<\/p>\n
Today, though, I\u2019d like to take a deep look at PBS Learning Media. What is it? What do teachers think of it? And how has the pandemic affected online use?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n PBS Learning Media is essentially a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>giant<\/span><\/span>\u00a0collection of educational content for students of all ages. The website has\u00a0<\/span><\/span>over 100,000<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0different resources: this includes videos, games, lesson plans, music\u2014pretty much anything you could possibly want as an educator. The lessons on PBS Learning Media\u00a0<\/span>also tell you which state and national education standards they are addressing. What\u2019s more is that many lesson plans on the website incorporate some of your favorite PBS characters and brands:\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Elinor Wonders Why<\/span><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Donkey\u00a0<\/span>Hodie<\/span><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>and even\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Crash Course<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0are all featured collections on the site.<\/span>\u00a0The site even offers\u00a0<\/span><\/span>professional development courses for teachers<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>self-paced learning modules for K-2 teachers.<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Here are some quick numbers:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In a recent national survey, about 75% of teachers reported that PBS Learning Media helps them motivate students, respond to different learning styles, and reinforce and expand on educational content. About 70% agreed that technology gives them new and exciting ways to teach.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Teachers are also using technology in the classroom more than ever before. That same study noted that more than 50% of teachers across the country are implementing technology in their classrooms, and more than 60% of teachers have access to an interactive whiteboard in their classes. This access means that sharing PBS Learning Media content to the class is easier than it\u2019s ever been before.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Looking at analytics for website usage\u00a0during the pandemic comes with a unique set of challenges. There are a lot of mediating factors that we need to consider: are people tired of using computers? If so, when did that start to show up in our figures? Does that vary by region at all? The unique set of circumstances that COVID has brought us can make looking at numbers a\u00a0<\/span>head-scratcher at times.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That said, let\u2019s look at some figures from our Big Bend viewing area. These numbers represent how many new local users we have gotten on PBS Learning media in different time periods. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 961073|http:\/\/wfsu.org\/education\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/data-screenshot1.png|full961074|http:\/\/wfsu.org\/education\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/data-screenshot2.png|full<\/p>\n Our local PBS Learning Media viewers\u00a0<\/span>have gone up from this time last year. In some ways, this kind of data is more of a reflection on Zoom burnout and how it has spread regionally. In any case, the pandemic has likely helped\u00a0<\/span>WFSU<\/span>\u00a0gain more users over the course of the past year. 37% growth seems\u00a0<\/span><\/span>really\u00a0<\/span><\/span>staggering. Ma<\/span>kes you wonder if we see similar growth by checking month-to-month data.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nope. So, some quick analysis: this time last year, we had about 369 new users compared to this year\u2019s 586. A 37% increase. But, when we look at how new users have been changing more recently,\u00a0<\/span>we see what looks like a drastic change. Could it be that the infamous Zoom burnout just took a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>while to manifest here in Tallahassee? We are a resilient bunch.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Looking at the rest of the data, it seems that there may have been a major shift somewhat recently in our pool of users. Look<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0at how our users compare from last month to three months ago, we see that we gained\u00a0<\/span><\/span>81% less new users<\/span><\/span>. Ouch. But if we look at how our last\u00a0<\/span>quarter<\/span>\u00a0compared to new user influx from\u00a0<\/span>3 quarters<\/span>\u00a0ago\u2026<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 961077|http:\/\/wfsu.org\/education\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/data-screenshot3.png|full<\/p>\n We see a huge increase again! If the goal here is to identify when Zoom burnout (and screen burnout in general) happened for us locally, then this data makes me think that it may have not started until around a year ago. That said, it\u2019s lightening up<\/span>\u00a0in a big way<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Despite the fact that many workplaces are still relying on remote work and virtual meetings, we are starting to gain new users at a much better rate than we were a year ago. Maybe calling it \u201cZoom Burnout\u201d isn\u2019t a fair term, and we\u2019ve all just needed some time to transition. Nowadays we\u2019re struggling to keep up with new user numbers, and we\u2019re still growing overall. Is it Zoom Burnout 2.0? Does it have to do with parents and teachers needing PBS Learning Media over the summer to plan out their curriculum? Maybe teachers were so swamped last year trying to come up with virtual lesson plans, they felt it was necessary to rely on the pre-made lessons on PBS Learning Media more than ever before!? Maybe it\u2019s a combination of the three? <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see more drastic changes in these numbers in the coming months\u2014with the school cycle\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span><\/i>COVID-19 being powerful mediating factors, looking at these kinds of numbers helps us\u00a0understand how the pandemic has affected our learning and our local educators.\u00a0We just have to keep in mind that these statistics don\u2019t tell the whole story\u2014we can, however, infer that PBS Learning Media has demonstrated itself as a valuable tool to local educators throughout the pandemic.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Educators and\/or parents reading this: have you used PBS Learning Media in the past year?\u00a0We love anecdotes. Feel welcome to share your experiences with PBS Learning Media with us. We can be found on\u00a0<\/span>Facebook<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Instagram<\/span><\/a>, our <\/span>website<\/span><\/a>, or reached vis email at education@wfsu.org<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PBS Learning Media is an invaluable resource for teachers and parents. If you’ve never explored its free and educational content, it’s definitely time. George Kantelis reviews the data behind local use of the platform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":963296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-963295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ed-scoop","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-02 12:03:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963295"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=963295"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":963297,"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963295\/revisions\/963297"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/963296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=963295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=963295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=963295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
What is PBS Learning Media?<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"screenshot](\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/education\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/pbs-learning-media-screenshot-1024x547.png\")
<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/h3>\n
From the Teachers\u2019 Mouths<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
By the\u00a0Numbers<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n