Television As Tool For Students Education And Development In Nigeria

Broadcasting media particularly television is one of the major agents of socialization, education and mobilization in this contemporary society of ours where many youths are found of enjoying one activities or the other on television such as: sport, soap opera, eduTv like: Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Brain Test, Quiz T.V, take a step, reality shows among others. The core objective of the research is to investigate the role of broadcast media on youth development using Madona University students as a case study. Today education is not limited within teacher and classroom because broadcast media have proved that education is really comprehensive not confined within four walls of the classroom. However, for the purpose of this study, survey research method was employed while 200 copies of questionnaire were administered to 200 respondents that were drawn among Madona University students using probability sampling techniques. Data analysis for this study is the use of frequency and percentage with tables. Findings of the study have shown that television has gone a long way in improving and promoting education in Nigeria and throughout the world because of its unique advantage of audiovisual transmission.

Introduction

1.1 Background to the Study

The level of educational development of a region or a country is often measured by the general level of literacy of the entire populace and not the educational qualification of a certain group of members of that region or country. This is why government always aims at increasing the reading culture of its people even when a great percentage can very well read and write. In Nigeria for instance, millennial can access every kind of information they want on the internet and are very much exposed to world affairs on a daily speed so that it can be said that they can measure up with their counterparts of the rest of the developed and developing world.

However, the same cannot be said for other Nigerians of other generations who are not technologically savvy. Take the average American octogenarian who has the technological know-how to access the internet, use his mobile phone and an iPad. In this case the educational level is very high as the least exposed member of society is comfortably exposed and well educated and can keep up with changing times.

For this reason, educational development will not depend on reading and formal teaching alone. Educational contents are to be fused into the daily lives of people so that they unconsciously assimilate them. Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world" says Nelson Mandela. Education in its general sense is a form of learning in which the knowledge, skills and habits of a group of people are transferred from one generation to the next through teaching, training or research. Education frequently takes place under the guidance of others, but may also be autodidactic (a person who has learned something without a teacher or formal education; a self-taught person). Education is more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. It is one of the most important investments a country can make in its people and its future and is critical to reducing poverty and inequality. Any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts may be considered educational.

Education is commonly divided into stages such as preschool, primary school, secondary school and then college or university. Human development is partly a matter of people and communities improving their own lives and taking greater control of their destinies. Education is broadly used as an instrument for social change. The critical point of such belief can be traced far back to the 1960s when Theodre Schultz systematically articulated the human capital theory of development. In his voluminously printed works, Schultz argued that population quality and knowledge constitute the principal determinants of the future welfare of mankind (Schultz 1961).

Adding to this argument, Harbison and Hanushek (1992) contended that a country which is unable to develop the skills and knowledge of its people and to utilize them effectively in the national economy will be unable to develop anything else. Article 26 of the 1948 UN universal declaration of human rights declared that everyone has a right to education and that this education shall be free and compulsory. It went on to say that education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. If education is viewed as a human right, then it implies that education is for everybody in the society. The challenge towards this drive is how to indeed make education available to all and in good quality. As regard to the purpose of that education, this is all about the role of education in peoples" future"s lives. Education has a great significance for the economic social and cultural development. The aim of educational policy should therefore be to give every person a chance of developing his/her inherent potential. It is this kind of education which will bring about accelerated economic growth, more wealth and income, decline in population growth, national unity and political stability. Most people agree that every person has the right to an education. But investing in education is also the smart thing to do. Why? Because education gives people the skills they need to help themselves out of poverty and into prosperity. With education, people are better prepared to prevent disease and to use health services effectively. For example educated mothers have healthier children.

