46641 SECTION 6 TECHNOLOGIES FOR TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT—TELEVISION GUIDING QUESTIONS IN THIS SECTION ■ Which of our TPD needs or goals can be met through the use of television broadcasts? ■ Television for TPD ■ Mexico’s Telesecundaria Junior-secondary Curriculum ■ To what extent does our country have access to ■ Brazil’s Television for TPD the skills and facilities needed to produce ■ Educational Impact ■ Cost Considerations programming in this medium? How extensive and reliable is the relevant infrastructure? ■ How are these technologies currently used in our schools and communities? How could these programs be improved or complemented by additional programs in TPD? ■ What methods and what content are appropriate to meet our TPD objectives? SUMMARY Television has been employed successfully in several of the largest developing countries, including Mexico, Brazil, and China. Television’s strengths include the power to engage viewers, to present conceptual informa- tion visually, and to show real people and environments from throughout the world. Television can support TPD by giving teachers opportunities to observe other teachers as they implement new instructional practices. By enabling teachers to anticipate what will happen, television reduces the risk inherent in experimentation. Mexico’s Telesecundaria program is designed specifically to provide year-round curricula to rural junior- secondary schools, enabling college graduates with no training as teachers to guide students toward success- ful completion by supplementing educational programming with in-class discussion, lessons, and assessments. With high production costs and high recurrent costs for broadcast airtime, television is most cost-effective when it is used to support large-scale projects. Telesecundaria reaches 1.2 million students each year, and over the course of its 30-year history has achieved respectable results: completion rates by Telesecundaria students are similar to those of students in regular schools; students’ performance on exams is slightly lower than that of students’ in regular schools. In Brazil, both private- and public-sector channels carry educational programming that addresses vocational training, social issues such as HIV/AIDS prevention, and ways to improve classroom instruction. Salto para o futuro, broadcast by the government to address TPD, is watched by roughly 200,000 Brazilian primary and secondary teachers. The program’s goal is to guide teachers in instructional change, but results are mixed. Section 6. Technologies for Teacher Professional Development—Television . 49 Without close connection to the concerns of teachers and support at the school level, TPD-focused televi- sion is more appropriate as a means to improve existing teaching and learning rather than a means to effect substantial change. TELEVISION FOR TPD Mexico, Brazil, and China have been among the leaders in the use of broadcast television for instruction in developing countries. Of these, programs in Mexico and Brazil are profiled. Three main factors define the strengths and limitations of educational television: ■ Powerful combinations of images and information ■ High production and recurrent costs ■ Highly skilled personnel As a tool for TPD, television is often used to show teachers real teacher-student interactions in the class- room, enabling them to observe the management of learning activities. In this area, the uses of television and radio for TPD can be contrasted: whereas television shows teachers images of teachers and students in action, radio often is used to guide teachers through scripted activities. Mexico’s Telesecundaria Junior-secondary Curriculum Started in 1968 to address the shortage of teachers in rural schools, Telesecundaria today reaches over 1.2 million students in 16,500 schools serving grades 7 through 9—over 15 percent of total enrolment in junior secondary school. Teacher shortages hit secondary schools especially hard, because secondary teachers are required to master advanced knowledge of one subject—typically language arts, science, math, or social studies. Addressing this challenge by broadcasting educational programming throughout the school day, Telesecundaria enables a single teacher to teach all subjects effectively. Every day in Telesecundaria classrooms, students: ■ Watch 15-minute lessons on television, then ■ Take part in 35-minute follow-up activities guided by their teachers ■ Complete assessments of their learning The curriculum is focused on community-based concerns such as pollution, water issues or hygiene. Class size in Telescecundaria classrooms averages 22 students while that of regular junior-secondary schools is 35 students. Teachers also participate in one-week pre-service trainings and in ongoing in-service workshops that build mastery of the curriculum and lead to improved teaching practice. The Telesecundaria broadcasts provide critical support for students and teachers in small rural schools. Brazil’s Television for TPD Both private-sector and public-sector channels offer educational programming in Brazil. The best-known channel, Canal futura, is funded by a consortium of Brazilian and multi-national corporations and operated by Globo, the world’s fourth-largest television broadcasting company. Canal Futura offers over 20 educational programs. One of Canal Futura’s first education programs, A-Plus, was intended for teachers. 50 Using Technology to Train Teachers The success of Canal futura’s education programming is based on scale. A-Plus was originally intended for teachers, but over time it expanded its programming to reach 13 million viewers; the Brazilian education system employs only two million teachers. In 1996, the national Ministry of Education launched its own channel, TV Escola (“School TV”), broadcast- ing programs via satellite on TPD and student learning. The TV Escola program Salto para o futuro marked its 10th anniversary of daily broadcasting in 2005. The hour-long program presents a debate among three experts in education focused on issues in education theory and practice. Debates—a very low-cost format— are supplemented by short video clips that show practices and learning activities in action in real classrooms. Teachers often view Salto para o futuro in groups at their school. The program is interactive: During the broadcast, teachers send questions, ideas, and opinions to the panel via fax, email, and telephone. Educational Impact The Telesecundaria and TV Escola channels are both operated by their national governments independently of commercial broadcasting. For this reason, programming can address audiences of students or teachers that are much too small for commercial broadcasters: Telesecundaria reaches 16,500 schools, 50,000 teachers, and 1.2 million students, and Salto para o futuro reaches roughly 200,000, or 10 percent, of Brazil’s primary and secondary teachers per year. Telesecundaria has reported the following results: ■ Completion rates