This paper traces the development of the BBC Learning English [http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/] online community, focusing on tools such as e-mail discussion lists, message boards, comments boards, student/teacher blogs, competitions, and voting. It describes how relationships between the intermediate level users of all…

"Makgabaneng" is an entertainment-education radio serial drama written and produced in Botswana to promote prevention of HIV. This effort is part of the national response to HIV/AIDS. Broadcast of the serial drama began in August 2001, and two new 15-minute episodes air each week. We examined associations between exposure to…

Talk-radio podcasts, such as "Absolutely Intercultural," which are not overtly pedagogical, can be much more than passive, extended listening practice. This paper describes two examples in which teachers have used the "Absolutely Intercultural" podcast and discusses the different levels of involvement possible with podcasts from listening to…

For nearly four decades, Sesame Workshop has brought the joy of learning to the world's youngest citizens through the introduction of locally-produced coproductions of the preschool television series, "Sesame Street". Many of these television shows have been specifically designed to forward important prosocial messages directly linked to…

Finds that nature as a theme is completely absent in 80% and the outstanding theme in only 1.7% of television programming; not only less frequent, but separate from the dominant themes in prime-time; and treated as a sociopolitical "issue" (like "politics,""science,""religion," and "education").…

College students exhibited impulsivity if, in the first of 2 sessions, they consistently chose an immediate, small reinforcer (15-s cartoon video followed by 75 s of waiting) over a delayed, large reinforcer (55-s prereinforcer delay, 25-s video, 10 additional s of waiting), or self-control if they showed the opposite preference. Previously,…

From 1942 to 1958, a national weekly programme on CBS radio and presented by Science Service, Inc. devoted 37 of its broadcasts to profiling American high school students' achievements in science talent searches, clubs and fairs. These "Adventures in Science" radio programmes cast scientifically talented youth as potential contributors to national…

This longitudinal study explored the long-term effects of television viewing on the development of children's reading competencies. Among 2 cohorts of German children (N[subscript 1] = 165, N[subscript 2] = 167), measures of television viewing were collected over 4 years, and tests of reading speed and reading comprehension were administered…

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…

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been progressing over the past 5 years toward the institution of Direct Broadcast Satellite Radio (DBS-R) which would institute a new type of radio service. The FCC refers to the service as Satellite DARS (Digital Audio Radio Service), and it would provide reliable, high-fidelity satellite-delivered…

This paper is an initial examination of prime time television's response to the events of September 11, 2001. Based on a review of the 2001-2002 television season's prime time programs, the study identifies 15 programs (out of 65 that ran the entire season) that incorporated September 11th elements. Themes of these programs are discussed as are…

States that contrary to previous reports of "grazing," most viewers only used their remote control devices (RCDs) once or twice every half hour. Claims that the dominant RCD operation was direct channel punching, as opposed to dial turning. Concludes that most RCD activity did not take place during a program, thus voiding industry…

Caught by a fingerprint - or is it an animal track? This paper suggests investigating with these science projects for Earth Day. Students love spy mysteries, and the popularity of TV shows such as CSI and Unsolved Mysteries indicates the fascination is not only limited to our students. Why not capture this fascination for your science classroom.…

Concern has been expressed that negative attitudes toward people with mental illnesses begin to develop early in childhood. This study examines one of the possible sources of learning of such negative attitudes--children's television programs. Two hundred sixty-nine (269) hours of children's television programming were videotaped, viewed, and…

Shortly after the first commercial radio broadcast in 1920, the medium's popularity exploded and the number of stations on the dial grew tremendously. By 1930, however, a mere 10 years after the first radio broadcast occurred, the industry was dominated by large, commercial stations who sold advertising time in a variety of forms and were operated…