Evaluation of Educational Television

Abstract

Those individuals whose careers have focused on the field of educational technology and, in particular, the use of educational and instructional television, will find it worthwhile to study the collection of viewpoints, technical expertise, bibliographic citations, and case study materials J. Baggaley, A. Duby, and A. Lewy have assembled in Evaluation of Educational Television. A distinguished and experienced cadre of international talent and expertise has contributed to this volume. They include Arieh Lewy, David Nevo, and Gabriel Salomon from Tel-Aviv University, Aliza Duby from the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Jonathan Baggaley from Montreal's Concordia University, and Ronald Yule from Pretoria College of Education, University of South Africa. The book represents a comprehensive analysis and synthesis of the theory and practice over the past 25 years relating to the criteria and guidelines for evaluating educational television (ETV) and related audiovisual programs. Careful attention is given to the shortcomings of traditional audience research methodology and to helping ETV and film production personnel improve programming. Systematic procedures are presented to monitor and insure the success of an educational production. The authors examine the multifaceted requirements of teaching and learning, production, and related technical and aesthetic dimensions. The writers present and discuss a plethora of cosmopolitan perspectives addressing the various stages of media evaluation. They cite particular applications for assessing the effects of classroom use of television for instruction, teacher training, and more general educational programming. They discuss different theoretical frameworks and diagnostic approaches for determining when, how, and under what conditions to undertake an evaluation so that media producers and researchers can work in a mutually beneficial, collaborative, and successful manner. The book draws heavily on the early research of the Children's Television Workshop of New York and productions such as Sesame Street and 3-2-1 Contact, as well as on South Africa's experience since 1984 with the development of educational television services for a diverse social and cross-cultural population. Among the book's notable components are the extensive bibliographic citations, literature review, and a variety of frameworks and criteria for conducting effective ETV evaluations. The book requires a great deal of concentrated effort from the reader because of its technical nature, lengthy editorial commentary, and the gamut of issues and topics it covers. It is a bookshelf reference that indi-