• ITV is seen as the solution to 2 pressing problems: teacher shortages and overcrowded classrooms. The model for use is based on "talented teachers" delivering lectures which would then be broadcast widely; classroom teachers would deliver individual instruction to supplement these lectures. The main results of this approach were bored students, alienated teachers, and limited use of ITV. (Cambre, 1995)

• During the late 1950's and early 1960's, the need and interest in instructional television are at their height. The need results from classroom crowding, a shortage of any teachers at all and particularly of trained teachers. The interest comes largely from the Ford Foundation, which spends over $25 million to study ITV through the National Program for Use of Television in the Public Schools. (Saettler, 1990)

• Most ITV programs are locally produced for local use, resulting in numerous, similar low budget and often low quality programs being produced by various districts across the country. (Cuban, 1986)

• Federal funding of instructional technology research, which accelerates near the end of this decade, is driven by the expectation that technology will produce greater efficiency in education, enabling more students to be taught by fewer teachers at reduced costs.  This is in part due to the predominant behaviorist view of learning as a stimulus response process, with research directed toward evaluating media as sources of stimuli.

• It is hoped that ITV will cure the most severe educational ills.

(film) 1950- The Library of Congress begins to create catalog cards for motion pictures and filmstrips. (Saettler, 1990)

(tv) 1950- February: WOI-TV goes on-air, becoming the nation's 100th television station and its first educational television station. WOI has a university affiliation, but holds a commercial license. (McKune, 1966)

(tv) 1950- KUHT-TV, Houston, TX and WKAR-TV at Michigan State follow WOI to become the nation's second and third educational television stations, respectively. KUHT is the first non-commercial educational station. (McKune, 1966)

(tv) 1950- The Joint Committee (later Joint Council) on Educational Television is formed. (Saettler, 1990)

(tv) 1950- The FCC holds the first of a series of hearings on educational television. Commercial stations oppose federal set-asides of a band of channels for educational use. The JCET provides a log of current commercial broadcasts to bolster its case.  (Saettler, 1990, p. 360) [READ MORE ABOUT COMMERCIAL PROGRAMMING IN THE 50's]

(tv) 1951- By this time, Ohio's Western Reserve University has produced over 500 television programs. (McKune, 1966)

(tv) 1951- The Ford Foundation establishes the Fund for Adult Education (FAE) and the Fund for the Advancement of Education (TFAE). The FAE was concerned with learning outside the confines of formal schooling, while TFAE’s focus was elementary through college education. The FAE would do more than any other private or government agency to benefit educational television. TFAE would sponsor a variety of programs featuring teaching by television from 1954-1963 before ending in 1967. (Saettler, 1990)

(tv) 1952- The FCC sets aside 80 VHF and 162 UHF stations for educational use. In response, many state and private agencies and foundations began to place an emphasis on educational broadcasting. (Saettler, 1990)

(tv) 1952- San Diego public schools are using closed circuit television for classroom instruction. (McKune, 1966)

(tv) 1952- Alabama develops the first statewide educational television network, broadcasting instructional programs to over 600 primary and secondary schools. (Saettler, 1990)

(tv) 1952- The FAE creates the Educational Television and Radio Center, also known as the National Educational Television Center (NET). Its main purpose is to increase educational stations' access to programs by obtaining them, contracting for their production, and facilitating exchange of programs between stations. (Saettler, 1990; Encyclopedia of Television)

(film) 1953- DAVI founds AV Communication Review. (Saettler, 1990)

(tv) 1953- The FCC allocates 242 television channels for educational programming. (Cuban, 1986)

(tv) 1953- KUHT in Houston, TX begins broadcasting, becoming the first noncommercial educational station. (Cuban, 1986)

(tv) 1953- On May 4th the first National Conference on Educational Television was held in Washington, D.C.  (Cumming, 1654)

(tv) 1953- “On May 25, 1953, KUHT made television history when it signed on the air for its premier broadcast. As America's first public television station, KUHT has served as a model and example for other educational television stations and systems throughout the country. A Houston institution, the station even pre-dates the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS).” (PBS web site)

(film) 1954- As in 1946, surveys suggest that film use is greatest in lower grades, declining with advancing grade levels; overall, use is infrequent. Teachers continue to cite lack of training, unreliable equipment, cost of film & equipment, and difficulty incorporating film into curriculum as reasons why they don't use it more. (Cuban, 1986)

(radio and tv) 1954- Television revenue exceeds radio revenue for the first time. (Fact Monster web site)