In many poor countries, with each additional year of schooling, people earn 10% higher wages. These earnings, in turn, contribute to national economic growth. No country has ever achieved continuous and rapid growth without reaching a high literacy rate of at least 40%. Education supports the growth of civil society, democracy, and political stability, allowing people to learn about their rights and acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to exercise them.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

With the changing and fast paced global world, formal and class educational settings are inadequate for people to grab the content of education with which they will live in a world that has turned to technology even up to the point of education and information dissemination. Government employs every means available in educating its citizens and keeping them ahead or at least at the same pace and apprised of changes in the world. One of such media used apart from direct formal teaching for educational development is the television. Television is the most powerful medium in the electronic media. It almost succeeded in quickening the pace of development and education. It has enormous strength to attract both literates and illiterates and has equal strength in effective communication. It can be said without any hesitation that television has greater influence on society. Such a powerful medium is being used in education for teaching and learning process. America has given more importance to education is evident from the fact that more than hundreds of channels exclusively meant for education are in operation. In Nigeria, the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), the states" television and the private television stations can reach all students within the country and beyond. But the problem associated with this sub-system is whether a separate channel will be assigned educational programmes be sandwiched with the regular existing channels. Or, to establish separate television houses for the purposes of education. Whichever alternative, disruptive problem of incessant power outages in the country will pose a limiting factor. Thus, while there is the prospect of using television to boost education in the country, there are many constraints surrounding the usage (Osuji, 1981:141; Akinyemi, 1986:96). E.g. is the "I need to Know" programme aired on AIT and other State Stations in Nigeria.This research will study the role of the television in educational development with Nigerian Television Authority Ibadan as a case study

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The study is guided by the following aims:

To determine the roles of television in educational development.

To identify the features that could aid educational development.

To determine methods for motivating young people to pay attention to educative television programmes.

1.4 Research Questions

What are the roles of television in educational development in Nigeria?

What are the features of television that help it in playing this educational developmental role?

How can it be increased in the face of increasing disinterestedness of the youth in national television programmes and channels?

1.5 Research Hypothesis

The study developed and formulated the following hypotheses:

H0: The television does not have a significant influence on the educational development of students.
H1: The television have a significant influence on the educational development of students.

H20: The television does not play a significant role in the educational development of students.
H21: The television plays a significant role in the educational development of students.

1.6 Significance of the Study

This research is of great significance to the producers of the Television programmes as it would help direct them towards the importance of their work to educational development of the general public. With this in mind they can better be equipped in developing the content they show on air, know the age ranges that benefits the most to their programmes and the ones that are put at a disadvantage which will consequently inform both their language of delivery and their censoring methods.

1.7 Scope of the Study

The scope of the study while focusing on the Ibadan channel of the Nigerian Television Authority, bases its research on the contents which affect the young and old generation simultaneously and the ones developed with an age range and gender in mind.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

Even though, as we implied earlier that it is very easy to pinpoint the impacts and roles of television on the educational development of the masses, however it is often difficult sifting through other factors that bear upon the educational development of the masses.This is one of the challenges of this research and while it serves as a motivation for it, it has been a limitation in that it in some ways reduces the reliability of our hypothesis.

1.9 Organization of the Study

The study is divided into five chapters. Chapter one deals with the study"s introduction and gives a background to the study. Chapter two reviews related and relevant literature. The chapter three gives the research methodology while the chapter four gives the study"s analysis and interpretation of data. The study concludes with chapter five which deals on the summary, conclusion and recommendation.

Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation

5.1 Introduction

It is important to reiterate that the objective of this study was examine television as a tool for students" education and development in Nigeria.

In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given.

In this chapter, certain recommendations are made which in the opinion of the researcher are drawn from the findings of the study.

5.2 Summary

This study was undertaken to examine television as a tool for students" education and the development in Nigeria. The study opened with chapter one where the statement of the problem was clearly defined. The study objectives and research hypotheses were defined and formulated respectively. The study reviewed related and relevant literatures. The chapter two gave the conceptual framework, empirical and theoretical studies. The third chapter described the methodology employed by the researcher in collecting both the primary and the secondary data. The research method employed here is the descriptive survey method. The study analyzed and presented the data collected in tables and tested the hypotheses using the chi-square statistical tool. While the fifth chapter gives the study summary and conclusion.

5.3 Conclusion

The following conclusions are made on findings and discussion of the study:

Since teachers have a positive attitude towards the use of the instructional television (ITV) it shows that if there are adequate facilities and the quality of programmes improved, the medium would be utilized more effectively.

