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Volume 3 Issue 11December 1999

$70 Million Project to Expand Broadcasts of Teacher-Training Workshops

Dan Carnevale

Reprinted with permission.
This article may not be posted, published, or distributed without permission from The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Annenberg Foundation recently announced a $70-million plan to broadcast teacher-training workshops nationwide 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Many of the workshops have been developed by education professors, and teachers who participate can earn college credit. The workshops are used by both veteran educators and new teachers at elementary and secondary schools looking to improve their skills in various subjects.

Since it started broadcasting the workshops, in 1996, the Annenberg/CPB Channel has grown to provide training to teachers in about 43,000 schools. The channel broadcasts free, non-commercial programs for 60 hours a week via satellite through the Public Broadcasting Service. Around-the-clock broadcasting is expected to begin in January.

Frank Cruz, chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's Board of Directors, compared the expansion of the program to a plumber's adding new pipes for better flow. "We've got the ideas here, but we've got to get them to you," he said at a news conference here Tuesday.

The programs operate in conjunction with the channel's Web site, http://www.learner.org/channel where users can find links to chat rooms for discussing ideas brought out in the workshops.

The move to 24-hour-a-day broadcasting isn't being made because many educators have a sudden urge to learn new techniques at 3 a.m., said David Pelizzari, project officer for communications with the Annenberg/CPB Projects. Instead, the extra hours will allow additional programs to be created and broadcast. Programs broadcast at odd hours can be recorded on videotape to be watched later.

The additional time slots will also accommodate teachers in different time zones. The $70-million commitment covers five years' worth of programming. If everything goes well, the expanded hours could be extended for another 15 years.

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