television production considerations for satellite delivered etv

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This article was downloaded by: [UQ Library] On: 13 November 2014, At: 13:54 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Journal of Educational Television Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cjem18 Television Production Considerations for Satellite Delivered ETV P. J. Hosie a a Education Department of Western Australia Published online: 07 Jul 2006. To cite this article: P. J. Hosie (1987) Television Production Considerations for Satellite Delivered ETV, Journal of Educational Television, 13:1, 43-56, DOI: 10.1080/0260741870130105 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0260741870130105 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/ terms-and-conditions

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Page 1: Television Production Considerations for Satellite Delivered ETV

This article was downloaded by: [UQ Library]On: 13 November 2014, At: 13:54Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of Educational TelevisionPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cjem18

Television Production Considerationsfor Satellite Delivered ETVP. J. Hosie aa Education Department of Western AustraliaPublished online: 07 Jul 2006.

To cite this article: P. J. Hosie (1987) Television Production Considerations for SatelliteDelivered ETV, Journal of Educational Television, 13:1, 43-56, DOI: 10.1080/0260741870130105

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0260741870130105

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoeveras to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Anyopinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of theauthors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of theContent should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primarysources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions,claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilitieswhatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, inrelation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms& Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Page 2: Television Production Considerations for Satellite Delivered ETV

Journal of Educational Television, Vol. 13, No. 1, 1987 43

Television ProductionConsiderations for SatelliteDelivered ETVP. J. HOSIEEducation Department of Western Australia

Peter Hosie, B.Ed, BA(Hons), is employed by the Audio-Visual EducationBranch, Education Department of Western Australia. He investigates anddevelops the applications of communications technologies for education. Thispaper represents part of the work submitted for a Murdoch Universitydegree.

ABSTRACT Education in Australia has great potential to benefit from AUSSAT, thecountry's domestic satellite service, which became operational in late 1985; televisionbroadcasting could produce significant and immediate benefits for primary andsecondary education in Australia. As an educational medium, television is becomingincreasingly flexible and popular and has a growing profile, but, if televisionbroadcasting is going to be the principle use of satellites for education in Australia,then the factors involved in providing it require close scrutiny. Because television issuch a 'big' medium (Schramm, 1977), which is extremely expensive and labourintensive, a detailed analysis of production considerations is necessary. Productiontechniques have potential to greatly affect the type and amount of learning likely tooccur, especially for distance education students.

Introduction

Proponents and critics of satellite based education systems tend to focus theirattention on the cost and logistics of providing hardware and transponder lease,while ignoring software requirements. This is not without justification—initialcapital costs are high—but, while hardware costs are declining, the need for (andcost of) producing software is rising. Producing high quality educational televisionis a difficult and expensive enterprise. Making television programmes to broadcaststandard is even more demanding. Educational television presents its own peculiarproblems over and above the normal bevy experienced by television production.

The importance of programme development cannot be underestimated. Whenprogramme development takes second priority to the provision of technology, suchas with the Satellite Technology Demonstration, failure is imminent (Ruggles et al.,

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1982). Clearly, "The impact of TV comes not so much from the hardware (thetechnology) but from the software" (Beare, 1980). Mody (1978) attributes many ofthe problems of the Indian SITE experiments to the fact that only 9% of availablefunds was spent on producing television programmes. Television programmes take aconsiderable lead time to develop, and so a concerted production effort should havebeen instigated at least three years before the launch of AUSSAT in order toprovide programming of sufficient quantity and quality for broadcast. It is instruc-tive to note that SITE hardware was being developed five years before the projectstarted but programme production wasn't started until the year before the satellitewas operational. Not surprisingly, Mody (1978) was moved to comment, "it is amajor miracle that there were four hours of programmes ready for transmissionevery day". Considerable energy and funds are needed to produce sufficient qualityprogramming to feed this ravenous medium.

Learning through Educational Television

Before the task of producing television programmes is contemplated it is essential tohave a well considered methodology for producing the programmes. A detaileddiscussion about the mental skills best developed through television should presum-ably make up a significant part of such a consideration. Unfortunately not a greatdeal is known about which intellectual skills are best developed through television.As a consequence the processes of learning affected by television are poorlydocumented.

