AT&T Launches Free Digital Learning Platform Featuring Clips From Popular WarnerMedia Films, TV Shows and Animated Series

High-quality, engaging learning content aims to help bridge the digital divide for students and their families 

DALLAS, March 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

What's the news?
The Achievery, created by AT&T* is launching today. It's a free digital learning platform designed to make distance learning more engaging, entertaining, and inspiring for K-12 students. Created in collaboration with WarnerMedia, The Achievery helps connect students to a new world of digital learning through stories that spark curiosity, and learning content that entertains as well as teaches.

The platform features clips from some of the most popular, well-loved films, TV shows and animated series from WarnerMedia, paired with lessons and learning activities that students can engage with wherever they learn – at home, in the community and in the classroom. Some examples include:

• Wonder Woman film clips paired with lessons teaching reading and writing skills
• Aquaman film clips paired with lessons teaching responsible decision-making
• Craig of the Creek animated clips paired with lessons teaching social awareness and language skills

Through high-quality, exciting learning content, we're aiming to make distance learning more engaging and effective for students and encourage more families to get connected as we work to bridge the digital divide. The digital divide is the gap between those who have the benefit of using online resources and those who don't.

The platform is the latest development within the AT&T Connected Learning initiative, created in 2021 as part of our companywide, $2 billion, 3-year commitment to address the digital divide through investments in digital literacy tools, education resources, broadband technology, low-cost internet service, and computers, to help today's learners succeed inside and outside of the classroom.

Why is this important?
To narrow the digital divide, families, students, and teachers first need access to affordable internet connections and computers. But they also need access to engaging, relevant educational content that demonstrates the value in those connections, encourages safe usage of the internet and supports better learning outcomes.

According to a survey in 2021¹, parents and teachers are aligned that one of their students' biggest frustrations when it comes to online learning is that it is boring. Nearly 80% of both parents and teachers think that their kids or students would be more interested in learning tools that include popular entertainment.

"A student needs more than a reliable broadband connection and a computer to learn at home. They need educational content that helps them get the most out of their broadband connection," said Charlene Lake, chief sustainability officer, senior vice president, AT&T corporate responsibility, ESG. "That's why we created a platform that connects familiar faces from WarnerMedia with engaging lessons and learning activities from leading education experts. The Achievery, created by AT&T can excite students about learning in a home environment in a way that can drive greater educational achievement."

Entertaining Content Combined with Standards-Aligned Learning
Parents and teachers can feel confident that their students are engaging in an enriching learning experience that is developed for their age and grade level. Every lesson and learning activity on The Achievery is developed by leading education organizations, aligned to academic standards and reviewed by education experts from Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

Learning subjects on the platform include Social-Emotional Learning, The Arts, English Language Arts, and Technology and Engineering, with Science, Social Studies, Math, and Digital Literacy coming soon.

The Achievery is being designed with feedback from parents and educators in collaboration with National PTA (Parent Teacher Association) and ASCD. Leading education organizations – Khan Academy, Young Storytellers, Scratch, Weird Enough Productions, and 826 National – are providing learning units for The Achievery. Additional providers, including Girls Who Code, Code.org, Urban Arts, Quest for Excellence, Boddle and others will soon be adding learning units to the platform.

How to sign up for The Achievery
Parents, students (age 13 and older), and teachers can create a free account on TheAchievery.com, or on The Achievery app, which will be launching next month. Parents or caregivers can also create sub-accounts for children who are under 13.

Once the free account has been created, parents, students and teachers can then search for lesson plans and learning activities by subject, grade-level, academic standards or media type.

What they're saying
"Free digital learning tools like The Achievery, created by AT&T are an important part of making sure students have equal opportunity to learn," said Dennis Williams, senior vice president, WarnerMedia corporate social responsibility. "We hope that by pairing clips from our world-class entertainment content with high-quality educational lessons and activities, that students will get inspired to learn new skills and stay excited about learning now and into the future."

"These past two years have been difficult not only for students but also for teachers and parents, who have struggled to keep students engaged in learning," said Damone Jones, chief partnerships and strategy officer, ASCD. "Free, standards-aligned learning solutions like The Achievery, created by AT&T are an important part of addressing digital equity, allowing teachers and parents to engage students in learning both inside and outside the classroom."

"We were glad to help AT&T gain parent feedback on the development of The Achievery, created by AT&T," said Anna King, president of National PTA. "One of the values that our parents repeatedly called out is the necessity of children seeing representation from diverse teachers and young role models in any learning activity. Parents reported that using recognizable characters and popular content would engage their children's interests, a critical part of effective learning experiences."

Learn more at att.com/connectedlearning and at theachievery.com.

¹Morning Consult Survey: Morning Consult polled 1,000 parents, 500 teachers/administrators and 100 non-profits on behalf of AT&T April 2-9. Full survey here.

*About Philanthropy & Social Innovation at AT&T

We're committed to advancing education, creating opportunities, strengthening communities and improving lives. As part of our companywide $2 billion commitment from 2021 to 2024 to address the digital divide, we launched AT&T Connected Learning to invest in connectivity and technology, digital literacy and education solutions to help today's learners succeed inside and outside of the classroom. Since 2008, we've committed more than $600 million to programs that help millions of students across all 50 states and around the world, particularly those in underserved communities.

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SOURCE AT&T Communications