Online Training - Social Studies

Game-based learning is a tried-and-true educational approach, made more effective by the growing availability of interactive digital content. In this workshop, participants will become familiar with virtual and game-based learning resources created by GPB Education and distributed through our streaming partnership with PBS LearningMedia. Explore ideas for how virtual and game-based approaches can pair meaningful learning activities with appropriate assessment challenges, and enable students to enthusiastically engage in mastering knowledge and skills that are relevant to real-world experiences.

Participants will become familiar with the active-learning U.S history resources created by GPB Education while modeling ideas for how virtual reality and game-based learning can pair engaging activities with appropriate assessment challenges and enable students to master knowledge and literacy skills that are relevant to real-world experiences.

Building on a reputation as a trusted source for educational content, GPB Education has created a virtual learning journey to explore the complexities of slavery and freedom in antebellum Savannah through the lens of the Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters. Educators, parents, and students can learn about the connections between the institution of slavery and the global economy and discover what one city can teach us about society and culture before the Civil War. Key concepts are presented through interactive elements like primary source letters and images, navigable maps, videos, and a virtual walking tour. Session participants will be able to explore virtual content using Oculus Go headsets or their own devices. Presenters will model instructional strategies to elicit creative responses to the experience. Following this session, participants will better understand how to implement their own virtual reality explorations in the home and/or classroom.

Join GPB’s education outreach team for a creative take on social studies education in conjunction with National Poetry Month. We'll explore primary source sets from PBSLearningMedia along with instructional strategies in "found poetry" that will shift how students examine, analyze, and understand documents.

Join GPB’s education team for an exploratory overview of our comprehensive no-cost digital resources for elementary social studies, including interactive expansions of GPB’s virtual learning journeys throughout our state. Participants will also learn more about how to meaningfully engage students with the thousands of digital PBS resources adapted especially for the classroom through PBS LearningMedia.