The impact of educational television on young children’s reading in

the context of family stress

Elizabeth A. Vandewater*, David S. Bickham

This study examined the impact of educational media use on young

children’s (ages 2–5) reading and prereading skills in the context of various

family stressors (lack of economic resources, family conflict, and maternal

depression). We examined the utility of models positing that family

stressors directly predict the quality of the home learning environment and

educational media use, which then directly predict children’s reading and

prereading skills. Results indicated that all family stressors were negatively

related to the quality of the home learning environment, which was in turn

directly related to children’s reading skills. However, only family conflict

was negatively related to educational media use, though media use was

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2 positively related to reading skills. Moreover, the magnitude of the

relationship between educational media use and reading skills was equal to

that of the relationship between the quality of the home learning

environment and reading skills. Results suggest that educational media use

is less prone to disruption by family stressors than other influences on

young children’s reading and pre-reading skills.

This study examined the possibility that much like reading to their young

children, parents might use educational television programming to enhance

their children’s intellectual development. If this is true, then factors known

to be disruptive to good parenting practices, such as economic strain,

family conflict, and maternal depression may also disrupt parents’

encouragement of educational television in their young children. In this

study, we examined the plausibility of this basic hypothesis in three path

models examining the direct and indirect effects of economic resources,

conflict between parents, and maternal depression.

We found that each of these stressors was predictive of lower quality

parenting (in the form of providing an educationally enriching environment

for children). In this finding, our results echo those of many others. In the

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3 face of stressors, parents are less able to provide the structure and warmth

necessary for optimal development of their children.

Contrary to our expectations, the results suggest that in general, family

stressors seem to be somewhat less important in children’s educational

media use than they are in the quality of the home environment.

Specifically, neither economic resources nor maternal depression were

significantly related to educational media use. This indicates that even in a

home where finances are limited and maternal psychological health is less

than optimal, children may be watching educational television and reaping

its benefits.

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4 Non-optimal uses of video in the classroom

Renee Hobbs

This paper examines some instructional practices concerning the non

optimal uses of video, films and other mass media in the K–12 classroom.

Based on a six-year process of observing and interviewing teachers

regularly in two school districts in Massachusetts, USA, this paper presents

a typology of seven common patterns of non-optimal media use,

instructional practices that diminish or weaken the value of film and video

viewing as a learning tool.

A telephone survey was conducted with a purposive sample of 130

middle-school and high-school teachers to provide additional evidence

concerning teacher perceptions of the frequency of their colleagues’ non-

optimal use of video. Teachers in the USA report that their colleagues

frequently use media for non-educational purposes, including to fill time, to

keep students quiet, as a break from learning, or as a reward for good

behavior. The implications of non-optimal media use are considered in light

of renewed interest in integrating media literacy into K–12 instruction.

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5 This study demonstrates that non-optimal uses of film, videotape and other

mass media are part of the day-to-day operating practices of many

American public schools, and that these practices are perceived by

educators to be common practices at the middle-school and secondary

levels. While content delivery approaches are dominant, this study found

that teachers do use a wide range of methods for using films, videotapes

and other media materials in the classroom in science, language learning,

health, literature, and social studies. While only a small proportion of

teachers use media as a vehicle for documenting student performance, or

as a tool for creating messages or stimulating classroom discussion or

writing, these practices are occurring in some classrooms.

However, this research shows that many teachers use video and mass

media in routine ways without much explicit reflection on their educational

aims and goals. It is ironic that, while video usage is common in American

public schools, many teachers have not fully thought through their own

educational goals and objectives for using these materials in the

classroom.

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6 Effects of an educational television program on preschoolers:

Variability in benefits

Nazli Baydar, Çiğdem Kağitçibaşi b, Aylin C. Küntay b, Fatoş Gökşen

This study examined the cognitive effects of an educational early childhood

television program in Turkey that was designed to enhance basic cognitive

skills and socio-emotional development of 5-year-old children. The

program targeted children with low socioeconomic status who had limited

access to formal preschool education. The program was screened for a

period of 13 weeks and was evaluated with an experimental design, with

the addition of a natural observation group. Findings indicated that the

program functioned as an early educational intervention for those children

who had moderate exposure to it. Furthermore, compensatory effects were

found, such that those children who had low levels of skills prior to the

viewing of the program benefited more than their skilled peers. The policy

implications are important for enhancing school readiness among children

in socioeconomically deprived contexts.

