Index: Educational Technology

Instructional Television

Page Contents

The functions of instruction television The uses of instruction television� The effects of instruction television A Research Agenda References

The functions of instruction television

X-1. Time-Independence: This function of instructional television describes how the instructional event may be conducted independent of simultaneous transmission and reception. For example, the learner can program a VCR to record the event (while s/he is attending to another activity such as working or sleeping) and later attend to it at a more convenient time.

X-2. Place-Independence: One of the greatest advantages of distance education is the ability to transmit across geographic venues. Via the technologies of microwave, cable, fiber optics, and satellite distribution, the learner can receive televised instructional events from hundreds even thousands of miles away. Often, however, the distant learner may receive the transmission just a few miles from sender's location. Some problems, such as parking and facilities shortages can be lessened by this function.

X-3. Asynchronous Communication: The function of asyncronous communication is related to time-independence but emphasizes that the communication is bilateral or multilateral—but not simultaneous—discourse between the instructor and learner(s). For example, a televised instructional event may be recorded and saved on videotape until the receivers conveniently choose to view it. Later, the receivers may be the senders and broadcast their own response to an ongoing topical discourse.

From another perspective, an instructor may record a course at a convenient time for him or her, allowing for transmission at a time that is best for the receivers. This function has special pertinence to transmissions across time zones. The benefits of this function for part-time students who also work full-time is obvious and results in increased educational access for a larger community of learners.

X-4. Non-contiguous Interactivity: Non-contiguous interactivity, as specified in this context, is related to place-independence but also goes a step further in that it stresses interaction between the instructor and the learner. New technologies now enable two-way (or many-to-many) live and interactive transmissions between groups of learners and the instructor(s). For example, learners in Colorado Springs may receive a course based in Denver and respond immediately for points of clarification or to ask questions. The fact that they are not face-to-face in the room does not prohibit analog face-to-face communication over a live video monitor.

The uses of instruction television�

Y-1. Reception: The use of television in distance learning is most often for reception of live or pre-recorded instructional event.

Y-2. Interaction-Feedback: Television can be used not only for reception of the instructional event, but also to allow distance learners to respond, participate, and ask questions. This is facilitated by two-way audio-video or even two-way audio/one-way video, still maintaining a conversational-like interaction.

Y-3. Autonomous Learning: Autonomous learning takes place when the student primarily guides himself/herself in the academic endeavors s/he pursues on his/her own. The student makes decisions about what's good for him or her and often maintains a personal motivation for taking the course. The use of television in distance learning is often to serve the autonomous learner which may result in less dialogue between the student and instructor than if s/he attended the classroom event.

In his theory of independent study, Moore (in Holmberg, 1981) elaborates on autonomy this way: "Autonomy is the extent to which the learner in an educational programme is able to determine the selection of objectives, resources and evaluation procedures." [p. 24]

The effects of instruction television

Z-1. Selection: The cognitive effects of selection are related to both memory (selective retention) and perception (selection perception). The distance learner often has greater opportunity for selection of materials and perhaps personal meaning.

Additionally, we might presume that the selection processes for an individual are less influenced by the group dynamics of the classroom.

Z-2. Affective Attributes: Non-contiguous communication via television does certainly have the potential to highly influence the affective attributes of the learner. The resulting motivations, intrinsic or extrinsic (or academic alienation), most likely is determined by a wide combination of factors in addition to the absence of face-to-face communication between instructor and student.

Television also has the ability to change and suggest moods through production techniques, such as lighting, music backgrounds, and various forms of image manipulation.

Z-3. Content: Television may influence content in a variety of fashions. Imagine a verbal narrative that is accented by romantic, suspenseful, or melancholy music. Presumably, music backgrounds would strengthen, weaken, or otherwise change the raw meaning of discourse. Lighting, set design, and camera techniques will also influence content to undeterminable degrees.

The use of television is also more flexible in accommodating various cognitive styles. For example, a serialist learner may attend to the content from beginning to end while a holist learner may look at the big picture. The content can be altered or made accommodating by the way the learner would use a videotape. For example, some learners may watch the tape non-stop from beginning to end while others stop intermittently, review parts, skip parts, jump to the end and so on. The possibilities for a weblike, versus linear, structuring of ideas is feasible means of using a videotape which consequently determines the overall personal effect.

Z-4. Modeling: The potential of repetitive viewing of an instructional event provides for some far-reaching cognitive effects. Repetition may mean not only that the learner is better able to grasp the instructor's teachings, but also that the learner would better be able to imitate the instructor's style of presenting certain ideas. In this fashion, the instructor may become more than just a guide—s/he becomes a role model of the content. For psychomotor-type training exercises, one may find a manipulation of this effect to be useful.

