Joe Watson and Nora McIntyre
Summary
This rapid evidence review (RER) gives an overview of the recent literature concerning how the use of educational television might support children’s learning in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In this review, educational television is defined as television designed with research-based knowledge of how children use and understand television that systematically incorporates academic or social curricula into its content. In low-income contexts, educational television material could be delivered through videos played in schools that are supported by corresponding teacher guidance (e.g. the Mexican school-based Telesecundaria programme), or broadcast on public channels (e.g. the Tanzanian animation, Ubongo Kids). As such, certain educational television projects are capable of functioning even in circumstances where access to formal schooling facilities is restricted. This review therefore provides information that is particularly valuable in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This RER began with a semi-structured search of the academic literature. Literature searching was conducted in a focused manner to ensure that those responsible for Covid-19 response strategies received relevant information in a timely fashion (see methodology). All literature identified through this search that was retained for analysis was: relevant to educational television use, concerned children between 3 and 18 years, and published in the past 20 years. Further, the majority of this literature came from LMICs. These inclusion criteria are provided below (see Literature searching approach and eligibility criteria).
The selected educational television-focused literature was thematically analysed, leading to four core findings:
- Academic outcomes. The studies suggest that educational television can benefit children’s learning outcomes in core subjects.
- Socio-emotional outcomes. The literature indicates that both social reasoning skills and attitudes towards impairment could be improved by watching appropriate shows.
- Factors surrounding television viewing. This review examined the social context of watching television and viewing television-based content on multiple media platforms (or multi-platform viewing). The limited material published on this suggests it is possible that exposure to educational content on multiple platforms can provide educational advantages over watching television alone. Further, children in LMICs frequently watch shows with others, a practice called co-viewing. Co-viewing could provide both direct and indirect benefits when co-viewers are engaged (involved in commenting on, judging and explaining television content).
- Access and cost effectiveness. The evidence suggests that access to educational television content is relatively high in LMICs. Research also indicates that television interventions can provide a cost-effective approach to raising learning outcomes, although further investigation in