Educational Television

Educational television followed a path of technical development, adoption, and implementation that was similar to that of educational radio. In many ways, television carried forward the goals and objectives of educational radio. Broadcast television allowed learners to be reached at wide and disparate locations with a relatively minimum investment at each location in equipment and support.

Broadcast television is delivered through prees–tablished “bands of frequencies.” Frequencies are measured in hertz (Hz) or cycles per second. By defining these “bands of frequencies” as “channels,” interference can be limited. The downside of the creation of channels is that their number is limited and thus channels become a scarce commodity. As a medium, television faced an initial challenge of how to allocate frequencies fairly. And as with radio, initial allocations were primarily aligned with commercial interests and not for public uses such as education. In 1952, with the input of several educational associations, including the National Education Association, National Association of State Universities, and the National Council of Chief State School Officers, L. Paul Saettler observed that the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) allocated 242 channels nationwide specifically for education. This allocation laid the foundation for the organization and construction of educational television stations. Sharon Zechowski noted in 2006 that many of these channels were organized under the Public Broadcasting Act, which created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

With the Public Broadcasting Act the emphasis shifted from individual programming targeted at specific academic courses associated with specific academic institutions to a broader focus on more comprehensive programming. The Act helped create the Public Broadcasting Service, a network specifically focused on delivering programming in the public interest. Particularly successful were the emergence of children's television shows such as Sesame Street, The Electric Company, and 3–2–1 Contact. As Zechowski pointed out, however, the Public Broadcasting Service was still involved with the distribution of courses through its Adult Learning Service.

With the introduction of cable television, an increasingly large number of venues have been established in the for–profit sector that provide educational programming. Channels such as Bravo, The History Channel, and Discovery, among many others, provide content of an educational nature. Perhaps most influential is C–SPAN and its associated channels that provide access to government proceedings and public affairs programming along with discussions of books and authors. C–SPAN is funded by the cable industry as part of their public service outreach efforts and demonstrates that education is not limited to publicly supported organizations.

An additional educational television service that is often provided by local cable companies is public access television. U.S. cable companies are required by legislation to provide local organizations with access and support for program development and to provide distribution opportunities to the community. The purpose of public access is to provide community members with television production facilities and support them in producing programming targeted at their local communities. Programming is often educational in nature, [Page 318]although in many communities the programming fare can be eclectic. Efforts such as public access allow the community to be producers as well as consumers of educational television.

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