The findings indicate that educational television programs targeting children

at preschool ages could indeed have significant benefits for cognitive skills

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7 related to school readiness as long as children frequently watch such

programs. These results extend the extant body of research with

correlational designs by employing an experimental design with random

assignment to intervention and control conditions and pre- and post

screening assessments to estimate the association between exposure to

educational television and child outcomes.

The effects of the televised educational program for preschool children,

“BOM”, depended on the level of exposure to the program, akin to a dose

response. Whereas some cognitive skills could be significantly enhanced

even at medium levels of exposure to the program (e.g., arithmetic and

vocabulary), some others required a high level of exposure for significant

gains (e.g., syllabification).

Exposure enhanced spatial analogy skills and categorization skills among

children whose skills in those areas were below average. The benefits in

these areas are noteworthy alongside the more specific school readiness

skills because these are general cognitive skills that were not specifically

taught in the program. This finding suggests that the specific skills acquired

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8 through BOM may generalize to enhance cognitive development more

generally.

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9 EVALUATION OF EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION PROGRAMS FOR

DISTANCE LEARNING

Nasreen Akhter

This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of educational

television programs in distance learning system. Using the procedure of

survey method, this study finds out the worth of educational television

programs. Its results are based on the responses of the learners of

distance teaching system. The views of students were collected by using a

questionnaire prepared by researcher because no standardized tool for the

purpose of study was available. Questionnaire was developed by reviewing

related literature on topic of study that was improved in light of the views of

experts. Content validity and face validity of questionnaire was further

determined by expert opinion. Results of the study indicated, ETV

programs were very useful for students & majority of students get benefit of

it. Therefore, there were some problems as well. In the light of the results

of this study it was also found that majority of students don’t get the

broadcasts schedule of ETV programs because of which they miss the ETV

programs & approximately half of the students who view the program

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10 cannot note down the important features of program because of slow

writing speed and non availability of recording facilities.

ETV program are best medium of communication used in distance

education system. It is popular media used in distance teaching system in

all around the world. Role of television in distance education is prominent.

“Television play role to deliver lessons to distance learners who has no

regular interaction with a formal teacher in preparation of assessment. Like

other countries, television is an important component of Distance learning

in Pakistan too. It is considered one of the most versatile A/V aids ever

developed. It is an effective & interesting medium of education for largest

possible number of people. ETV is capable of creating interest & motivation

in both children & adults.

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11 THE VALUE OF EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION: EXAMINING THE

CONTRIBUTION OF DORA THE EXPLORER

Ranwa Hammamy

The role of television in the daily lives of children has been explored for

several decades, with investigations focusing on various aspects of the

medium. One area of children’s programming that has received a great

deal of attention is educational television, and whether or not it serves as a

valuable educational tool. Many of the investigations examining educational

television have studied not only the overall content, but also the

contribution of specific shows, such as Sesame Street or Blue’s Clues. The

current investigation consists of three distinct parts, the first of which is an

extensive literature review of the research conducted regarding educational

television. The second is a content analysis of the children’s program Dora

the Explorer, which will be utilized to create the study materials for the third

and final portion of the investigation. This third portion is a research

proposal designed to examine the educational contribution of Dora the

Explorer, which has gained popularity throughout the past few years. This

particular show is important to investigate due to several of its unique

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12 characteristics, such as the inclusion of audience participation and the

regular use of the Spanish language. The current investigation focuses on

the influence of repeated exposure to the program on the viewers’ ability to

learn the lessons presented, and will take the form of four separate studies.

This investigation will also attempt to determine whether or not the

presence of show-related playtime materials can impact lesson learning

from the program Dora the Explorer.