The current study sought to characterize implicit bias toward children with autism and examine whether viewing educational materials about autism would change attitudes toward children with autism. A website developed by Sesame Street containing information about autism and resources for families was distributed to parents of children with autism…

Television, like other media, can work as a platform for promoting learning. This article illustrates the value of multimodal discourse analysis for evaluating the potential of a children's television show as a vehicle for fostering knowledge and skills in a specific subject area. Drawing on social semiotic principles and systemic functional genre…

Too many of today's children spend too much time indoors, often interacting with screens. They don't get enough physical exercise. Their learning about nature comes from books and teachers rather than from firsthand exploration of natural phenomena. These issues affect most modern American children, but they are particularly prominent among…

This paper presents a curriculum and design analyses of an Emmy-award winning children educational television series, Cyberchase. Using Posner's (2004) four process of curriculum analysis framework, this paper addresses each of the components and relates it to the design principles undertaken by the Cyberchase production team. Media and document…

The 2012 Transmedia Demonstration Stations program study is part of the multiyear CPB-PBS "Ready To Learn" summative evaluation initiative by Education Development Center, Inc., (EDC) and SRI International (SRI). Through a series of related studies, the authors are documenting, and, whenever possible, measuring the impact of PBS KIDS…

In knowing hands, public-media resources can help young children growing up in socially and economically disadvantaged circumstances become better prepared to succeed in school. This vision, which has held steady since the original authorizing legislation for the program was written, continues to guide the work of the Corporation for Public…

Distance education initiatives that incorporate interactive television are explored from the perspective of two social work programs. Though both programs are of similar size and exist in the same state, one is private and located in an urban area, while the other is public and located in a rural area. Four key dimensions essential to distance…

As part of the "Ready to Learn" Initiative, Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), was charged with addressing the evaluation of Technological Enhancements for the outreach efforts of three producers: Out of the Blue's Super WHY! Technology Add-On; Sesame Workshop's The Electric Company School's Initiative Curriculum; and WordWorld's…

This study examined the cognitive effects of an educational early childhood television program in Turkey that was designed to enhance basic cognitive skills and socio-emotional development of 5-year-old children. The program targeted children with low socioeconomic status who had limited access to formal preschool education. The program was…

Described here is a study on the efficacy of a media-rich curriculum based on the idea that children can learn best from "media synergy," that is, when children have opportunities to learn a focused set of skills by engaging in repeated practice with them in many different formats and media. Participants in this study were low-income…

Evaluation at several levels of northern California's post-graduate medical television indicates neither the information level nor the behavior of target audiences were affected by the programs. More definitive approaches to evaluation were proposed. (IR)

Leaning heavily on National Educational Television affiliates for its information, this survey of instructional television production units and the relationship of their facilities to the quality of television courses which they produce, finds: that instructional television is fairly well off in terms of "hardware" and only slightly lacking in…

Results of a survey showed that 95% of Minneapolis, Minn., elementary school children are exposed to educational television (ETV) lessons. The typical classroom teacher used ETV in three or four subject areas. More than nine out of 10 teachers reported satisfaction with the programs used. More than 80% of the teachers were satisfied with…

Implementation of a new research design may change research on television effectiveness in such a way that a solid basis for program improvement is established and that the understanding of instructional processes may increase. (Author)