COLUMBIA, S.C. – America's Public Television Stations (APTS) today presented its 2021 Excellence in Innovation Award to South Carolina ETV (SCETV) for the network’s pioneering work in educational datacasting. The award was presented to SCETV President and CEO Anthony Padgett and Vice President for Education Dr. Stephanie Frazier virtually during APTS’ annual Public Media Summit.
Announced last spring, SCETV’s datacasting initiative seeks to increase access to educational resources for students that reside in areas without adequate broadband connectivity. Utilizing the network’s existing tower infrastructure, datacasting allows for the transmission of files, videos and other computer data to computers and similar devices using an inexpensive tuner and TV antenna.
Since the initial announcement, the project has received an additional $1.5 million investment from the state, and pilot programs have been launched in three South Carolina school districts with the goal of serving between 3,000 - 5,000 students in its first year.
Anthony Padgett joined South Carolina ETV in October of 2017 after previously serving as Georgia Public Broadcasting's Chief Operating Officer. As vice president of Education since late 2018, Dr. Stephanie Frazier leads the agency’s education activities, including educational broadband services, online professional development, instructional technology initiatives and educator training.
For more information on SCETV’s datacasting initiative, visit www.scetv.org/datacasting.
QUOTES:
“One of our greatest challenges this year has been providing educational resources to children without reliable access to the internet. SCETV’s innovative datacasting initiative went above and beyond in overcoming those challenges and shows what is possible when we prioritize communication, collaboration, and cooperation in our efforts address the needs of South Carolinians.” –South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster
“We are grateful to receive the APTS 2021 Innovation Award. While we don’t make decisions based on accolades or recognition, I can truly say that this honor is both exciting and humbling. Unprecedented challenges require innovative and thoughtful solutions, and when those challenges occur, we believed it is our responsibility to attempt to provide any advantage we can to students through the unique technology we have available. Our datacasting initiative was born out of that philosophy, and we’re grateful that others were able to see it as a model that could be deployed across the country, resulting in stronger relationships between public media organizations and their respective communities. Thank you to my team for their many hours of dedicated work and to the state’s legislative delegation who recognized the importance of this technology and moved with haste to assist with financial resources and unparalleled support.” –SCETV President and CEO Anthony Padgett
“We are truly honored and humbled to receive the APTS 2021 Excellence in Innovation Award. The work we have done with datacasting over the past several months proves that creativity and innovation are often highest during the most challenging times. When we started our datacasting journey, no one knew what the coming months would bring. Yet we remained diligent in exploring this technology to support the access and equity issues that were amplified as a result of the pandemic. Delivering instructional content in a timely and efficient manner is critical to the success of our educational ecosystems and community development. Fortunately, the mission of public media is rooted in the design of service-oriented solutions and educational resources. It is extremely rewarding to know that students and families, not only in South Carolina, but across the nation, will benefit from this work. We are thankful to the SCETV team and to our colleagues nationwide for their ongoing support.” –SCETV VP of Education Dr. Stephanie Frazier
"As students were suddenly homebound when schools were forced to close last year, Anthony Padgett, Dr. Frazier and their team at SCETV quickly stepped forward and began working with the S.C. Department of Education to develop an education datacasting pilot project as a way to deliver educational content to students without broadband access. Thanks to Anthony’s and Stephanie’s innovative, dedicated and passionate leadership, educational datacasting is now a reality in South Carolina. And it has the potential to revolutionize the future of education in America for children and educators in rural, low-income and internet desert communities SCETV’s pioneering work in educational datacasting is a national model for public media, and they are generously sharing their expertise and experience with other station leaders across our system. A parade of public television stations are now following SCETV’s lead and bridging the remote learning gap in a growing number of states. Congratulations to Anthony, Stephanie and their colleagues at SCETV for a job remarkably well done." –APTS President and CEO Patrick Butler
FIVE FAST FACTS:
- APTS has presented its 2021 Excellence in Innovation Award to SCETV, recognizing the network’s datacasting initiative.
- Announced last spring, SCETV’s datacasting initiative seeks to increase access to educational resources for students that reside in areas without adequate broadband connectivity.
- Since the initial announcement, the project has received an additional $1.5 million investment from the state, and pilot programs have been launched in three South Carolina school districts with the goal of serving between 3,000 - 5,000 students in its first year.
- The award was presented to SCETV President and CEO Anthony Padgett and Vice President for Education Dr. Stephanie Frazier virtually during APTS’ annual Public Media Summit.
- For more information on SCETV’s datacasting initiative, visit www.scetv.org/datacasting.