Introduction:

The purpose of this Instructional Design Stylebook is to give the content producers of the.News – broadcast and internet producers and educators – insight into the needs of teachers. The Instructional Design Stylebook was the result of a weekend conference with seven teachers from around the nation followed by an extensive conversation and review with them and with project partners and members of the.News advisory board. the.News is designed to provide high school and middle school teachers a noncommercial broadcast for in-class use that encourages regular and critical attention to domestic and international current events. All content will include curriculum guides for social studies and language arts, as well as the content of various features on economics, science, and the arts. the.News will reflect racially, culturally, economically, and geographically diverse populations.

The Instructional Design Stylebook

This stylebook is a listing of key educational goals and objectives. It is intended to highlight the educational values reflected in the.News content. This instructional design advises journalists and educators how to integrate these educational concepts and objectives into the.News’ broadcast and internet content as well as its supplemental teacher and student activities and resources.

General Educational Goals:

to keep students well-informed of current local, national and world events
to help students understand the relevance of these events
to promote global understanding and cooperation
to enrich the “prescribed” curriculum
to help students understand socio-political and economic changes in the US and around the world
to correlate to state standards in the key discipline areas
to correlate with key subject content for these disciplines
to include critical thinking, reasoning, listening and analysis skills
to integrate learning activities that feature other related disciplines
to serve racially, culturally, and economically diverse populations
to allow teachers and students to access and utilize the programs using a varied level of technological capability
to encourage students in career opportunities and life-long learning
to give students a voice within the context of current events
to support the civic mission of schools
to make students more “marketable” in today’s competitive job arena through understanding of the global and national economic pressures.

Each Story should:

include one key point students should learn and why it is important to them
key words for curriculum correlation and/or lists like SAT/AP.
maps should be placed in context with appropriate historical references
be designed for a youth point of view
have some potential for student follow-up/action
reference primary sources
include additional content available online
include opportunities for media literacy

In development:

This version of the Instructional Design Stylebook is a preliminary draft. Additional areas now in development include sections on:

Learning Objectives
Every 10 Minute Program Should
Skills and Content When Selecting Topics
Important Themes
Goals for Professional Development for Educators