PBS announced today that it has received a nearly $500,000 grant from the Gates Foundation to create math education content. The grant will support a new initiative, the Digital Learning Object Academy, that will be implemented via a partnership with the NYC's School of One.

The new library of math content will be designed for 6th grade classrooms, and will launch in January 2011 with a 3-day workshop that will bring together curriculum experts with consumer product technologists. PBS will also provide ongoing professional development to guide the development of the new program.

According to the Rob Lippencott, senior VP of PBS Education, "Math education is critical to the future of our country and this generous grant allows PBS to continue using the power of educational digital media to boost teacher development, increase student engagement and ensure all children have the skills and opportunity to thrive in the 21st Century.

The new math content will be made available through PBS Education's Digital Learning LIbrary, a public media repository of videos, images, interactives, audios and documents, all searchable, tagged and correlated to state education standards.