Creating a Learning Culture in Rural Schools via Educational Satellite TV Broadcasts

This 19-page evaluation looks at the benefits, as perceived by teachers and by learners, of tele-education for schools participating in TeleTuks, a programme of the University of Pretoria, South Africa that broadcasts educational programmes to schools. In short, the evaluation finds that satellite TV is an effective strategy for supplementing classroom education by fostering an interactive learning culture, although it has not been utilised and implemented widely enough. According to researchers, in the long term, if proven successful, satellite services can eventually contribute to best practices guidelines and the alleviation of the critical education situation in the country.

The document provides background to contextualise this project, and this study. Namely, in 1999 the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) undertook a case study by carrying out fieldwork at randomly selected schools with access to TeleTuks in the Northern Province (Limpopo). The study summarised here was a follow-up to that study, and involved interviews with pupils and teachers in the schools in order to:

• monitor the success of the satellite service in its contribution to interactive and participatory learning; and
• determine the perception that teachers and learners had of the benefits and problems with regard to the satellite services.

Specifically, focusing on the TeleTuks educational initiative as it is carried out in certain rural schools of the Northern (Limpopo) Province, the study asks the following questions:

• How effective is this initiative perceived to be by the local users of the broadcasts?
• To what extent are schools able to participate in the various information and communication technology (ICT)-related options available?
• In what way are participating schools perceived (by teachers and by learners) to be benefiting from the initiative?
• What problems are being experienced by participating schools?

Fieldwork was carried out in October 2000 at 9 schools that had access to TeleTuks broadcasts. These schools had regular access to various channels, but most had only the bare necessities needed in order to participate and access the programmes. Three schools had telephone links that added an element of interactivity to the satellite broadcasts; the rest had one-way broadcast only. Two questionnaires were developed, one of which was designed for teachers/administrators and the other of which was geared toward learners. The learners’ questionnaire asked more personal questions regarding viewing patterns, while the teachers' questionnaire was more focused on the viewing patterns of the school as such. Both questionnaires featured questions on possible educational benefits, non-educational benefits and attitude towards the TeleTuks broadcasts. The questionnaire for teachers also had questions on statistics with regard to the success of the broadcasts.

The study evaluates the technical expertise and technical training opportunities that were available at participating schools, the attendance patterns of schools, the benefit of the broadcasts (as experienced by learners and teachers, direct and indirect), and problems experienced with the broadcasts. The paper ends with conclusions and recommendations; below is an excerpt from this section:

"The most prevalent educational benefit of satellite TV education seems to be the fostering of a positive and interactive learning culture. In addition to educational benefits, satellite TV education was also perceived to contribute to non-educational benefits such as improvement in technology proficiency, an opportunity for learners to become part of a virtual environment, improvement in general knowledge, the development of creativity and an entrepreneurial orientation, improvement in communication and presentation skills of both learners and teachers, an improvement in self-confidence, career guidance, and inter alia, an awareness of HIV and AIDS.

Although the potential is there to give everyone the opportunity to gain access to quality education, it has not been utilised and implemented wide enough in order to reach all disadvantaged communities....[T]he Department of Education should address the deplorable structural conditions in the rural schools. Equipment, for one, should be improved at schools to especially increase interaction and feedback opportunities. The attendance rate could increase with the provision of adequate equipment, as the attitude of both teachers and learners are positive....With better equipment, schools could provide opportunities for creating learning environments that extend the possibilities of old technologies (such as books, blackboards) and teacher-centred approaches that emphasise rote learning by individual students. However, academic achievement is only optimised if inquiry skills are developed through feedback, repetition of experiments under different controlling factors and at students own pace via computer assisted learning. The integration of computer assisted learning into existing curriculum of heterogeneous classes, in which learners are even at different cognitive stages, holds a promise to improve their academic achievement and their motivation. New technologies can bring exciting curricula based on real-world problems into the classroom. They could also serve as vehicles to enhance learning, enhance feedback, build global communities, and expand opportunities for teacher learning."