Educational TV and community service

Abstract

T HE MOST important obligation of educators in a democratic society is the maximum utilization of every possible means to achieve intellectual growth in its individual members. We are now presented with a new communication device with almost unlimited possibilities for the achievement of this goal. With the allotment of channels for educational television a direct contact between educators and the individual in the American home has been established. In estimating the potential success of an educational television station, we must take account of three general factors: the resources of the community, the educational and avocational needs and capacities of its citizens, and the adequacy with which these needs are fulfilled and capacities utilized by the particular station. The resources of the major metropolitan centers of the country are unquestionably adequate to sustain an educational center. The demand for adult education is attested by public response to educational TV programs which have been sponsored already by public and private universities and presented on commercial stations. The primary determinant of the success of an educational station then, may well be the effectiveness with which it utilizes the unique advantages it can offer its viewing audience. What are these unique advantages? Educational TV can offer programs of high quality without obnoxious commercials, but these