equal to students in regular schools 73 percent of students enrolling in grade 7 at a Telesecundaria complete grade 9, a completion rate that is 5 percent lower than students in regular secondary schools. This difference is not statistically significant. ■ Student achievement lower than that of students in regular schools 62 percent of Telesecundaria students pass grade 9 reading exams, while 40 percent pass grade 9 math. Pass rates for students in regular schools are 76 percent and 50 percent. Telesecundarias serve rural areas, populated by poor families in which youth often work. In this context, Telesecundaria’s completion rate is impressive. To properly assess the Telesecundaria test scores, results would require adjustment for socio-economic status and other factors. TV Escola: Salto para o futuro tries to use TPD-focused programming to influence teachers’ classroom practices. Independent evaluation suggests that even though it incorporates interaction via fax, phone, and email, the program may not be connected closely to teachers’ day-to-day concerns to be effective. Researchers suggest that for Salto para o futuro to be effective, “it must advance beyond making requests or suggestions to in-service teachers, to become linked to the educational life of the school, rather than to proposals imposed by the central office.”9 Cost Considerations Television production costs are high, and airtime is expensive. In 1998, production of a 15-minute Telesecundaria module cost between US$30,000 and US$50,000 and required about 20 days to complete. Telesecundaria re-uses its instructional programs, but still reports high recurrent costs: ■ Recurrent costs, over half of which are teacher salaries, are three times greater than the annualized investment in video production. ■ Costs per student, at more than US$500 per year, are 15 percent higher than in regular schools. ■ Initial investment in program production (US$594 million) has been followed by recurring costs of US$425 million per year. 9 See Castro, A. M. (2002). Descentralização e Autonomia: Limites e Possibilidades de um Programa de Formação de Professores. Educação Online. Available: http://www.educacaoonline.pro.br/art_descentralizacao_e_autonomia.asp Section 6. Technologies for Teacher Professional Development—Television . 51 Questions for Further Discussion Supported by long-term commitment and resources, Telesecundaria has achieved substantial impact in educational access and improvement. However, questions can be raised about opportunity costs and program flexibility: ■ Over the course of the Telesecundaria’s 30-year history, what other long-term capacity-building and educational-improvement measures might have been by-passed as a result of the financial and organiza- tional commitment to television? ■ How can Telesecundaria take advantage of new developments in Internet access, video production and delivery, cut costing techniques and improvements in learning outcomes? ■ With a substantial investment in Telesecundaria, how might Mexico’s secondary school program adapt as the country begins to emphasize computers and the Internet in schools? Consider Using Television to Support TPD When… Minimum capacity and infrastructure requirements can be met, including: ■ Stable electricity is supplied to 90 percent of the area targeted ■ Design, production, and other technical skills are available ■ Committed long-term funding is at least equal to initial start-up and production costs ■ Government or commercial broadcasting networks are available, with satellite broadcasting available if rural areas are involved Problems to be addressed include: ■ A scarcity of qualified teachers, especially in rural areas ■ A large number of students who are are unschooled or receive inadequate teaching Program objectives include: ■ Changing teaching and learning throughout the entire system ■ Increasing teachers’ and students’ access to rich educational content WEB RESOURCE ■ Providing Teacher Training through Educational Television: The China Experience Yidan Wang provides an overview of the context, history, and impact of China’s use of in-service educational television to address the country’s high numbers of unaccredited and under-skilled teachers. http://pdf.dec.org/pdf_docs/PNACH453.pdf 52 Using Technology to Train Teachers TELEVISION IN TPD AT A GLANCE Roles in TPD & education Strengths Limitations Cost profile Other considerations • Addresses shortages of trained teachers • The medium is both powerful (moving • Visual medium does not guide • Fixed broadcast sched- • Per-student recurrent costs of large- • Primary means of delivering content images, audio, etc.) and familiar teacher through scripted, hands-on ule—can be augmented by scale programs are low—but low and concepts to students across the • Can be used to “bring” viewers to the classroom activities—unlike radio, taping recurrent costs have not ensured curriculum site of events and phenomena television promotes “watch and • Limited by access to electri- sustainability • Development of teacher skills and • Observing demonstrations of classroom learn,” not “do and learn” cal power • Funding may combine contribu- knowledge management and other teaching • High development costs may limit • Hardware costs for recep- tions from ministries of commu- • Provides views of real classroom prac- practices helps teachers implement new testing, review, and revision before tion (television, satellite nication, broadcast authorities, tices and learning activities techniques effectively programming is launched dish, cabling) and power commercial broadcasters, and • Provides teachers with learning • Potential to reach large populations of • Value of content may degrade over generation may be too others Lack of interactivity can resources that show distant places, students and teachers time—costs of revisions and new high for poor communities be addressed through a range graphical representations of concepts, • Addresses equity and access issues—al- programming are high; visual im- and schools High of affordable technologies—fax, historical events, etc. though access requires electrical power ages “show their age” production costs—often email, telephone “call-in” for- • Supports instructional continuity across • Broadcast airwaves are subject to US$1,000 per minute mats—and by incorporating wait grades and subjects political and economic events • Commercial broadcast time, discussion questions, and • Television production requires sophis- rates are very high facilitator directions into program- ticated skills and facilities • Local installation includes ming • Costs of production and airtime may cost of television, satellite • Impact is increased by teacher influence programming to reach dish (in rural locations) development, printed materials, audiences outside of schools school site visits and other means • Limited quantitative evidence of impact on teacher development Section 6. Technologies for Teacher Professional Development—Television . 53