Obstacles to ITV Implementation

Obstacles to the
Implementation of ITV,
1966-1967

In 1966, Jean B. Mayhew and Robert P. Crawford suggested that resistance to change in general and to new technology in particular is normal and should not be seen as exceptional or surprising.

"The central problem lies not in determining whether or not the new media shall be used but in determining how they can be used most effectively to meet the requirements for effective academic learning…. A common cause of ignorance is to be found bound up inextricably with ignorance of what ITV could and should do as opposed to what it could not and should not be expected to do."

The authors found that many teachers rejected ITV because they became uncomfortable when required to use it without first receiving adequate training.
Others resisted ITV because they feared that it would supplant them.

A 1967 survey indicates that the main obstacles to the use of classroom ITV at that period were as follows:

Difficulty tuning set or arranging set in room for optimal viewing
Poorly organized, inaccurate, or misleading lesson guides
Inability to find program related to curriculum
Producers' and broadcasters' failure to communicate with teachers about programs
Teachers' reluctance to go beyond comfort zone and use programs not directly related to teachers' own area of expertise

(Reid, 1967)

Photograph from St. Anne's Academy.
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/saintanns/teachers_corner.html

cite as: Miller, Mary and Teresa Cruce. A 20th Century Timeline: Classroom Use of Instructional Film, Radio, and Television. //http://www.arches.uga.edu/~mlmiller/timeline/obstacles.html [date viewed]

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/obstacles.html