The most widely regarded hypothesis in this area is by Salomon (1979). Heargues that symbol systems can facilitate learning in one of three ways: by activatingalready existing mental skills, by short-circuiting difficult mental processes, and bysupplanting or modelling the mental elaborations required. Salomon argues thatlearners who are familiar with a specific subject area will have different responsesfrom those for whom the knowledge to be learned is entirely new. This underscoresthe need to target programmes specifically to the learner's needs. Also, theimportance of considering design characteristics suitable for video recording, forlater replay, is emerging as an important consideration.

Salomon established that television provides unique opportunities to practiceand develop high-level learning skills not provided by other media. He contendsthat such learning is difficult to develop and requires special training. Also, differentstyles of television programmes result in very different experiences for the learner.Effective learning from television will depend on the appropriateness of the formatof a programme and how it complements the subject matter under consideration.Broadcast television needs to be approached quite differently from books, lecturesor cassettes. Bates (1982a) termed the extent of control a learner has over the when,where and how of educational television its 'control characteristics'. This provides auseful starting point to consider the ways in which satellite television programmesare likely to be utilized: as they are broadcast, or recorded for later use.

Broadcast television requires the learner to watch at set times; it is not possible tostop, interrupt or interrogate the programme at any point. Integration and re-

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structuring of broadcast material is difficult because simultaneous and instantparallel conceptualization is beyond most students. The viewer is forced to think 'onthe run' which, while arguably an essential everyday skill, is difficult for manystudents. Visual information is particularly difficult to encode in note form. Anotherimportant problem is that target audiences vary considerably in language skills andin general ability. Also the continuous, ongoing nature of broadcast programmesdoes not always allow the learner to find a level of understanding which can becoped with. Programmes which rely on a sequential building up of understandingare particularly susceptible to 'losing' the learner, if all that has gone before is notunderstood.

The control characteristics of broadcast television have been summarised byBates (1982a, 1984a, b). These factors (Table I) should be borne in mind by theproducers of broadcast educational television. Unfortunately it is not evident thatthese characteristics have been taken into account in many programmes ostensiblydesigned for educational broadcasting.

TABLE I. Control characteristics of broadcast television (from Bates, 1982a)

TV characteristic Learner implications

Fixed schedules Fixed time to view

Scarcity of time (henceonly one or two trans-missions) Limited response to materialEphemeral Non-Repeatable; non-

retrievable(except by memory)

Continuous Thinking 'on the run'Wholistic Reflection, analysis,(i.e. a single unit) restructuring, relating

to other materials, alldifficult

Aimed at 'average' target No room for individualviewer differences in paceProgramme pace, level, Dependency on 'responsible'format, structure, broadcastingdecided by broadcasters

A learner has more control with recorded television, thus increasing the possibil-ity of becoming a more independent learner. The extent of learning from televisionwill depend upon the degree of control the learner (or in some cases the teacher)has over the medium. For learners with a wide range of abilities the material can berepeated until mastery is gained. Unfortunately, constraints imposed by the designprocess of educational television production means that producing different versionsof the same programme, in an effort to suit various student abilities, is rarely costefficient. Therefore, it must be assumed that the practice of pitching the sophistica-tion level of programmes to the mythical 'average' student will continue.

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However, developments in technology will allow more interactivity for students.For example, teletext subtitles would allow different levels of sophistication ofcommentary for the 'same' programme. This is a fairly cumbersome way ofwatching television but is particularly helpful for deaf students. Recorded televisiongives the classroom teacher more control and flexibility to adjust the teaching/learn-ing experience to the needs of individual students. The control characteristics ofrecorded television require consideration. These are summarised by Bates (1982a)and reproduced here in Table II.

