Are your students bored with passive online content? If so, then transform online lessons with
PBS LearningMedia (LM), a free service that offers more than 200,000 innovative, standards-aligned digital resources. PBSLM resources and productivity tools let you create personalized, interactive activities that make online learning a more engaging experience.
Favorite Your Favorite Resources!
To get started, search specific content and topics.
You can Browse Standards to search content and you can narrow your search results according to your needs. PBSLM lets you customize your search results by grade levels, subjects, and media types.
After you find and choose the resources you like best, add them to your Favorites by clicking the heart. You can quickly share specific resources with students, staff, and families through a variety of avenues (refer to red box in the image below). Next to the red star in the image below is the Quick Assign feature which generates a code for students. Students enter the code on the PBS LearningMedia student site (
www.pbslearningmedia.org/student) which takes them directly to the resource you have assigned. No login is required.
After you have saved your favorite resources, you can organize these items into Folders. Under Dashboard, click Favorites. Next, select your favorite resources that you would like to add to a folder. What’s cool is that you can share your folders using a public URL. This is great for emailing teachers resources and posting materials to social media. Just go to Folders in your Dashboard, and copy and paste the URL to share with others. Your audience will be able to access the resources without ever having to log in.
Collections:
PBSLM Collections offer a series of resources that revolve around a certain topic or theme. Examples include: All About the Holidays, A World of Stories, Nature Cat, Curious George: STEM, and many more!
Under All Types search Collections to peruse what PBSLM has available.
For example, when I search collections for Kentucky, I am provided with 30 different collections. I can narrow these results even further by selecting the options on the left sidebar.
Here is a
LINK to some of my favorite PBSLM collections for elementary and intermediate students.
Productivity Tools Bring Learning to Life
There are four PBSLM productivity tools that transform student learning: Lesson Builder, Puzzle Builder, Quiz Maker, and Storyboard. You can access these tools in your Dashboard.
With Puzzle Builder you can bolster students’ vocabulary knowledge by creating your own word searches and crossword puzzles. Quiz Maker lets teachers generate simple assessments in a snap. Question formats include: fill in the blank, multiple choice, short answer, true/false, and essay question.
The tools I use the most in my library are Lesson Builder and Storyboard because they engage students with different types of online resources. What’s more, students can access your lessons and storyboards by simply entering a code or clicking a URL.
With Lesson Builder you can add media from PBSLM, your own resources, and even web links outside of PBS. You can test students’ knowledge of the resources in your lesson by adding your own questions. The results of these questions are available for teachers to review later.
Here are hyperlinked examples of how I use Lesson Builder:
Storyboard enables teachers and students to create a web page in minutes using up to 20 elements including images, videos, and audio files as well as text, clipart, and backgrounds. A public URL is available to educators who want to share their storyboard with students.
Educators can also assign students a storyboard project that allows students to create and submit their own creations to demonstrate what they have learned.
Here are hyperlinked examples of how I use Storyboard:
LearningMedia enhances my students’ understanding of new content and supports their research endeavors. The more you and your students use PBSLM, the easier it becomes. We are fortunate that this free, vast collection of online resources is available. Try PBS LearningMedia for yourself. You won’t be sorry.
To learn more about the resources and tools offered by PBSLM, I encourage you to follow @PBSLrnMedia on Twitter.
My PBS LearningMedia Presentation