Z-5. "Conseffects": These effects are a combination of content and influence of the medium.

Content can, of course, be exaggerated on the screen through the use of humor, mystery, drama, and other creative designs. These designs can be used for better or worse.

The physical effects of television viewing should also be a concern for distance educators. Already some cultures spend hundreds of hours each year gathered around the tube while it spews forth radiation and constant audio signals.

At our current stage of television literacy, we are not used to receiving direct personal communication, especially involving interaction, and therein lies a need to utilize the medium itself for minimalizing its effects. "Meta-communication," or communication about the communication, is one method of doing that (Mason, et al, 1989). When someone on-line, for example, calls attention to specific uses of the media (such as, "Can you here me at IBM?"), s/he is meta-communicating. Comments referring to the flow of discourse and content are called "weaving" comments (Mason, et al, 1989).

There has been some research that has looked at relating particular media to students personality characteristics. This is sometimes referred to as Aptitude-Treatment-Interaction research.

Z-6. Semiotics: Television influences symbolic meaning by adding the dimension of guided nonverbal cues. If the camera zooms to a close-up of the instructor, we can expect that the instructor is making a finer, perhaps more emotional, point. The grammar of television has the ability to influence messages, hence meaning in that way. This effect of symbolism needs to be more defined in terms of cognition but is too important to be excluded here.

Z-7. Attention: The student's attention to the screen is perhaps less compulsory than when in contiguous contact with the instructor. We can often watch television, read a magazine, and eat popcorn all at the same time. These habits may be hard for some to break when viewing instructional television.

The production techniques of television are highly influential in maintaining the pace of the content. Pacing cuts between cameras, for example, may maintain the pace and theoretically can influence the attention span of the viewer.

Z-8. Creativity: Television production techniques such as lighting, camera angles, and embellishments such as music backgrounds may add or detract from the message but the creativity of the design will likely have an effect on the symbolic meaning of the content and how it is integrated with existing knowledge structures.

Z-9. Memory: Repetition improves recall and increasing repetitions will further integrate new information into one's long-term-memory store. Utz (1987) elaborates:

"To avoid monotony and to help file a concept in both visual and aural memory, repeat the concept visually if it was first introduced aurally and vice versa. Now there will be two mental routes to the concept rather than one. Better yet, devise a tactile, verbal, or physical response to reinforce the fact or idea." …"The more 'handles' a fact has, the easier it is to grab." [p. 555].

Z-10. Perception: The perception of what new information means is determined by personal cognitive histories. By selective perception, what a video sequence means to one may be wholly different to another. But we are able to perceive some things according to a referent culture. For example, a visual dissolve in American television can signify the elapse of time or space, or a quick change in content direction. Televised instructional events can influence perception in this way and countless others. The techniques of measurement are still a long way off.

Z-11. Thinking: New knowledge will have an impact if not used soon after it is encountered. Does television help or hinder in this regard? Does television have an effect on how new knowledge is integrated with existing knowledge structures? Does television contribute to deep-processing learning strategies or surface-level learning strategies? These questions are beyond the current state-of-the-art research studies that I've encountered.

Z-12. Collaborative Learning: Television offers the ability for two-way or many-to-many site interactions and therefore offers some exciting potential for collaborative learning.

When not used interactively, television will actually offer less dialogue or between the instructor and learner and likely even less between peer learners. Without the interaction of peers, how the individual constructs new knowledge would certainly be different—perhaps less sophisticated—than if true collaborative learning was occurring.

The potential for collaborative learning is there, however, but requires more planning, costs, and imagination than for the classroom setting.

A Research Agenda

This conceptual framework provides a means for generating hypothetical relationships between various constructs from the components of functions, uses, and effects of instructional television. If selected in random combinations, many of the research questions would not even be logical. An examination of various hypothetical correlations, however, may lead to some interesting questions.

Below is a list of example research questions arrived at by including one or more constructs from each of variables list in the simple equation X ~ Y = Z [Function in relation to Use has what cognitive Effect on learning]: 1. GIVEN the function of asyncronous delivery, and the intended use of autonomous learning, what might be some of the possible cognitive-learning effects of the instructional television event?

[X3 ~ Y3 = Zi]

2. GIVEN the function of time-independence, and the intended use of interaction-feedback, what might be some of the possible cognitive-learning effects of the instructional television event?

[X1 ~ Y2 = Zi]

3. GIVEN the function of place-independence, and the intended use of interaction-feedback, what might be some of the possible cognitive-learning effects of the instructional television event?

[X2 ~ Y2 = Zi]

References

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Fiske, J. & Hartley, J. (1978). Reading Television. London: Methuen.

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