Impact of educational radio and television on socio-cultural development in India.

 

Introduction

Technology has the power to affect not only education but also culture, religion and personal thoughts and beliefs. While the world population is continually growing, our global world seems to be getting smaller as we are able to connect to people in a way that was never imagined. Radio and television were among the early contributors to this new form of mass media and played a role in affecting world political views and religious beliefs as well as changing how we view literacy in an educational setting. While these technologies started off as a form of entertainment, people quickly began to see the advancements and benefits that these technologies could bring to an educational setting. As with any new technology, the use of radio and television in the classroom faced resistance and limitations that set a pattern for inclusion of advancements even in today’s educational world.

Radio. 📻  

Radio broadcasting is one of the greatest educational tools which has ever been placed at the disposal of civilized man. It is an instantaneous, universal means of communication. It is not a new art, but is a means of multiplying the efficiency of oral communication just as the printing press multiplied the effectiveness of the written word. In addition to that, it has certain decided advantages over the printed page which it in part supplants and in part supplements.

Radio became a vital link to information and had the power to influence people’s opinions in a way that had never been seen before. People could find out what was happening in the world quickly after it happened and it was much faster than waiting for the newspapers to print a story. The invention of the radio also had an effect on religion as religious broadcasting was born. Benjamin Armstrong, former president of the National Religious Broadcasters, described radio and other electronic media as the “new Pentecost that communicates religious belief directly to the homes and hearts of individual listeners and viewers” 

Radio allowed information to be distributed to a much larger audience. Radio as an educational tool became popular and many studies proved its effectiveness, especially in the area of distance education. It was the hope that “competent and imaginative teachers in any community can and do use teaching aids such as school broadcasts to stimulate and vivify the classroom experiences of youngsters”

Radio allows people to listen to regular broadcasts of news material on current affairs. There is constant communication on politics, sports, business and weather news that keep the society informed. People tune in to radio stations to listen to breaking news, state addresses and commentaries on different topics affecting the society.

Just like radio, the introduction of audiovisual education came with its fair share of issues. During the 1920’s there were two emerging sides to the audiovisual educational debate.Furthermore, television and other technological advancements have brought about many changes in social and economical developments. 

Television 📺 has been given considerable importance in many countries as a source and a tool of teaching .Importance of television to communicate information, idea, skills and attitudes has been affirmed by researches.

If media is to work as an effective teaching tool then certainly it is helping hand towards, achieving the aim and objectives of education.  Media is an agent of boost cultural economic and social development activity.  Television, as an important mass medium disseminates education through formal and information methods.

Television also continues to benefit the masses by making them conscious of the environment, rights, duties and privilege.  It is a source of teaching etiquettes, language skills, hobbies, social relations and religious believes.

Role of television is neither fixed nor easily tangible and measurable. The role is directly related to the question of how the planners are serious and determined to use television.  The role could either be enormous or, on the contrary very meager depending upon the specific tasks and available resources.  Generally television can help to achieve the following objectives:

a)        Social quality in education

b)        Enhance quality in education

c)         Reduce dependency on verbal teaching and teachers

d)        Provide flexibility of time and space in learning.

e)        Stimulates learning

f)         Provide mass education opportunities. As far the impact of education television it should rather be studied in more narrow and specific areas.  In the world of scram; TV is more effective in teaching mathematic, science and social studies. In recent years, communication scholars have developed a variety of theoretical approaches to define this enlarged communication sphere. Proponents of Western cultural imperialism believe that globalisation leads to homogenisation and that it is aimed at bringing cultural uniformity throughout the world. Marshall McLuhan was one of the first scholars to address the shrinking of the world as a consequence of electronic communications. He labelled the world as a “global village’ India provides transnational media corporations with unrivalled opportunities — it is one of the fastest growing and potentially one of the biggest English language media software markets in the world. An established satellite network provides cheaper and quicker nationwide coverage of broadcasting in a continental-size country, while the diversity of cultures in India means that demand for a wide array of satellite channels, catering to different languages and tastes, is even stronger than in Europe or the USA.

In the social aspects of television, several studies have found that educational television has many advantages. The Good Things about Television, that television can be a very powerful and effective learning tool for children if used wisely. The article states that television can help young people discover where they fit into society, develop closer relationships with peers and family, and teach them to understand complex social aspects of communication.

In this way educational radio and television played an important role on developments of social and cultural behavior of people in India .

               By -Neethish Krupal