ABSTRACT
The use of television to educate children can be traced to the first commercial broadcasts in 1940 (see O'Bryan, 1980, for a historical perspective). However, development was slow, and it was not until 1952 that educational television (ETV) received a real boost from the federal government. In that year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reserved 242 television channels (mostly UHF) for education, and the Ford Foundation of the Educational Radio and Television Center was established, which became National Educational Television (NET) in 1958. In 1953 the first ETV station was on the air, and by the end of the decade, 43 additional channels had joined its ranks. Much of the early enthusiasm for ETV was prompted by a deep concern for the quality of the American education system, and ETV was seen as a partial solution to the problem of overcrowded schools and incompetent teachers. In order to improve the efficacy of public education, it was argued that television master teachers should present the lessons, and the regular teacher should facilitate the learning process with classroom activities. In-school television instruction could be provided either by a closed-circuit system in which the central studio was located within the school (ITV) or by an ETV station. The latter is also considered ITV if the series is broadcast during school hours for in-school use (Crane, 1980; Dirr, 1980).