TABLE II. Control characteristics of recorded television (from Bates, 1982a)

TV characteristics Learner implications

Available when required Convenient

Rewind/fast-forward Repetition; masteryfacility learningStop-start facility Integration with other

media; activitiesintegrated with video;more room for individualvariation

Hold-frame facility Analysis of detailNon-continuous/segmented Reflection, analysis,(if made for use on cassette only) restructuring easierEditing facility More selectivity; more

questioning

Background to Developments

When the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) first began broadcastingeducational programmes in the 1960s, television was seen as an ideal means ofproviding high quality teaching to a large number of students. Outstanding teacherswere employed to prepare direct instructional programmes on television in themisguided belief that an outstanding teacher presenting on television could achievebetter results than an average teacher in the classroom (Widdowson, 1985). This isnot what happened, chiefly because it was discovered that students learnt morefrom, and preferred to be taught by, a 'live' teacher in the classroom with whomthey could interact. Furthermore, the cost-effectiveness advantages attributed tothis method of instruction were discredited. Such analysis was, of course, based ondifferent circumstances and vastly different technologies than are applicable today.Nevertheless, the failures of these experiments are worth noting and balancingagainst the present situation.

As a consequence of the above realization, a different role has evolved foreducational television broadcasts. They have become less instructional and moreorientated towards the enrichment of the instruction provided by the classroomteacher. A major role for television is to provide a different kind of experience oranother way of knowing about something. Bates (1984b) considers television

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provides a link between the concrete and abstract; or as Bandura (1977) suggests, itprovides a bridge between personal experience and abstraction. Programmes pro-duced by the ABC are now produced as resources, which can be used by classroomteachers in ways appropriate to the needs of their classes. The isolated learner canalso use the programmes in a similar manner. Although these programmes can bedescribed as enrichment or learning resources, they can also be seen simply asgeneral entertainment programmes, or 'edutainment'. This is not to suggest thatentertainment programmes cannot be educational in a broad sense. Debate continuesabout the extent to which ABC schools television should be broadly educational andentertaining or have a purely formal teaching role. Cowley, Deschamp & Fitzpatrick(1984), after closely analysing alternative means of producing educational televi-sion, warn that "Previous experience with other new technologies (e.g. earlytelevision broadcasts) suggests that this 'honeymoon' period, when anything will beaccepted, is relatively short lived".

Emerging Production Approaches

Crow (1977) joins many critics who consider that a television screen should not beseen as merely an extension of a classroom but rather as a medium with its ownunique characteristics:

. . . simply taking photographs of what is traditionally done in a regularclassroom and then showing those pictures on television is not usingtelevision for the unique medium that it is. Neither... is taking pictures ofa talking face. . . television can involve carefully designed, written, andproduced presentations that allow for a high level of precision and qualitythat could never be replicated in a regular classroom presentation.

More consideration needs to be given to the style of production used foreducational television. Roach (1984) asserts that " . . . although a few productionteams.. . have attempted to use television as a learning medium, providing rawmaterial from which students are meant to learn by their own efforts, the majorityof educational broadcasts are videotaped lectures". Educational television has beendeveloped from models intended for other purposes. Roach concludes that, "This isnot what education should be like in the Video Age". A higher standard ofproduction, both in technical competence and educational design, is needed to holdthe attention of students. In order to maintain their motivational role, programmesneed to approach the excellence of commercial productions. The ability of televisionto motivate students is an important argument for its use.

Despite the need to be entertaining, programmes will also have to be designedwith the appropriate pedagogical content in mind. Jelley (1984) draws attention tothe fact that "With the rapid increase in the possession and use of video recorders. . . producers of school television programmes are turning their attention to how theuse of programmes as video cassettes should influence their productions". Aconsiderable number of television programmes will be recorded off-air for laterviewing, especially if out-of-hours downloading is introduced. The pragmatics of

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making video recordings of television programmes for schools and individuals needsclose consideration. A recent German innovation will greatly assist recording off-air;television broadcasts can be encoded using VPS (Video Programme System) toactivate videocasette recorders to start automatically (Screen Digest, November,1985), without teachers having to programme the recorder in advance. Thistechnology, when combined with B-MAC earth station addressibility would allow aflexible delivery system for downloading programmes out of normal broadcasttimes. Nevertheless, additional library resource staff may be required in schools torecord, store and retrieve programmes. If the broadcasts are to be more closely tiedto the curriculum, a video request back up system may be necessary.

