VERMILLION –  Responding to the urgent need for educational resources for students as schools close due to the coronavirus, SDPB’s World Channel, in partnership with PBS LearningMedia, will begin broadcasting At Home Learning programs for grades 6-12,

The program began Monday, March 30, and will run from Monday through Friday at 11 a.m.-4 p.m on SDPB2-TV. 

In recognition that not all students have access to broadband internet, these daily free-over-the-air broadcasts will feature the best in public media science, history and other educational programming. 

This at-home learning block – suited to Worlds’s everyday schedule of news, information and documentary programming – has been carefully curated and supplemented to include related assets from the well-respected PBS LearningMedia website, a free online service of thousands of compelling educational resources. https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/

“In these challenging times, our public media mission to support students with the educational resources needed to thrive is more important than ever,” says Julie Overgaard, SDPB executive director. “While SDPB’s World At-Home Learning programs are geared to middle and high school students, our 24/7 PBS KIDS service and daytime on our main channel target children in primary-school grades.” 

“With a commitment to educational multimedia, SDPB delivers curriculum-based resources that support parents and teachers in achieving children’s learning goals,” says Overgaard. “We recognize that many families do not have access to the internet or computers at home, so we are leveraging our public media TV broadcast channels to reach teachers, students and caregivers across the state, including English-language learners.”

In addition, SDPB is broadcasting the Emmy-winning SDPB history series Dakota Pathways weekdays at 2 p.m. beginning Monday, March 30 on the main SDPB1 channel. http://www.dakotapathways.org/

SDPB is also providing these online learning opportunities: The SDPB Learners Connection provides free and readily accessible resources for at home learning for families with children from pre-K through high school.

The site brings together the content of PBS Learning Media, with resources from across the country as well as access to local South Dakota learning content, complete with teacher and parent resources, and regular E-newsletters to keep parents and teachers up to date with content-related information. The frequently updated site is currently live at https://www.sdpb.org/learn/learnersconnection/

SDPB’s four channels are available free, over-the-air throughout South Dakota.