Instructional Television circa 1982

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Center for Educational Statistics conducted a second survey of the "availability, use and support for instructional media" during the 1982-83 school year. This survey was a follow-up to the 1976-77 school utilization study. While the earlier study focused exclusively on instructional television, this survey's scope was expanded to include audio/radio and computers. Its further inclusion of the term "other media" allows some inferences about classroom film use.

Methodology

For purposes of the survey, the following definitions were used:
ITV is defined as “any in-school use of television programming and equipment for instructional purposes.”
Audio/radio is defined as "any in-school use of instructional programming and equipment using sound as the major medium (e.g., radio programs, records, sound film strips, audio tapes / cassettes).
Computer is defined as "any in-school uses of computer software and equipment ... used interactively by students for instructional purposes.
Other media is defined as: any in-school uses of other devices used for instructional purposes not included in the categories above (e.g., film, silent film strips, overheads).
Regular use of an ITV series is "use of at least 75% of the lessons in a series."

Surveys were sent to a random sampling of school superintendents, principals, and teachers across the country.  Responses were received from 86% of superintendents, 84% of principals, and 80% of teachers.

Access

Availability
While 91% of districts reported access to television, it was available on the classroom level to only 70% of teachers. 75% of available television sets were color. 74% of schools reported access to videotape equipment, with access greatest at the high school level (97%). Only 34% of districts had a systematic method for replacing old ITV equipment.
Radio availability was high, with 88% of teachers reporting classroom access.
Access to computers was relatively more limited: while computers were available to 94% of districts, only 44% of teachers had classroom access to them.
The average district spent more of its media budget for computers (45%) than for television (15%), audio/radio (7%), or other media (33%).

Teacher to Equipment Ratios
The following table presents the number of teachers sharing one unit of various types of media equipment at each grade level.
 

type of equipment	elementary teachers	junior high teachers	high school teachers
television set	5	9	11
VCR	15	21	23
radio	11	19	27
audiocassette player	3	4	6

Delivery Methods
The following table presents percentages of districts, schools, and teachers reporting access to ITV by various methods.  Access generally decreases from district level on down. About half (47%) of districts with ITV available reported producing some of their own programming. Program production was considerably more common at high schools (56%) and junior high schools (52%) than at elementary schools (29%).
 

delivery method	district	school
off-air from public television station	72%	67%
off-air from commercial station	62%	60%
videotape or film	79%	65%
closed-circuit	19%	17%
cable	53%	39%
ITFS	4%	4%
Master Antenna System	18%	15%

[Teacher reports of delivery methods for ITV were not included in survey results for 1982-83.]

The most common methods of obtaining access to audio/radio were
Audio tape/cassette (93%)
Records (68%)
Direct off-air from public radio station (14%)
Direct off-air from commercial radio station (13%)

Obstacles
Teachers reported a variety of obstacles to classroom use of ITV. The main obstacles cited (with % of teachers who reported having these problems "often") were:
-Having programs available when needed (32%)
-Learning about programs in advance (24%)
-Lack of quality programming in given subject area (22%)
-Lack of equipment (17%)

Teacher Preparation, Media Usage, and Attitudes

Training
More teachers reported training in "other media" (60%) than in ITV (31%), audio/radio (44%), or computers (40%). 23% of teachers reported having no training in any media.

Use of Available Media
54% of teachers with access to classroom television used it. 42% of those with access reported using it regularly.
Usage was higher for audio/radio, with 75% of teachers with access reporting usage. 97% of teachers using audio/radio reported weekly use of audio tapes and cassettes; only 16% of audio/radio users reported weekly use of off-air broadcasts.
62% of teachers with access to computers reported using them.

Teachers who used ITV reported an average viewing time of 1 hour, 45 minutes per week.

Subject Area Emphases
The most common subjects for which ITV was used (together with % of teachers reporting ITV use for that topic) were:
Science (39%)
Social Science (38%)
Language Arts (other than reading) (35%)
Reading (30%)
Health/Nutrition (29%)

Teachers also reported a need for more programming in a variety of subject areas. The areas of greatest need (together with % of teachers reporting a need in that area) were:
Language Arts (other than reading) (14%)
Social Science (13%)
Science (12%)
Reading (11%)
Math (10%)
Computer Science (9%)

Attitudes
Teachers responded positively to a variety of statements about classroom use of ITV. The most supported comments (with % of teachers who agreed with the statements) were:
-"Students comprehend and discuss content and ideas presented in ITV" (75%)
-"Students learn more when I use ITV" (45%)
-"Students prefer ITV over other classroom media" (39%)
-"Students use new vocabulary presented in ITV" (37%)

Popular shows
 

Most-Used ITV Programs 1982-83

Program	Intended audience
Electric Company	Primary / Intermediate
NOVA	High School
National Geographic Specials	High School
Inside Out	Intermediate
All About You	Primary
Slim Goodbody	Primary
Read All About It	Intermediate
Gather-Round	Primary
Mulligan Stew	Intermediate
Thinkabout	Intermediate
It Figures	Intermediate
Stories of America	Primary
Sesame Street	Pre-School / Primary
Book Bird	Primary / Intermediate
Life on Earth	High School

Student Exposure

About 18.5 million students received some ITV instruction during the 1982-83 school year.
 

Return to timeline.
 

See the results of other ITV usage surveys:

1963-64

1976-77

1990-91

 

Last update: August 26, 2005 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/8283survey.html