MUMBAI: UK pubcaster BBC has announced the launch of BBC jam, a new broadband learning service for 5 to 16-year-olds. The service is an innovative combination of curriculum-based activities, video games, audio and animation putting learners at its heart.
BBC DG Mark Thompson said, “Learning has been one of three pillars of the BBC since the 1920s and it remains so today. I am extremely proud that we have been able to design a service in discussion with the young people who will use it, to bridge the gap between home and the classroom by creating something innovative and distinctive which really works for them. Right across the BBC we are looking at ways to listen effectively to our audiences and to give them an active role in shaping our content. BBC learning is pioneering that change with BBC jam."
The broadband service will see 20 commissions go live throughout 2006. The first six are maths and English for five to seven year olds, science for seven to nine year olds, geography for seven to 11 year olds, french for 11 to 14 year olds and business studies for 14 to 16 year olds.
It continues to build over the next two years, until September 2008, making it the BBC's most comprehensive education service. Designed as an appealing mix of formal curriculum-based resources and engaging informal learning, BBC jam is aimed first and foremost at the children themselves so that they are in charge of what, when, where and how they want to learn. The service hopes to encourage parents to be more involved in their children's education.