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In the last weeks of my internship we worked on the final touches of the PEEP Family Science App and corresponding printouts. We had already finished the English versions of the weekly printouts and educator guides. However, all the changes we made had to be applied to the Spanish version of these documents. It was my job to insert necessary updates in the over 150 pages of Spanish curriculum. I spent many hours comparing the English and Spanish versions of the over 300 pages of curriculum to ensure that everything was properly formatted and updated. The PEEP Family Science project has been worked on for over a year so units which were created at the beginning of the project required a significant amount of change. For the Spanish documents I had to go through the Peep archives and gather hundreds of photos to update these documents.
Interning at WGBH has given me new insight into the field of education and using media as an educational tool. I was very fortunate to work directly under WGBH’s Editorial Project Director Borgna Bunner. I assisted her in developing, writing, and editing website content and print publications to supplement an award winning show, PEEP and the Big Wide World. Peep Family Science: Colors, Ramps, Sounds and Shadows are now available at the App Store and Google Play. There is a promotional video which explains PEEP Family Science: http://stemforall2018.videohall.com/presentations/1245?display_media=video We have recently finished content updates for the app portion of PEEP Family Science.This app contains four colors, ramps, shadows, and sounds. For the past month, I have worked on the over 300 pages of content that accompanies our apps. Every app contains an Educator Guide, weekly printouts, and a parent handout.
The Educator Guide gives home visiting educators explicit instructions for teaching parents how to most effectively use the app and do the hands-on activities. The weekly printouts provide the app content in a printable format. Parent handouts provide a list of books and online games which home visiting educators and parents can use to expand each units content. One of my jobs as an intern is to update the content of the Educator Guide, weekly printouts, and parent handout. Editing a major curriculum such as PEEP Family Science has proved to be time-consuming. For example, whenever an edit is made in one weekly printout it has to be applied to all 32 weekly printouts, 16 in English and 16 in Spanish. I also assist my advisor with the content of the curriculum. I wrote all the “Science Skills” for the app and the printable mediums. Each of our printable mediums is being designed by a graphic designer who needs high-resolution images of the hundreds of pictures contained in our Educator Guide, weekly printouts, and parent handout. It is my job to locate these images in the corresponding PEEP videos, take screenshots of the app, and find them among the hundreds of photos in our PEEP Family Science database. We have been creating the Shadow unit throughout the duration of my internship. It was my responsibility to choose all the images for the Educator Guide, weekly printouts, and parent handout.  For the past month, I have been interning at WGBH in the Education Department where I am part of the editorial team. I am working on the content for PEEP Family Science, four apps that contains a science curriculum targeted for four and five-year olds. Each app covers a different science concept. The topics are ramps, colors, sounds, and shadows. Although PEEP Family Science is available for the public, this app is targeted to low income families who are part of home visiting programs. Home visiting programs are for parents who cannot afford to send their children to preschool and rely on home educators to give them materials to teach their children. WGBH has partnered with two national home visiting programs AVANCE and HIPPY USA. These organizations have agreed to participate in the initial testing of the app. At the same time, the Educational Development Center, EDC, has been working on generating positive outcomes and areas of potential change for the app.
My first week as an intern consisted of preparing for a major stakeholder meeting in which representatives from AVANCE, HIPPY USA, WGBH, EDC, and PEEP met for a two-day conference to discuss the next steps for PEEP Family Science. As an intern, I helped my advisor create her powerpoint presentation, format the agenda, and collect background information on all the members in attendance. Throughout the conference it was my responsibility to keep track of any suggestions made in regard to the content of the app. One of the major takeaways from the meeting was to move the concept of “why media is important” to a more prominent position in the educator guide and within the app. It was fascinating to see how many people were skeptical of the use of media as an educational tool. Recently, I have been working on the content of the apps and applying the feedback from the stakeholder meeting. Every app features a month long curriculum. Each week parents and their children watch an episode of the animated PEEP and the Big Wide World. There are then questions which insight a conversation between parent and child. Next parents are given an interactive activity to do with their children. The materials used are easily accessible. Examples include phone flashlights, phone cameras and toilet paper rolls. Each App comes with a detailed home educator guide which should help eliminate any confusion home educators may have with PEEP Family Science. I am responsible for choosing photos for the app, editing strategies, and creating the curriculum for shadows. Every app is translated into Spanish. I move the translated text to a medium which enables it to be put into the app form. I have also reformatted and added content to the educator guide. I grew up watching PBS children’s shows. Interning in the same space in which some of my favorite shows were created has been humbling. The PEEP Family Science app official launch date is August 3rd. |
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