By 1990 most homes will own a VCR and they will be much more widespread inschools (Bates, 1984b). It is reasonable to assume that recording broadcasts for useat more convenient viewing times will become commonplace. This process is welldocumented overseas and is termed 'time shifting' (Rodwell, 1984). Programmesmust be planned with this in mind. Students will have control of the programme,allowing repetition and review for material requiring mastery learning; reflectionand analysis for restructuring, integration and individual access. Teachers alreadyhave freedom to replay material at convenient times, both for preview and forgreater integration with other resources. Use of the stop/start facility allows forprogrammes to be stopped at crucial junctures, repeated for reinforcement forgreater 'video style' (Wright, 1984), or as Fosnot (1984) explains:

Video technology also has potential for self-regulated use. The technologyof video replay allows action to be stopped by the learner at criticalmoments, an impossibility in real time. Such stop action may providelearners with time to predict the ensuing action or facilitate discriminationof important detail, inference making, and/or the construction of means-end relations. Video replay also provides fast-forward and reverse pro-cesses, enabling the learner to survey rapidly and concentrate on thoseareas of interest.

A recent primary school science series, Scientrific, produced by the QueenslandDepartment of Education, has explored an innovative production format suited tothose with video cassette players. The programmes are not designed in a strictlylinear form but are intended to be stopped at pre-determined places and to utilisethe freeze frame capacity of more advanced video cassette recorders. There is agreat potential to explore various styles of production which will allow greatercontrol and flexibility of programmes. Television producers need not construct aprogramme that will hold a student's interest for a full 20, 30 or 40 minutes. Insteadthe programme can be divided into shorter, more manageable segments that can becalled upon at will by students or teachers. This significantly reduces productioncosts—and the amount of superfluous material often included in programmes inorder to fill it out to the required duration for broadcast. Such programmes alsohave far greater focus for the learner.

Jelley (1984) explained how such programmes are developed by YorkshireTelevision.

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Wie Sagt Man, a Thames Television series for 'O'-level German, illustratesthese developments well. Each programme is divided into four separatesections: a section with the presenter in a German location and situation; asection where the presenter explains the grammatical points made in thefirst section, using animated graphics; a mock oral examination withcomments on the 'pupil's' performance; and finally a location sectionallowing pupils to listen to German as it is spoken by ordinary citizens.Short sections like these make a much more manageable teaching aid than along programme. The replacement series for the four-year-old Wie SagtMan will move even further away from orthodox TV teaching by droppingthe two middle sections (the grammar, spoken by a presenter or actors, andnatural language as spoken by native Germans).

The BBC Schools TV series Maths Topics is even less like 'normal'television. It is specifically intended to be used in recorded form, and theaccompanying teachers' notes explain several characteristics that distin-guish it from existing mathematics series. The programmes need not beused in the order as broadcast, and they do not relate to a supposed weeklypattern of use. Each programme consists of separate sequences designed tobe used independently, possibly with the sound turned off to encouragepupil discussion or to allow teachers to provide their own commentary,adapted to the particular needs of individual classes.

A flexible style of programme production could well become commonplace.Short programmes, exploring single concepts in detail or containing highly motiva-tional material could be produced to provide a plethora of information for teachersto integrate with lessons or for students to use independently. The flexibilityallowed by these programmes, of different length and style, will allow teachers tofeel they have more control over the use of programmes. Such productions couldalso be less demanding to produce than fully fledged programmes. This is animportant consideration because the input from producers of television programmesvaries considerably in relation to the sophistication of the production.

Relationship to the Curriculum

How closely broadcasts should be keyed to the curriculum is a contentious issue.Because ABC programmes are produced as enrichment resources for use by teachersin conventional classrooms, it is debatable how valuable they are in the context ofdistance education. The high cost of television production means that maximum useneeds to be made to justify the cost. For this reason it is unlikely that a high volumeof programmes will be made purely for distance education students. It is more likelythat programmes will be made for use both by a larger audience, such as schools,and by distance education students, i.e. dual purpose. Making programmes with thesecondary purpose of being useful in schools will reduce the cost. The nature ofeach programme, and the social and educational setting in which the programme isviewed, are crucial factors in support of this argument.

