WITF announced today that they will be providing free instructional resources that are available this school year as part of their Learning at Home initiative. WITF, the PBS and NPR member station for Central Pennsylvania, has partnered with the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units (PAIU) to provide programming and activities that are aligned to state educational standards.
Teachers and students can look forward to:
• Weekday broadcast television programming for pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade students
• Weekly coordinated extension activities and lesson plans
• Professional development webinars for teachers
• A new pilot program called datacasting
“Teachers and families are wrestling with uncertain schedules, remote learning and potential school
building closures this year,” said Debbie Riek, WITF director of education.
“WITF television was founded by educators to bring instructional programming into homes and classrooms; we are proud to continue their legacy by connecting students to new opportunities for lifelong learning.”
thousands of videos and activities ready for their lesson plans,” continued Riek. “With PAIU, we’ve
created a series of recorded webinars to share best practices on how to integrate PBS resources into the classroom and remote learning experience.”In partnership with its fellow Pennsylvania PBS stations, WITF’s newest and largest project to reach students without access to the internet is the partnership with PDE to establish a statewide data casting initiative.
WITF will coordinate with educators to create data “instructional units” that are transmitted over
television air waves and received by a student’s home computer, without the need to connect to the
internet. By supplying an inexpensive receiver, families will be able to download lesson plans, videos,
slideshows, worksheets, webpages and more. These instructional materials would then be available ondemand for the student, on the learning schedule that is right for them.
“We are all in this together. WITF is committed to helping create equitable learning environments for
those students who cannot go to a school building. WITF is thrilled to partner with our fellow
Pennsylvania PBS stations, Governor Tom Wolf and PDE to bridge the digital divide for students learning at home,” said Ron Hetrick, WITF president and CEO. “We look forward to becoming an integral part of anywhere, anytime learning for more students learning remotely this year.”
To find more information about WITF’s Learning at Home project, visit witf.org/learningathome .