The Challenge:
Involving Young People in the Reporting of World Events
What's
In The News is a weekly 15 minute current events program produced
by Penn State Public Broadcasting, WPSX-TV3, and accessible to one-third
of the 4th to 7th graders nationwide. The challenge was to find a
way to draw these students into the news, and create a means for them
to share their thoughts on the issues beyond their classroom walls. |
The Solution: Kidstimes.org
Kid's Times (Kidstimes.org) is an online, interactive environment
where students can respond, and even contribute to, the What's
In The News program. Students can submit written or video
stories, which are posted on the Kid's Times web site by WPSX,
where they are viewed by other students worldwide. When kids
log onto the website, they can also take online surveys and
search the website for specific topics.
The
creation of Kidstimes.org allows the WPSX team to immediately
change the focus of the program to meet the needs of its audience.
At the time of the tragic events of September 11th, Kidstimes.org
became an extremely important tool to get kids to understand
terrorism and discuss their feelings, as well as bringing
comfort to them by assuring them that they were safe.
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To
see Kid's Times in action, visit http://www.kidstimes.org.
For more information about WPSX, visit http://www.wpsx.psu.edu.
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Producer/Director:
Betsy Hutton
Project Manager:
Ajamil Calloway
Project
Assistant:
Stuart Merkel
Web Designer:
Corey Johnston
Database/Backend Designer:
Tom Wilson
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