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The experience of the majority of families participating in the Loan VideoProgramme (Hosie, 1984a) indicates that pre-recorded television programmes areviewed in the evenings, usually by the whole family. Direct off-air satellite viewingwill be most likely to take place at the same time. Broadcasts migt be recordedduring the day for replay during the evening. This practice has both a positive andnegative aspect. On the positive side, family viewing represents a shared experiencewith greater educational potential than an experience restricted to the individualstudent. On the other hand, the family setting may tend to emphasize the entertain-ment aspect of the programmes being viewed. The shared experience of viewingmay result in reinforcement through discussion, but this discussion may notnecessarily relate to the educational objectives of the programme being discussed.There is, nevertheless, great potential for valuable learning to result from thisinteraction. Selective viewing patterns need to be developed to ensure that anoptimal learning environment is created.

Considerable emphasis is now being placed by teachers and programme pro-ducers on the preparation of supplementary materials to accompany televisionprogrammes. Educational television broadcasts reach the learner as a completepackage which cannot be interrogated by the learner. Presentations of 'pre-pack-aged' information tend to encourage passive acceptance by the learner. Conse-quently, educational programming needs to be accompanied by support material.These materials may consist of background information and suggestions for bothintroductory and follow-up activities. Such materials need to be accounted for inproduction budgets because they can require considerable time, effort and cost toprepare. Because such programmes are not designed to 'teach' in their own right,their value as learning resources relies largely on the way in which they are used,whether in the isolated home by a tutor or in the classroom by a teacher. Thesupplementary materials are therefore important in placing the television pro-gramme into an appropriate learning context.

Limited research has already indicated (Hosie, 1984a) that students studying inisolated regions of Western Australia do not respond well to learning materialdesigned to accompanying television programmes unless they are closely related tothe curriculum. Poor utilisation of such learning material is evident. Furtherresearch is needed to establish why this material is under-utilised and to introducesupport strategies to assist in changing current practice.

Distance Education

Whereas ABC programmes are designed to meet the needs of classroom teachers in'conventional' schools, no such constraints are placed upon the design of pro-grammes produced specifically for distance education usage (Dean, 1983). Becausethis is such a new field (distance education television has only been feasible on areasonable scale since the introduction of low-cost domestic VCRs—about fiveyears ago), no discernible style of production has emerged—nor has adequateresearch been completed into the relative effectiveness of television as a learningresource for the isolated student.

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Experience to date indicates that the production of large quantities of even lowbudget programmes can be a more difficult and costly exercise than previouslyanticipated (Cowley, Deschamp & Fitzpatrick, 1984). Indeed the consumers of suchprogrammes, and many educationalists, have a poor appreciation of the amount ofeffort and expertise needed to produce them. For example, television presentationappears deceptively simple. Using professional television presenters for programmesnot requiring content expertise is desirable. When lay presenters are used theyshould be appropriately trained to ensure a convincing delivery. No single presenta-tion style can accommodate both the needs of distance education and those ofconventional schools; the choice of style should depend upon the nature of the topicbeing presented and upon the needs and expectations of the target audience.

The introduction of video into distance education has opened up a new range ofpossibilities that are only just beginning to be explored. In Western Australia, theexperience has been that distance education teachers anxious to use television tosupport their courses have asked for programmes of a more directly instructionalnature than those ABC programmes already being supplied to students. Televisionhas thus been seen as providing, vicariously at least, a missing element in distanceeducation: face-to-face contact with a teacher.

ABC radio and television broadcasts are designed for classroom use, althoughthey may be appropriate for distance education. The majority of programmes madeby the ABC are designed for a national audience and so cater for a broad curriculumbase. Trying to be 'all things to all people' has meant that much of the content ofthese programmes is not always relevant to local curriculum needs. ABC televisionoutput, and the educational films on videocassette or those broadcast via satellite,will need to be supplemented by programmes specially produced for distanceeducation use. These can be made at different levels of sophistication but must beclosely tied to the curriculum if they are to receive widespread use by distanceeducation students and in schools.

Production Styles

Production sophistication can be simplified for the purpose of this argument to twolevels.

An in-house production by a distance education teacher, using portable, low costvideo equipment could constitute the first level of production. This can be readilyundertaken to meet the needs of an individual student, or small group of students,providing that the concepts and scope of the production are kept simple. Suchproductions are generally of short-term value. The technical quality may not besuitable for broadcast because they are almost invariably recorded on non-broadcastequipment. Professionally produced television programmes supporting specific cur-ricula fall into the second category. Some state education departments (notablyWestern Australia and Queensland) have media services sections with televisionproduction facilities to make such programmes. Others rely on paying outsideproduction houses to make their programmes.

