Evaluation of PEEP and the Big Wide World Resources for Families

The animated series PEEP and the Big Wide World (PEEP), developed by WGBH Boston, is designed to teach science and math to children aged three to five years old. WGBH recently completed a total redesign of the PEEP website that was intended make the site more accessible to Spanish-speakers, more supportive of extended informal science and math exploration, and more functional for users of tablets and mobile devices. This work included:

• The transformation of PEEP into a fully dual language website via the translation of all games and website text into Spanish and the debut of a new Spanish-language title (El Mundo Divertido de Peep) and accompanying logo;

• A significant expansion of available PEEP assets, including six new games for kids, new videos for parents, and new professional development materials for preschool educators, as well as an expansion of the number of previously-produced PEEP animated videos from 7 to more than 50;

• The reorganization of media assets for children, in which the site no longer focuses on discrete “types” of assets like games and videos, but rather invites children to explore science and math topics—like “sound,” and “numbers and measuring”— that feature integrated collections of animated stories, live-action videos, and online games;

• The reorganization of materials for parents, in which WGBH reworked the Parent section to make it easier for parents to explore hands-on activities (they are now searchable by location and theme) and find suggestions for related videos and games; and

• A shift to responsive design, meaning that the site now automatically adjusts to different window sizes on a variety of tablets, mobile devices and browsers.

WGBH hired Concord Evaluation Group (CEG) to evaluate the impact of the new assets and redesigned site on children and their families, including English- and Spanish-speaking families. Specifically, the evaluation was designed to assess the extent to which PEEP achieved its stated impacts.