KQED
By Polly Conway,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Media-rich site starts conversations on news and culture.
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What you will—and won't—find in this website.
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Presenters of the Cat in the hat knows a lot about that since 2010.
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What’s It About?
KQED EDUCATION is a website aligned with San Francisco's public radio and TV station that offers a variety of educational media for kids of all ages. Their goal is to engage with community and educational organizations to broaden and deepen the impact of KQED media to effect positive change. The site is divided into sections: Main Page, Blogs, Digital Media Center, K-12, and Post-Secondary/ESL. You can also view resources by content area, like Arts, Science, or Social Studies.
Within the site are several blogs, each with a different angle on educational topics. The EdSpace blog contains something called Do Now, a weekly activity that asks students to respond to current issues using social media. Mindshift focuses on new technology and the future of learning. Most of the content here is directed toward teachers and parents to better serve kids. It's not necessarily a place kids can go to easily find games or activities.
Is It Any Good?
Content is fresh and updated frequently, and the community that they're working to create with the Do Now activity is exciting. However, the content could be better organized. Clicking on various links often takes you to the same place, and the main page is a bit convoluted. It's hard to know where to look for teacher resources as opposed to content directed toward kids. However, this problem may exist because there's just so much to look at here, including five separate blogs, all about education. The Early Learning section could be more substantial; it basically just links out to other PBS assets.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Why is it important for young people to join the global conversation? Ask your kids how they feel about what they're hearing on the news. What would they change to make the world a better place?
Talk to your kids about media bias. Ask them to write a brief news article on something simple, like the family cat, but from a biased perspective. Then ask them to write the same article in a neutral tone and compare the two.
Website Details
- Subjects: Language & Reading: discussion, forming arguments, reading, Science: engineering, biology, ecosystems and the environment, Social Studies: cultural understanding, global awareness, government, Arts: dance, film, music
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: asking questions, making conclusions, thinking critically, Self-Direction: academic development, Emotional Development: perspective taking, Collaboration: respecting other viewpoints, Responsibility & Ethics: honoring the community, Tech Skills: social media
- Genre: Educational
- Pricing structure: Free
- Last updated: December 2, 2018
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
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