One assumption underlying the production of direct instructional programmes

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has been that they need to be produced to the same technical and productionstandards as usual educational television. Students who are receiving professionalstandard productions via Homestead and Community Broadcasting Satellite Service(HACBSS) and Remote Communities Television Service (RCTS) will react ad-versely to poor quality offerings unless the information is of crucial importance tothem. Students will quickly become discerning viewers and the programme will loseone of its most important justifications—that of a motivational aid. The sameamount of preparation, money and creativity needs to go into distance educationtelevision programmes as goes into programmes for any other special interest group.This would appear a reasonable proposition with significant implications for dis-tance education teachers, administrators and programme producers.

High quality television production is very demanding, in terms of preparationtime, and depends upon the coordinated talents of a large number of specialists, aswell as requiring sophisticated technical resources. Such programmes are onlypossible if the education system is prepared to commit its staff and productionservices to the preparation of such programmes suitable for broadcasting, and toforgo the programmes for other areas that could otherwise have been made. This hasnot been the experience to date.

Careful training of educators to use satellite based delivery systems is essential.Knowledge Network of the West (KNOW) experiences revealed that there areoften differences between what messages an instructor intends to give and themeaning derived by students (Potter, 1984). Five problem areas were identified. Allof these problems have the potential to affect the success of satellite-basedtelevision learning:

Attending to rigid allocations of time meant that flexibility and spontaneity ofteaching styles were restricted.Live telephone interaction (and associated technical problems) constrained theinterchange of meaningful dialogue because students were reluctant to 'call in'.Lack of non-verbal feedback was considered an enormous problem as was theneed to restrict normal classroom movements.When instruction was delivered to large audiences, educators found it difficultto relate to individuals.Perhaps of greatest concern (and the most universal of problems associated withthis technique) is the inevitable conflict between technologists and educators(Bates, 1982b; Long, 1982; Cowlan & Foote, 1975).

Television producers are concerned with maintaining professional productionvalues, while educators are primarily interested in informing and interacting withstudents. Instructors tend to want to spend on-air time dealing with the higher orderconcepts of Bloom's taxonomy, such as integration, analysis and evaluation(Haughey, 1984). Television can be a difficult medium to convey such abstractconcepts. Successfully conveying difficult concepts requires considerable prepara-tion, commitment and energy from all concerned. Conflict between producers andeducationalists working in such an environment can and does result.

In many ways such conflict is inevitable. Television is normally produced in a

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rarefied environment and neophyte amateur presenters invariably have troubleadapting to the unnatural demands imposed by the medium. Television producers,accustomed to working with highly skilled professionals, are often openly hostile toinept presenters, and are not always sympathetic to educational intentions. Educa-tors frequently have unrealistic expectations of what can be achieved with the scantpreparation and resources often allocated to educational productions. Educators canbe frustrated by producers' insistence on making visually interesting programmeswhich reflect television conventions rather than instructional intentions. A difficultbalance between entertainment and educational input needs to be struck (Mody,1978). This will involve concessions and co-operation by both educationalists andtelevision producers. The emergence of television production styles which are moreakin to teaching and learning environments may help to overcome this problem.

Adapting Programmes

Placing a cost on television programme production is a complex exercise because ofthe different methods of itemization and the fact that there are many hidden costs.Nevertheless, one figure that has been suggested is $2000 for any average 20-minute(or $6000 per hour) educational studio based programme made by educationaltelevision producers (Cowley, Deschamp & Fitzpatrick, 1984). This figure does notinclude many costs normally considered (such as the value of facilities) and is notparticularly useful for costing purposes. Commercial television production costs liesomewhere between $1000 and $2000 per minute depending on the style ofproduction. This compares with an average price of $1000 for the video duplicationrights (of up to 25 copies) for an existing 16mm film. In other words, it costsapproximately twice as much to make a programme aimed at meeting specific localneeds (using local examples) as it does to buy a ready-made programme of a moregeneralised nature. In some cases a trade-off between the relevance to the formalcurriculum and the cost will need to be struck. No matter from which angle aproduction is judged alongside existing material, it is obvious that production is anexpensive exercise.

