Through this grant, WGBH Educational Foundation produces, disseminates, and evaluates an integrated set of media-based resources to support the national ITEST program, its Learning Resource Center, and local ITEST project participants across the country. The products include the following resources: Video profiles of a representative sample of youth-based and comprehensive projects, selected to reflect best practice in addressing six critical and commonly experienced topical challenges across the national network of ITEST initiatives in Cohorts 1-4; Additional video segments derived from footage submitted by the projects themselves, prepared for inclusion in a companion database organized by the same six topic areas; A video overview of the ITEST program, with new stakeholder interviews interspersed with footage drawn from the project profiles and locally-produced segments; and A series of discrete Web Pages presenting these media resources for inclusion on the program Web site and/or local project sites.
The profiles and overview are streamed for presentation on the Teachers? Domain digital library platform, a free service that currently boasts over 130,000 users across the country, and all products are designed for dissemination through channels activated by the newly-awarded Resource Center. The PI envisions multiple uses and audiences: to introduce novices to ITEST, to catalyze interest and potential involvement in the program, to illustrate effective strategies for dealing with issues of particular significance in advancing STEM education, and to record for posterity the work of a representative range of local youth-based and comprehensive projects.
