About the Planning Study

In April 2002, under a grant from the William Penn Foundation, WHYY began to explore the potential of a digital Learning Lab. The Lab would be both physical, a building where citizens throughout the region could learn to master and utilize new digital technologies, and virtual, a digital connectivity service that would link far-flung people and organizations in ways never before possible. Spurred by a renewed community focus and the federal mandate to transfer from analog to digital broadcast technology, the station has set aside land to build the new facility on 7th Street, behind its Technology Center in Philadelphia. The foundation grant provided the opportunity to consult with the community and investigate how the new facility and connectivity service could advance the region.

Over the course the four-month study, the Learning Lab concept was introduced to and shaped by the community during meetings with representatives of approximately 150 organizations and interviews with community leaders. The project team researched the existing learning lab marketplace, including the neighborhood and populations that the Learning Lab will serve and similar experiments conducted by other public broadcasters. Market needs were further assessed through a series of focus groups with WHYY members and early-adopter teachers. The team also listened to the station's concerns in a presentation before WHYY's board and meetings attended by WHYY staff members. Finally the team analyzed this research and recommended Lab facilities, core products and services, and the pilot projects that will launch the Lab.

Read an executive summary or the report in its entirety.