Existing commercially made video is not always easy to obtain and doesn'talways match the syllabus closely enough to be a worthwhile acquisition. Consider-able resources need to be expended in locating, reviewing and negotiating thepurchase of duplication and broadcast rights to commercially available programmes.Even if relevant sections can be edited out, there is still the need to provide printedbackup learning material. Local researchers, Cowley, Deschamp & Fitzpatrick(1984) support this view:

It is important to avoid the temptation of considering commerciallyproduced films as simple to obtain and as cheap substitutes for tailor-madevideos. One of the hidden costs and frustrations involved in using commer-cial films is the time taken to obtain and review them. Even when suitablefilms can be located, usually they will need a study guide in order to makeeffective use of their content within the course. Commercially produced

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films will seldom match the syllabus closely, and usually sections of themwill have little relevance. It will rarely be practical to edit such sections outand, therefore, clear and structured printed materials are important forguiding students to the expected learning outcomes.

This view is refuted by Canadian experience. The highly regarded KNOW andTV Ontario (Reddington, 1985) make extensive use of material produced by otherorganisations but adapted to local use. Indeed the 'adaptive model' is the corner-stone of KNOW programming philosophy. A streamlined acquisition system will benecessary to cope with the volume of programmes required; the resources needed tocoordinate this work should not be underestimated.

Each state in Australia produces curriculum materials independently. This is aresult of not having any common curriculum between the state education systems.However, the curricula are similar in broad terms. Cooperation in the production ofexpensive curriculum materials, such as television programmes suitable for broad-cast, could be mutually beneficial and result in greater economies of scale. Interna-tional experience (Anderson, 1982) has indicated that lack of control coordinationand undue duplication of efforts will prevent institutions working alone fromattaining enough programmes to use the medium effectively.

Greater cooperation and coordination could be forthcoming from all States toensure that more programmes are made available to students. Collaborative ma-terials development is a more promising way of providing sufficient relevantprogramming of adequate quality. However, there are formidable barriers to this,often relating to unclear lines of communication as described by Hosie (1984b).

Conclusion

Considerations of the style and complexity of television production are particularlyrelevant when the high volume of programmes required for satellite broadcast isconsidered. The more complex a production the more expensive it becomes, interms of manpower and resources. There is a point, however, beyond which a smallamount of effort and cost invested in a production will realise disproportionategains in student interest and commensurate gains in learning. For a reasonableamount of extra effort and cost, it will be possible greatly to improve theprogramme's appeal, and consequently its learning potential. A mix of productionstyles will emerge which will be complemented by a range of programme complex-ity. Programmes that are purely pedagogical could be successfully combined withmore elaborate efforts. The need to increase programme output dramatically willmean that low budget, minimally prepared programmes will become more wide-spread. Optimal use of scarce resources is essential.

Sometimes it will be desirable to put a great deal of effort into designingprogrammes to serve a large audience of students over many years. At other times,simple techniques for small groups of mature students will suffice. This should notbe taken as an endorsement for regressing to previous attempts to use expert

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teachers on camera to replace classroom teachers. Rather it would be an attempt toprovide a teacher in situations where none exists.

A range of questions has been addressed in this paper, regarding televisionproduction for education in general and for small sectors such as distance education.For example, can this high level of expenditure be justified for distance educationstudents, considering the small number of students involved? The costs will have tobe dissipated by aiming towards a more general school populace. What are the mosteffective styles of presentation for distance education, including 'mixed mode'learning television? What styles of production are suited to teachers who wish to usethe capabilities of the video cassette recorder, such as freeze frame and visualsearch? Will television producers, educationalists and state education departmentscombine to produce sufficient programmes of high enough quality? Can programmeswith styles relevant to learning theory and classroom pragmatics be developed?These and many other issues need to be resolved by the state education departmentsin Australia if effective use of satellite-based educational television is to be realised.

Correspondence: P. J. Hosie, 15 Adare Way, Kingsley, Western Australia 6026,Australia.

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