Interactive TV: a Learning Platform with Potential
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
interactive TV a learning platform with potential Daniel Atwere and Peter Bates Interactive TV is an emerging new technology that could take learning in the home. This powerful new medium has the potential to offer new and exciting learning services for viewers. The primary purpose of this report is to raise awareness about the current and near-future developments of interactive TV and the role for the TV in bringing more personalised learning opportunities in the home. ISBN 1 85338 835 1 interactive TV a learning platform with potential Daniel Atwere and Peter Bates Published by the Learning and Skills Development Agency www.LSDA.org.uk Feedback should be sent to: Information Services Learning and Skills Development Agency Regent Arcade House 19–25 Argyll Street London W1F 7LS. Tel 020 7297 9144 Fax 020 7297 9242 [email protected] Registered with the Charity Commissioners Copyeditor: Jennifer Rhys Designers: Dave Shaw and Tania Field Cover illustrator: Joel Quartey Printer: Newnorth Ltd, Kempston, Bedford 1443/09/03/2500 ISBN 1 85338 835 1 ©Learning and Skills Development Agency 2003 You are welcome to copy this publication for internal use within your organisation. Otherwise, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the copyright owner. Further information For further information about the issues discussed in this publication please contact: Danny Atwere Development Adviser Learning and Skills Development Agency. Tel 020 7297 9025 [email protected] This publication was supported by the Learning and Skills Council as part of a grant to the Learning and Skills Development Agency for a programme of research and development. Contents Introduction 1 The development of interactive digital TV for learning 7 Related developments 15 The service providers 19 Interactive TV around the world 25 What is possible now? 29 Learning needs and interactive TV 33 Ways forward 37 Learning through interactive TV: issues 41 Appendix 1 Developing the ACTIONS model for t-learning 43 Appendix 2 Using the channel strategy approach 47 Notes 51 Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank all those who have contributed to this report. Special thanks to Zoe Ashton for comprehensively updating and revising it. Introduction 1 Television plays a major role in society. It has an impact on nearly everyone – informing, entertaining and educating. However, most aspects of learning through a TV tend to be informal, or what is sometimes described as ‘edutainment’ (a mix of education and entertainment). With the exception of a few schools’ and Open University-focused educational programmes there is very little specifically structured and engaged learning. Until recently, television was generally a passive medium, but digital TV is starting to enable new forms of interactivity with viewers. New technologies are starting to offer opportunities, within some learning contexts, for appropriate and sustainable enhanced learning opportunities in the home – moving from edutainment to more engaged learning. It is for this reason that digital TV is seen as a way of bridging the ‘digital divide’, w hich in this report relates to the ‘divide’ between people who have computers and other digital devices and the people without any of these devices. Digital TV also has the advantage of being easy to use and, unlike the internet, it does not tie up the phone line for hours. However, the early developments of interactive digital TV failed to live up to expectations in creating new learning opportunities. The UK leads the world in the uptake of digital TV but has also experienced the problems associated with being a ‘first mover’ – mistakes over certain aspects of the business that have not been sustainable; lack of standardisation that has resulted in incompatible systems and fragmentation of services. This has made it difficult for those in education and training to identify the best way forward. However, now is a good time to reconsider interactive TV for learning in the light of a major government push towards making e-government services accessible via digital TV and other means by 2005. Purpose This report aims to stimulate thinking about the changing role of interactive digital TV as it starts to move from a mass to a more personalised medium. Personalised TV could create new opportunities for personalised learning throughout lifelong learning. Aimed at policy-makers and managers, it describes how current and near-future developments could create a new role for the TV in bringing more personalised learning opportunities to the home. Although this paper focuses solely on digital TV developments, any strategy has also to take into account other developments like the use of an internet-enabled computer. A computer may be more appropriate in one context, the TV in another. 2Interactive TV E-learning strategies to date have tended to focus on the use of an internet-enabled computer, so this paper aims to raise awareness of the role of digital TV within an overall learning and e-learning strategy. This is particularly important in the broader context of policies to ensure social inclusion, equality of access and bridging the gulf between those with access to new technologies and those without. Interactive TV focuses on the broad concepts of what is or might be possible, rather than going into detail about specific technical and operational requirements. It is based on research completed in mid-2002 and updated in mid-2003 but as this is a fast-moving area some services, technologies and uptake figures are likely to have changed at the time of publication. The vision As digital TV grows increasingly available, some (including government agencies) expect it to become an important new way of accessing interactive information services, including learning opportunities, in the home. Around 99% of households have a TV compared to around 50% of households with an internet-enabled computer. Research suggests that the penetration of internet-enabled computers is unlikely to reach more than 60% of households and that digital TV will increasingly become the dominant means for accessing structured information and interactive services. It is generally agreed that many aspects of learning require some form of interaction or feedback to be at their most effective. As TV moves from being a passive to an active medium, it has the potential to reach nearly everybody on a much larger scale than traditional education and training. The reality The many complex issues surrounding the development of interactive digital TV make it difficult to know how to make the vision a reality. Those in education and training do not control the development of the infrastructure and the distribution services. The roll-out of services capable of bringing new learning opportunities to the home is slow. The ‘digital TV landscape’ is still rather misty, making it difficult to see which way to go. However, there are encouraging signs that digital TV could be taking off. Even the government has speculated that its plans to switch off analogue TV by 2010 could be on target, with the 2003 figures1 suggesting that 58–78% of Britons could be digital viewers by 2007, depending on favourable developments.2 The digital terrestrial service Freeview has also been a popular development with one in five digital households now having free-to-air digital TV.3 In addition, new technological solutions are constantly being found, so it is important to keep reviewing developments. Introduction 3 The technology needs sufficient flexibility to address the following pedagogical considerations: ■ how to turn a passive viewer into an active learner ■ how to make learning opportunities more accessible in the home as and when required ■ how to bridge the gap between ‘edutainment’ and ‘engaged learning’ ■ how to integrate learning support systems (human and electronic) to enable engaged learning within a TV-based learning environment ■ what types of interactivity are needed to enhance the learning experience through interactive digital TV. As the take-up of this service increases, more research will be needed. Digital TV within an e-learning strategy Policy-makers generally agree that there is a need to encourage widening participation in learning and develop a culture of lifelong learning. E-learning, even when used in the narrow sense of a computer connected to the internet, has an important role in these developments as it enables people to learn in their own time and often in their own homes. But only a few people are actually learning through e-learning. It is therefore important to look at other ways of creating learning opportunities in the home. For most households the TV set is the most important source of knowledge. Satisfying learning needs Although the UK leads the world in uptake of interactive digital TV, the vision of interactive learning has yet to be realised and there is little evidence to suggest that interactive TV in the more traditional ‘broadcast mode’ will ever move beyond ‘edutainment’. However, this mode could have an important role in encouraging passive viewers to become active learners. Once an interest has been ‘kindled’ or a learning need identified, it is important to satisfy an individual’s needs rapidly while they are in an ‘impulse buying mode’ or have an appetite to know more. Learndirect (through a learning platform for individualised learning) offers part of this but it generally involves making a telephone call or accessing the internet. It does not yet offer the opportunity to ‘click through’ to order, access and interact with learning opportunities directly via a TV set – just like ordering a pizza. 4Interactive TV Some might not think it desirable to compare taking advantage of a learning opportunity with ordering a pizza, but the decision-making process may not be too dissimilar.