Smithsonian Institute and PBS announce Partnership – Courtesy of PBS and Smithsonian Institute
For Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, education was already a top priority, but when COVID-19 closed his museums, he realized that the museum’s rich offerings could meet fresh demands and make it available to more Americans, so he set out to find partners.
Enter Paula Kerger, CEO of PBS, and PBS LearningMedia, the standard-based interactive for pre-school – 12th-grade public television. Launched a decade ago for millions of students and teachers, the website has become a trusted resource. The Smithsonian and PBS revealed the website would showcase some of the institution’s best content for digital science, art, and history education.
“The Smithsonian has many resources, but we don’t have the broad shoulders to do all of this”. Bunch said of the partnership. “The pandemic has given us the opportunity to fill a void. It has accelerated where we wanted to go. PBS gives us a great portal to do that.”
PBS LearningMedia aligns its content with the Common Core and national and state standards, including videos, interactive experiences, and documents, and teachers can search by subject, standards, and grade levels. Some tools are explicitly aimed at teachers, including how-tos on remote learning and a lounge for virtual teachers.
Smithsonian’s content includes its “Secrets of the Sea” multimedia programs and videos about coral reefs and scientists researching ocean habitats, as well as the award-winning “STEM in 30” video series from the National Air and Space Museum, a science initiative targeted at middle school students. The content of “Talking About Race” from the National Museum of African American History and Culture will also be included.
“I hope this is the beginning of a rich partnership,” Kerger said. “We continue to strategize and anticipate more work we can do together.”
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