PBS LearningMedia is now accepting applications for its Teacher Innovator Awards, a program it operates in partnership with The Henry Ford museum complex. The awards are designed to recognize teachers who promote student engagement through digital and interactive learning. Thirty applicants will be selected to receive prizes, and the top 10 will win a free professional development graduate-level course through PBS TeacherLine and an all-expense-paid opportunity to participate in The Henry Ford’s week-long “Innovation Immersion Experience” in Dearborn, Mich.
Applicants must submit a three-minute video or three-page essay (accompanied by images) addressing how they supplement textbook instruction in their classrooms by incorporating digital media into their teaching. Entries that include PBS resources receive a bonus point.
Last year’s first-place winner, Keith Rosko, submitted a lesson based on Andy Carroll’s book War Letters, and the companion PBS documentary American Experience, according to the PBS Teachers website. “Students were engaged in a visual, auditory, and tactile way. They watched video and still imagery, examined war photographs, letters and the work of artists, and listened to podcasts,” said Rosko, who added that the awards serve as a “great information sharing resource and source of inspiration for teachers.”
To be considered for an award, teachers must apply by December 12. Winners will be announced in March 2013.