(tv) 1954 - Sixteen schools nationally are televising courses. (McKune, 1966)

(tv) 1954- The ETRC begins its distribution service to stations; in 1955, it
makes its programs available to educational institutions for non-broadcast viewing. (Saettler, 1990)

(tv) 1955- Sixteen educational television stations are on the air. Most stations struggled for funding in this period, and the programs they created were often of poor quality. (Saettler, 1990)

(tv) 1955- Thirty-three schools nationally are televising courses. (McKune, 1966)

(tv) 1955- In an experiment in instructional television, the St. Louis Public Schools teach ninth grade grammar and composition and second grade spelling by television only, with classes broadcast on educational station KETC. Evaluation indicates that instructional television is most effective when accompanied by teacher follow-up. A similar experiment undertaken by Pittsburgh public schools and featuring broadcasts of lessons by exceptional teachers, also undertaken in 1955, suggests the same conclusion. (Saettler, 1990)

(tv) 1955- Pittsburgh begins its Metropolitan School Service, broadcasting lessons to twenty classrooms via WQED. By 1966, it will reach 17,000 classrooms. (Murphy and Gross, 1966)

(tv) 1955- Georgia's ETV network goes on air, with four stations connected and plans to connect five more in 1966. (Murphy and Gross, 1966)

(tv) 1956- Seventy-one schools nationally are televising courses. (McKune, 1966)

(tv) 1956- One of the largest single experiments in the use of closed-circuit instructional television begins in Hagerstown, Maryland.
[READ MORE ABOUT THE HAGERSTOWN ETV PROJECT]

(tv) 1957- The National Program in the Use of Television in the Public Schools, a nation-wide experiment in ITV begins.
[READ MORE ABOUT THIS PROGRAM]

(tv) 1957- The Soviet Union launches the satellite Sputnik, triggering attacks on American schools for failing to teach enough math and science; schools respond in a variety of ways, including increased emphasis on teaching innovations and new instructional media.

(tv) 1957- Dade County, Florida begins to use ITV to cope with overcrowding. Further overcrowding accelerates need for more programs, resulting in poor quality lessons being broadcast. Community outrage leads to the establishment of a Quality Education Committee in 1963 to oversee ITV for the district. (Murphy and Gross, 1966)

(tv) 1958- 102 schools nationally are televising courses. (McKune, 1966)

(tv) 1958- The National Defense Education Act of 1958 produces the first significant federal spending on ETV research. Under title VII of the act, the CRP is authorized to conduct "research and experimentation in more effective utilization of television, radio, motion pictures and related media for educational purposes." (Public Law 85-864)

(tv) 1958- Under the leadership of John F. White, NET moves its headquarters to New York City and endeavors to develop programming strategies to help it become the "fourth network." (Encyclopedia of Television)

(tv) 1959- NBC begins broadcast of Continental Classroom; these televised courses are offered for credit by various institutions of higher learning across the country. (Saettler, 1990)

(tv) 1959- The Midwest Program of Airborne Television Instruction (MPATI) begins. 34 courses are televised to 2,000 elementary and secondary schools in six states. Educational television stations broadcast to most schools, while a DC-2 circling over Montpelier, Indiana transmitted programs to schools outside the reach of participating stations. Many of the lessons created by MPATI are loaned to other schools across the country and MPATI's programs are generally evaluated as being of much higher quality than average. However, a sociological study conducted in 1962 would find that many teachers were disappointed by ITV, finding the telecasts interruptive. MPATI would be incorporated into the Great Plains National Instructional Television Library in 1971. (Saettler, 1990; Murphy and Gross, 1966)

(tv) 1959- “Assignment: The World” debuts on WXXI-TV. A 15-minute news program for 4th through 8th graders, it will remain on air through 2002 and beyond, becoming  the nation’s longest-running instructional television program. (WXXI web site)

(tv) 1959- The Educational Television and Record Center (ETRC) adds “National” to its name, becoming the NETRC. It experiences a period of rapid expansion soon thereafter, endeavoring to establish itself as the “fourth network.” Despite this commercial model, its departments are divided by academic discipline rather than by production function. (Saettler, 1990)
 

1800's

1900's

1910's

1920's

1930's

1940's

1950's

1960's

1970's

1980's

1990's

Last update: May 10, 2002 Comments to: Mary Miller mlmiller@uga.edu Created by Mary Miller and Teresa Cruce for Dr. Thomas Reeves' UGA class EDIT 6100, spring 2002 URL=//http://www.arches.uga.edu/~mlmiller/timeline/1950s.html