094 MTSU K-12 TV SHOWS EXPAND IN CONTENT, COVERAGE AREA

Release date: Sept. 14, 2007


News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Instructional Technology Support Center contact: Dr. Connie Schmidt, 615-898-5191


MTSU K-12 TV SHOWS EXPAND IN CONTENT, COVERAGE AREA


(MURFREESBORO) — The MTSU Satellite and Webcasting Center continues to expand its K-12 educational television programming in both content and coverage area.
This fall, the center will be adding Memphis City Schools and Hawkins County in upper East Tennessee to the satellite viewing audience, said Dr. Connie Schmidt, director of the Instructional Technology Support Center.
“We will now reach schools in 15 urban, suburban and rural Tennessee counties by satellite or cable television,” Schmidt said. “We also plan to Webcast all of our programs again this fall, making our programs accessible to all teachers and students across the state with high-speed Internet connection.”
Schmidt added the Internet connection “service is made possible by the continued support of the Information Technology Division, which generously provides the necessary Webcasting bandwidth.”
The Enrichment Programs for Students will be held from 9 until 10 a.m. each Tuesday through Dec. 4. No programs will air live on Oct. 2, Oct. 9 and Nov. 20.
The Professional Development Programs for Teachers will air on Thursdays through Dec. 6. No shows will air Oct. 4, Oct. 11 and Nov. 22.
This fall’s topics will history, social studies, fine arts, geography, science, college entrance exam preparation, teaching strategies, classroom management and agriculture, Schmidt said. The program schedules can be found at mtsu.edu/~itsc.
She added the Oct. 23 (“English Review for the ACT”) and Nov. 27 (“ACT Mathematics Test”) “will be of particular interest to college-bound high-school students.” The Nov. 1 professional development program (“Living in Space” and “Life in the Classroom”) was produced with support from the Tennessee Mathematics, Science and Technology Center.
“The center helped fund a visit to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where we were able to record amazing video footage of mock-ups of the International Space Station and the space shuttle,” Schmidt said. “We even shot footage of real NASA scientists working to resolve the recent heat-resistant tile problems with the space shuttle Endeavour.”
Billy Hix of Motlow State Community College and Terry Sue Fanning of Moore County Schools will co-present the “Living in Space” program, Schmidt said.
MTSU presenters this fall include:
• Drs. Larry (journalism) and Kathy (elementary and special education) Burris, sharing their exploration of pre-Colombian Bolivia and Peru in “Machu Picchu: Lost City of the Incas” on Dec. 4;
• Karen Claud (Girls Raised in Tennessee Science program) and Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross (chemistry) presenting a program encouraging students to pursue science, technology, engineering and math careers on Sept. 25 and discussing recent developments in math and science education with K-12 teachers on Sept. 27. Iriarte-Gross will present a third program designed to get students in grades 5-8 excited about chemistry on Oct. 16;
• Dr. Zaf Khan (elementary and special education) will present three programs concerning the positive behavior supports approach to classroom management on Sept. 20, Oct. 25 and Nov. 15;
• Dr. Phil Waldrop (associate dean in College of Education and Behavioral Science) is organizing two programs for beginning teachers, particularly those on alternative licenses, on Oct. 18 and Nov. 29. He also had one Sept. 13.
Schmidt said the center is continuing and expanding “our partnerships with public and private organizations in providing educational outreach to K-12 schools across the state.
Fall presenters include experts from the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Stones River National Battlefield, Rutherford County Schools, Kilowatt Ours, Grundy and Moore county schools, Motlow State Community College, the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere and the Tennessee State Library and Archives.
Viewing options include Bedford, Cannon, Coffee, Davidson, Franklin, Grundy, Knox, Lincoln, Marshall, Moore, Rutherford (Murfreesboro), Warren, Williamson and Wilson counties, Memphis and Huntsville, Ala.
For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.

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Media welcomed to cover any of the live broadcasts.