Using TV to support learners in low and middle-income countries
Key findings
- Academic outcomes: studies suggest educational television can benefit children’s learning outcomes in core subjects.
- Socio-emotional outcomes: the literature indicates social reasoning skills and attitudes towards impairment could be improved by watching appropriate shows.
- Factors surrounding television viewing: this review looked at 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’s possible that exposure to educational content on multiple platforms can provide educational advantages over watching television alone. Further, children in low and middle-income countries (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 this area is required.
