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Learning through TV

Teaching and learning through the TV is not a new phenomenon- TV programming has been a cornerstone of Open University delivery since the 1970s, and 'edutainment' programmes such as 'Walking with Dinosaurs' have become more common.  However, interactive digital TV offers new ways of delivering learning via the TV.

Learning with digital TV, or 't-learning' has been seen as having potential because of the ubiquity of televisions in people's homes.  As most people have a TV, it is a potential way that many people can engage in learning without having to buy much extra equipment.

Our research with Hull residents, carried out between June 2003 and March 2004, suggested that the TV was not naturally seen as a site of learning, and that there are several issues to deal with to make learning through the TV a possibility for most.  However, people did recognise different ways that they learnt through the TV, and this shows that there is potential for more formalised learning through the TV in the future.

Many people watch the TV to relax, and therefore don't naturally see the TV as a place they could learn.  Their viewing can be passive, rather than the active engagement with the subject that is needed to learn something. People do recognise that they can learn things through watching television, picking out gardening and cookery programmes as examples, but also tend to contrast this with 'real learning'.  This suggests that they view what they get from the TV as different to what they would expect in a learning situation.

There are also more practical issues.  Not everyone has digital TV, although the proportion will grow as the analogue signal cut-off date approaches.  Our research suggested that of those who had digital TV, few were willing or able to use interactive features, which would be a core part of any learning experience. However, it may be that as the technology develops and more is offered through interactive services, that more will use it.

However, any new mode of learning takes time to develop and be taken on, and if these issues are overcome, the ubiquity of the TV set could make it a powerful learning tool in the future.