Q.1 Explain the nature and essential characteristics of broadcast media
concerning distance and non-formal education.
Course: Broadcast Media in Distance Education
Course code 8621
Level: B.Ed (1.5 Years)
ASSIGNMENT No. 1
Answer:
The term ‘broadcast media’ covers
a wide spectrum of different communication methods such as television, radio,
newspapers, magazines, and any other materials supplied by the media and press.
What types of information are available in the broadcasting media?
The broadcasting media provides
valuable information, for example, speeches, documentaries, interviews,
advertisements, daily news, financial markets, and much more. The latest (newest/most
up-to-date) information can be found here.
Where can I find it?
Transcripts (hard copies) of
interviews, speeches, programs, etc., are often available from the supplier
of the information, e.g. SABC, M-Net, the specific radio station, etc.
Nowadays many of these
transcripts etc, are made available on the Internet. The following are just a
few links, there are many more. Broadcast media is radio and television. Even
amidst the pop culture dominance of the internet, broadcast media still
commands the largest share of the advertising pie nationwide. Put the audio and
visual media to work for you as your company earns a larger market share,
stronger branding, and increased sales. If you are looking for cost-efficient
lead generation, you need to be looking at radio and television advertising.
Not only are radio and television
the main media for advertising today, but they are also continually developing new ways
to reach their audience. The SyFy cable network launched a show (“Defiance”)
that combines interactions on a video game with the plot of a series show.
Radio stations are supplementing on-air campaigns with digital media to provide
on-air and on-screen promotions to those who stream the station through their
computer.
Multiple studies have shown that
combining radio and television can help advertisers reach audiences not
achievable with only one medium or the other.
Distance education started to
revolutionize the concept of higher education throughout the world and was
considered an attractive model to democratize higher education. Distance education
has emerged to be a popular non-formal channel to provide answers to equity,
access, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. The first clear statement on
distance education was made in the Report of the Education Commission (1964-66)
where it mentioned, “There must also be a method of taking education to the
millions who depend upon their own effort to study whenever they have time to
do so. We consider that correspondence or home-study courses provide the right
answer for these situations.”
The Education Commission further
stated, “It is obvious that these universities should not be the only agencies
which should organize correspondence courses. The provision of correspondence courses
should also be one important function of the extension service of developmental
departments of government such as agriculture, industries, and health. This
should prove to be a valuable method of conveying to the educated and the neo-l
iterate al like such knowledge and improved techniques as the department's
concerned will to put across.“
The recommendation of the
Education Commission was incorporated in the National Policy of Education (
1986) that “……Part time educational and correspondence courses should be developed
on a large scale at the university stage. Such facilities should also be
developed for secondary school students, teachers, agricultural
individuals, and other workers.
Education through part-time and
correspondence courses should be given the same status as full-time education. Such
facilities will bring the smooth transition from school to work, promote the cause
of education and provide opportunities to a large number of people who have the
desire to educate themselves further but cannot do so on a full-time basis.”
Moore ( 1972) gives a more clear
definition of distance education “The family of instructional methods in which
the teaching behaviors are executed apart from the learning behaviors … so that
communication between the learner and the teacher must be facilitated by print,
electronic, popular and mechanical, or other devices.” Thus, the term flexible
and open, distance education seems to be more appropriate because it is
“arrangement to enable people to learn at the time, place and space which
satisfies their circumstances and requirements.”The concept of ‘Distance education is not new and can be traced as far back as the first century.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the
early Christian Churches, teaching them from a distance even from his prison
cell. But, organizational use of distance learning methods was first introduced
in the 19th century. One of the first universities to deliver distance learning
in an organized manner was Pennsylvania State University which established its
first distance learning network in 1886.
Today, distance education calls
upon an impressive, range of technologies to enable teachers and students who
are separated by distance, to communicate with each other either in real-time (synchronous)
or delayed time (asynchronous). Due to modern communication and technologies, today educational transactions through distance mode is being utilized by
students and teachers engaged in both formal and open system of education. Rai
(2000) has defined three types of distance education systems, viz., Institute-centered,
Person-centered, and Society-based.
(i). Institute–Centered Distance Education System:
In this system, there is a predominance of systematic
models of education. The institutional mission focuses on the
cost-effectiveness and cost-efficiency of the system. Academics become
consultants to the institution for material design and development. All other
functionaries in the institution are assigned key functions with accountability
and individual responsibility.
(ii). Person – Centered Distance Education system:
Under this system of distance education, the programmers
are more individualized and negotiable as the aim is to serve the individual
learner. Individualized learning is personally negotiated and is followed up by
tutors/counselors.
(iii). Society Based Distance Education System:
In the society-based distance education system
learning, materials are developed to the needs of the
community. These are used in community situations where the teacher strives to
involve the entire community I n the study of the learning materials. The
teacher functions as a facilitator to identify learning goals, evaluate learning
materials, etc.
Before discussing the various
media and technologies of distance education, appropriate to deliberate upon
its objectives in brief the distance education attempts :
· to provide an opportunity
for education to those who had discontinued their formal education due to one
reason or other at any age and class. The working persons, economically and
otherwise disabled persons or persons residing in remote areas may improve and
advance their academic careers through distance education;
· to provide quality
education and training to a large number of students at lower costs than the conventional
education system;
·
to make access to higher
education;
· to promote education as a
lifelong activity by providing necessary access to the masses, particularly to
the disadvantageous groups like those living in rural areas, the employed,
women, weaker sections of the society, and many others wishing to acquire and
upgrade knowledge and skills, at their doorsteps;
· to provide a flexible and
diversified innovative education system that is open in the methods of learning,
pace, place, and eligibility criterion as well as in every operation of the
program;
· to promote courses leading
to gainful employment, tailored to specific vocational/professional needs, as
also being relevant to local needs;
To achieve the
objectives of distance education and to make education, meaningful, exciting,
interesting level accessible to all, the new technologies need to be linked
with the process of learning. The new technologies are not only capable of
overcoming the barriers of distance but also able to change the very nature of
the instructional process.
Media and Technologies in Distance Education
Media in distance education is a
kind of delivery system, which includes all kinds of mechanical devices
directed to educational use. These devices are used to communicate knowledge or
ideas to a large number of people who are located in far-off rural and remote
areas. The distance education program can be enriched and made more attractive,
effective, and satisfying for learning by using a variety of media I n accordance
with the content. The facilities that can be provided for these programs
should attempt exploitation of the potential of the variety of powerful
media rendered by modem technology.
Taylor (1997) offers the
following classification of the model of distance education and the associated
delivery technologies
First Generation
·
The Correspondence Model
·
Print material
Second Generation
·
The Multimedia Model
·
Printed material
·
Audiotape
·
Videotape
·
Computer-based learning
(CAI, CM!, CBT, CAL, etc.)
·
Interactive Videodisc and
tapes
·
Third Generation
·
The Tele Learning Model
·
Audio teleconferencing
·
Video conferencing
·
Audio graphic communication
·
Broadcast TV/Radio and
Audio Tele-conferencing
·
Fourth Generation-The
Flexible Learning Model
·
Interactive Multimedia
(IMM)
·
A variety of media are used in
distance education by the open universities as well as by the institutes of
distance learning. They can be basically classified into two groups:
(1)
print media and
(2)
non-print media.
