Educational television, a popular form of mass media communication for didactic objectives, is the use of TV programs in order to teach the viewer. A distinction is usually made between educational television and instructional television: The first encompassing a vast latitude of broadcasting formats and the latter gaining its meaning from the specific and more formal use in teaching–learning situations (e.g., the classroom) as a part of an instructional program developed in an institutional context. This entry presents an overview of educational television history, including context, functions, and examples and then explores its impact.