSD Rochester Early Childhood Education Center, and Monroe County Library System, and Rochester Public Libraries.
StoryCorps Connect
WXXI launched this new platform that enables anyone to record a StoryCorps interview with a loved one remotely using video conference technology. The audio and a still photo from each interview are preserved at the Library of Congress.
Talking with Kids About News, Emergencies & Tragedy
WXXI Education curated a list of resources to help adults discuss emergencies, news headlines, and when tragedy strikes. Individuals learn how to use discussion prompts, media, songs, books and activities to calm young people’s fears and encourage them to think about their place in today’s world. This list includes the best in public media resources from PBS KIDS for Parents, including Arthur, Mister Rogers, Sesame Street in Communities, PBS LearningMedia, and more.
Learn At Home
WXXI’s Learn at Home bridged the school learning gap after the pandemic shut down schools.
When students in our region returned to school in hybrid and remote modes, they did so with a better understanding of learning technologies due in part to Learn at Home programs and resources. Schools now have a framework for its curriculum with students with many of WXXI’s support materials still being used.
WXXI Education helps families navigate teaching from home by offering:
- Virtual professional development educator series for teachers, informal educators and librarians
- Archived self-paced professional development
- Broadcasts/Live Streams/and On-Demand of Learn at Home programming
- PBS LearningMedia Collections & Guides focused on curricular needs and culturally relevant materials
- Social Emotional Resources for talking with kids and teens
- Also a new pilot for engaging families with Ready to Learn
WXXI Education had created a wide range of support materials for students watching our Learn At Home broadcast schedules. Discussion questions, reflection pieces, conversation cards, content extension resources, and PBS KIDS learning tools. WXXI Education pulled together free resources to use after watching an episode. WXXI also created question prompts that aired directly after Learn At Home programs. These questions had viewers reflect and think about what they watched.