Schools have found an alternative way to equip children with flexible and adaptive skills by allowing them to learn through playing interactives and videogames. In the hands of a skilled teacher, interactives can engage students in ways that a textbook cannot. A great amount of research has gone into the effectiveness of using video games in the classroom. From giving students the ability to deeply analyze and interact with material to providing immediate feedback, video games create learning environments that define clear goals, encourage motivation, and scaffold learning to meet the individual needs of each student. The teacher then provides the interpretation and the ability to help the student plan and move forward in their...

February marks the beginning of Black History month: a time to celebrate the extraordinary African Americans upon whose shoulders an entire people were lifted. It’s also a chance to remember the considerable hardships these pioneers endured in pursuit of equality. This month and beyond, we encourage you to spend some time with your students celebrating the countless contributions of African Americans.

IPTV has hundreds of resources ranging in subject areas from history to the arts and literature that help shed light on the significant contributions of the Americans who strived for...

The PBS KIDS Video App is now available on iPhone and iPod touch, bringing more free educational video content to students than any other children’s media app.  The app gives students free, streaming access to more than 2,000 videos – including clips and full episodes – from their favorite PBS KIDS series. The PBS KIDS Video App launched on the iPad in May with great success. It has served more than 430 million video streams – an average of two million per day – and has had over 450,000 downloads to...

Mission US: For Crown or Colony is an interactive game that allows students to step into the shoes of a 14-year-old apprentice who closely experiences the events that led up to the Boston Massacre. The game was extremely successful, and developers plan to launch a second "mission" in January, where students can follow the experiences of Lucy, an escaped slave preceding the Civil...

Teaching American history can be a daunting task. Each year it seems you’re required to cover more events, but as a skilled educator, you know your students need to get more out of your class than just historical facts. How do you express to your students that history is more than just memorizing dates? How do you communicate the lives, ideas, choices, and consequences of historical figures? How do you help cultivate well-informed, thinking citizens who can apply the lessons of the past to their lives of today? On top of preparing for standardized tests, helping students write well, and covering 300+ years of events, American history teachers can have a packed school year with little time to...