Educational Broadcasting 2020

What point are you trying to make specifically?

AIUI a significant number - particularly those in vulnerable situations (bed and breakfast accommodation, temporary housing, sofa surfing etc.). There are 'hidden homeless' kids.

Plus those on very low incomes may not have the income to pay for broadband - either fixed or mobile, or data for their kids phones.

Yes - often times that's one of the things you DO get in a B&B room, temporary accommodation etc.

The BBC is covering everyone it can reasonably cover by making the content available both online and via broadcast outlets. Don't see the issue. Better than doing it on just one or the other - it's doing it on both.

https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/tech/bbc-bitesize-daily-to-be-filmed-in-virtual-studio-at-dock10/5148814.article

A few years ago I was involved in a debate about whether the internet is a luxury that people on benefits shouldn't have. Most people said yes, and that if people on benefits have the internet at home then the benefits are too generous. I wasn't quite so convinced and argued that the internet is more of a commodity like electricity than a luxury. I also raised the question whether a TV at home is also a luxury that people on benefits shouldn't have, as officially you need a TV licence to watch it.



Astute observation. However, many B&Bs nowadays offer Wi-Fi and some residents have smartphones tablets etc.



They also might not have the income to pay for a TV licence...



According to previous discussions, interest in educational programmes for children on TV Forum appears to be tepid.

Back in the days of BBC and ITV schools there were some children (or their parents) who would record certain schools programmes to watch at home, although at the time it was seen as a bit controversial as there was (and still may be) opinion that kids were only supposed to watch such programmes at school and not at home.

There doesn't appear to have been much research into children watching educational videos relating to school work at home. YouTube is awash with such videos and children definitely watch them. Many children learn better by watching videos than reading books or classroom education.

It is possible that coronavirus has resulted in the first time in history where children are officially expected to watch educational programmes relating to the school curriculum at home.

I don't get your point - the BBC is providing the content on both IP-based and DVB-based solutions - so the maximum number of people can watch. If they just provided it via broadband then those who don't have broadband (either for financial or practical reasons) would be excluded. If they just provided it via DVB, then those with just broadband would be excluded.

(Technically they'll need a TV Licence either way however they watch (the iPlayer not-live loophole went with the current charter) so it's cheaper to watch without broadband than with.)

Does anybody here have school age children? If so, then does anybody here normally home school them?

Filming is underway for Bitesize Daily. (see Karim Zeroual's Instagram story)

Back in 2016 I mentioned that during my childhood years I used to record any BBC and ITV schools programmes that appeared to be potentially interesting to watch at home. I also mentioned that, in the era before YouTube, I thought that there should have been a dedicated TV channel to show some of the schools programmes in after school hours and at weekends when more kids were available to watch them.

https://tvforum.uk/forums/post994138#post-994138

It resulted in a huge barrage of criticism.

A particularly caustic comment came from dbl

“I know people who are teachers and what you're suggesting in general is rather bizarre.”

I have previously worked as a teacher but dbl didn't appear to consider this possibility before coming out with their comment.

Another caustic comment came from bilky asko

“Children's educational programmes are hardly high culture. The sort of people who want their children to become cultured and intellectual aren't going to be sitting them in front of the TV in order to become that way.”

He utterly fails to realise that there are plenty of high quality educational videos around if he knows where to look. Did he even consider the possibility that the sort of parents who wanted their children to become cultured and intellectual back in the 1980s and 90s encouraged them to watch certain schools programmes at home?

Putting everything together raises the question at exactly what point in time did it become socially acceptable, or even normal, for kids to watch videos (regardless of where they originated from) relating to school subjects at home rather than at school? I was probably part of a minority of kids to watch schools programmes at home, although I know for sure that I was far from unique, but nowadays it's commonplace (and completely normal!!!) for kids to watch YouTube videos relating to school subjects at home in order to help with homework or revision for exams.

The BBC and ITV companies have shown 'soft' educational programmes as part of their repertoire of children's programmes for decades, but they never included anything directly relating to the school curriculum. BBC Learning Zone was created in 1997, but it was not specifically intended to deliver programmes for children to watch at home any more than the old BBC schools of the 1980s was. In 1998 BBC Bitesize was launched as a resource to specifically help children with schoolwork and revision for exams, despite only around 10% of families with school age children having the internet at home.

It's possible that Bitesize then later YouTube were game changers, but I can't help thinking that the most prominent factor is that parents, and even kids themselves, are more concerned and serious about education than their predecessors from the 1980s were.

We're in a pandemic and you've dragged up 4 year old comments to **prove** your point? I still stand by my comments.

CBBC aren't going to show educational programmes in the evening/weekends when kids just want to switch off and have fun, it's escapism. We have the internet for that.

Anyone would think the two Kudos I got for my comment back in 2016 counted for nothing.

I could quite see some of the secondary level content being more interesting to a general audience than the current daytime line up on mainstream channels.