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Niles and Frasier Crane love it. So do Will and Grace. Game show contestants bone up on it. Comedians and cartoonists tell jokes about it. Antiques Roadshow is the most-watched program in the PBS prime-time lineup, and avid fans flock to the show's Web site for tips of the trade from collectors or to play an appraise-it-yourself game.
Why the phenomenon? "Just about everyone has a knickknack or family heirloom they're curious about," says WGBH's Peter Cook, Roadshow's executive producer. "Watching appraisers sort out what's treasure and what isn't is part of the appeal. The other part is what we glean from all the stories, both personal accounts and professional analyses. We learn so much about our common history and heritage from the objects we collect."
In the show that opens the series' sixth PBS season, a Tucson man discovers that the old blanket he keeps over the back of a chair is one for the record books: handwoven and dyed by Navajos and worn by a Ute chief, it dates back to the mid-1800s and is valued between $350,000 and $500,000.
WGBH based the popular series on a program that had taken England by storm, and this year Antiques Roadshow UK joined its US counterpart on the PBS schedule. "We help viewers and Web visitors with 'Britspeak' and currency conversions," says Cook. "The flea market finds are universal!"
America's appetite for informal learning comes as no surprise to WGBH, the public broadcaster that invented "how-to" television with Julia Child's The French Chef and extended the learning with programs like This Old House and The Victory Garden. At the same time, developing resources for more formal learning is a high priority.
"WGBH began as 'educational' radio and television," says Michele Korf, executive director of the Educational Programming and Outreach unit that creates television, Web, and print resources that enhance classrooms from coast to coast. "Today, we're helping teachers develop active citizens who think critically, ask good questions, examine all sides of issues, and discern fact from opinion. We're also helping educators advance their own skills."
The latest project to do that is Social Studies in Action, a 32-tape, K-12 teacher-training video library being filmed in schools around the country. College-level Learning Math and Teaching Math courses are in the works, as well. These will be distributed online, offering streaming video clips, interactive problems, and links to related resources that develop effective classroom techniques. "The Web's 'learn anytime, anywhere' benefit is a tremendous boon to busy teachers," Korf says.
Innovative civics teaching is the focus of Student Voices, a videotape series completed this year that follows high school students participating in the mayoral campaign in Los Angeles. Student voices also are prominent (alongside those of teachers) in a project created in response to the September terrorist attacks. Beyond September 11: Resources for Teaching in Times of Crisis is being distributed on CD-ROM and on the Internet (at Apple Computer's QuickTime TV site). "We're working with Frontline to develop teaching strategies for the classroom," says Korf, "and we're developing a comprehensive Web site that will bring all these resources together. "Students need to experience the world in a more thoughtful, informed way," she notes. "Our programs and our educational outreach keep that goal front and center."
To: Nova
I teach science, grades 9-12. I loved the fall 2001 Nova teacher's guide and shared it with other teachers at my high school. It captures the educational value of your series -- and captures students' attention. Thanks for making my teaching career a little easier and for making things more entertaining for my students!
Pat A., Cement City, Michigan
To: This Old House
I have been following the progress of the latest This Old House project on your Web site. The addition of the Webcams really helps me understand where this house came from, where it is now, and what it will look like in the end. This is a valuable addition to an already wonderful site. The crew of This Old House should be commended for the work they do to bring back the true nature of these often historic structures.
John C., Houston, Texas
Timeline:
In 1963, a woman with a passion for French cuisine, a charismatic presence, and an inimitable voice stepped in front of WGBH's cameras and introduced America to the art of cooking. The French Chef launched not only Julia Child's extraordinary public television career, but WGBH's signature "how-to" genre, encompassing everything from Julia's many cooking shows to This Old House, The Victory Garden, and The New Yankee Workshop. "There's no faking here -- no actor turned gardener or cabinetmaker," says long-time executive producer Russell Morash. "All our hosts are great scholars of their professions. Julia has this fantastic ability to communicate. The same is true of Norm Abram and Roger Swain. They're talented teachers. They want to share everything they know with the viewer."
How can busy teachers facing new curriculum standards, high-stakes testing (such as Massachusetts' MCAS), and a confusing assortment of Web sites easily find the multimedia resources they need to more actively engage their students? A trusted source of classroom learning tools for decades, WGBH now is piloting Teacher's Domain, a vast Web library of multimedia resources designed to support K-12 teachers. Organized around national and state curriculum standards and by grade, this ambitious online initiative will draw on the full range of WGBH's broadcast and interactive resources across all subject areas. Whether teachers are looking for a lesson plan on the Great Depression or a video to spark classroom discussion about global warming, Teachers' Domain will provide easy online access to the content they need.
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