Good operative educational materials and equipment that will achieve the aim and objectives of the use of ITV be sent to schools. In-services courses, seminars and workshops, updating the skills and knowledge on the use, and many advantages of the ITV and report funding should be carried out by the government, philanthropist, oil companies, well meaning bodies such as Parents" Teachers" Association (PTA), stakeholders etc.

Broadcasting As an Educational Delivery Tool

The potentials of broadcasting media as a powerful educational delivery tool is exemplified in its unique characteristics and advantages that differentiates it from similar electronic media. These are:

According to Dike (2012) broadcast media as educational delivery tool has the feature to distribute signal to several audiences who are located at different places at the same time.

It has the characteristic to present information and event with a sense of immediacy at the same time it is unfolding.

Broadcast media have universal value because they can break the barrier of literacy and social class, as their signals do not discriminate human beings on the basis of socio-economic and educational backgrounds.

In terms of flexibility, broadcast media allow different times to adapt to daily lifestyle of the audience/student so that learners can use them at their convenience.

They are useful in giving a sense of reality in subject content conceptualization. They provide necessary condition whereby students can capture and relay actualities and real life experiences with audio-visual equipment rather than just telling or describing them abstractly.

Broadcast media provide access to information at low cost, i.e. it is economical to convey knowledge, since a single teacher could teach millions of students simultaneously nationwide/globally.

Radio and TV sets are cheap, when compared to computer sets/systems and less cumbersome to handle worldwide. It helps to preserve expert teaching skills of teachers on video for later use.

Annaih (2012) observed that the use of radio and TV promotes developmental objectives and can be aired to enhance good quality education in literacy, problem solving, skill acquisition value, attitudes and other range of knowledge to a large section of the population.

According to Yusuf (2002) broadcast media have the capacity of presenting vividly physical teaching because of its audio-visual nature, thus have great direct and indirect influence on the audiences making learning livelier, more motivating, more concrete, more efficient and more effective.

Broadcast media provide possible close-up magnification of small objects. Components, intricate mechanisms, diagrams, and so on, give students a "front-row-sent" message. The forgoing characteristics and advantages may have been considered among other ways in making or formulating the National Policy of Education, (FRN, 2004) which highlighted that the broadcast media are a veritable instrument for the achievement of the national educational objectives, moreover it is claimed what follows: Radio and television are products of technological age, designed among other things, to improve communication. They are also being used for the development and improvement of education as well as for the expansion of instructional techniques, where the facilities exist, radio and TV broadcasting will form a permanent feature of the education system... (Abimbade, 2006, p. 31).

5.4 Recommendations

The study has clearly portrayed teachers recognition of the potential of the television for instructional purposes and their readiness to use it by their positive attitude toward its use and so the following recommendation are positive attitude toward its use and so the following recommendations are made:

According to Davis (2010) the "Television is a new and sophisticated technology. To prove useful, it has to be properly integrated within the educational system, which is old, traditional, closed, well guarded and very slow to accept innovations. It is with worth mentioning that in spite of the above comment, the television has gained great acceptance and therefore the government and other well meaning bodies should provide necessary fund and adequate facilities to see to its proper utilization in secondary schools.

There should be more emphasis on the use of ITV in schools both at the primary and post primary levels. So that students will be familiar with its use before they get to the secondary schools.

Television stations should be made to broadcast well planned and designed instructional lessons suitable to the learners" level of education and their local environment in designing lessons i.e. common examples from every-day life.

Teachers should be given pre-transmission so as to enable them prepare learners before broadcast.

Educational programmes should be aired the afternoons so as to be useful during formal time.

Speed of presentation and language use should be designed to suit learners.Videocassettes on different topics from different subject areas should be properly designed for school use.

Each school, should have resource centres with necessary gadgets were every classroom teacher can go and prepare video lesson etc. for individual class use i.e. CCTV (closed circuit television within a school).

In service courses, seminars, workshops etc are organized on regular basis for all categories of teachers to keep them abreast with new innovations in education specially pertaining to instructional design.

Regular needs analysis and evaluation should be carried out to remove obsolete instructional television programmes and replaced by new ones introduced by Professionals in such areas.

Educational technologist and technicians should be stationed in schools so as to maintain facilities.

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