Have you used ITV in the classroom lately?

by David Benson, Educational Technology Consultant ()

Have you taken a look at PBS 45 & 49's Instructional Television (ITV) programs lately? I think you should. There are many fine programs in the ITV library that serve the purpose that ITV should serve -- mainly to bring to your students an event they might not otherwise see.

Every now and then I come back to this topic for discussion because I still see great value in the instructional television programming we provide to schools. In December I attended an educational conference where I had the opportunity to hear an excellent keynote speaker talk about the value of the "mediated image."

The speaker was Hall Davidson, director of educational services at KOCE-TV, PBS in Orange County, California. The essence of what Mr. Davidson had to say was that when students view and create video images they tend to become more engaged and, subsequently, they learn from the experience. Now I realize that we've been saying that for years, but the research behind instructional television bears out the statement. Some of the comments Mr. Davidson made in his address brought this all back to the surface for me. For example:

In one study preschool children were broken up into two groups. One group sat in the lap of an educator and watched as the person disassembled and reassemble an item. The other group watched the same procedure via videotape. Those who watched via the videotape were much more successful at the process than the group that didn't.
In another study it was discovered that children who lived in a household with at least one hearing-impaired member had very high reading skills. The reason was closed-captioned television. The children were able to watch the action on TV, listen to the dialogue and read it all at the same time, thus enhancing their decoding skills.
In California it was discovered that the schools with more tapes in their media library had better scores on the California Assessment Test -- okay, this is purely anecdotal but it does give one food for thought.

Whatever the case, ITV still presents content in a manner that enhances the learning experience. It can take us to places and show us things we might not otherwise experience.

So, have you taken a look at ITV lately? I think you should. You might be surprised. Check out PBS 45 & 49's ITV offerings in our ITV Handbook or online at http://www.pbs4549.org/itv.