Abstract

Media has opened new dimensions in learning. Now education is no longer a constraint for anyone. Media
has brought education to the doorstep of each and every individual. All forms of media- the newspaper,
radio, television and the internet are equally important in imparting education. As the technology is
progressing, the different educational modules are being channeled through certain community access
centers like community radio system, televisions, internet, community multi-media centers etc. Media
literacy or education does not only mean to be entertained by media but to learn something from it. As a
major part of the learning process is concentrated on children, media plays a significant role to satisfy their
intellectual curiosity. Children often learn important things through the media, which change their
perspective to life. Moreover, radio has now started to enter into the educational sector commonly known as
Community Radio System, which indirectly forms the part of e-learning process. Computer-based education
has transformed the traditional offerings of distance learning. This medium of education converts the
traditional static resources into interactive and interesting online modules for the learners. The primary
motive of the Interactive Learning Modules is to create modular interactive learning materials for the
development of education and to demonstrate their effectiveness in university curricula as well as industrial
training programs. Interactive Learning Modules, which is another form of media, serves the purpose of both
the technical and management corporate trainee people along with the people with learning disabilities. The
main aim of this article is to focus on the positive effects of media on learning and how different forms of
media have contributed to the development of mankind.

Media and learning: New dimensions

Author: Bipasha Chowdhury
Introduction:

Media is everywhere; it has become a part of our daily life. The media plays a dominant role in the learning
process. Its impact is vast in shaping the life of an individual. Media has the potential to shape personalities,
change the way we perceive and understand the world and our immediate reality. Though we know that all
good things have both good and bad effects, likewise, media too have some positive and negative effects.
Moreover, we have seen that a large number of people depend on the internet to collect information, read
news, listen to music and download movies, play games and also for work. Newspaper, Radio, Television
and the internet- all form part of the media and are important in imparting education. Media offers culture,
sports, information, entertainment, current affairs and education. Sometimes the impact of media is very
high. For example, children love to watch the superheroes and sometimes try to copy their actions while
playing. On the other hand, the impact may not be so vast or immediate. It happens gradually as children
see and hear certain messages repeatedly. Some of the devastating advertisements include: Fighting and
unnecessary quarrel, cigarettes and alcohol being shown as the symbol of heroism, style and attractive, but
not deadly and unhealthy. Moreover, violation of laws is shown as a means to gain justice and sexual action
with no negative results, such as disease or unintended pregnancy. In recent years, the impact of media on
teaching and learning has increased tremendously. New opportunities are being provided to give a techno-
touch to the traditional educational process and system. As the society is becoming media-savvy day by
day, the educational modules are being channeled through certain community access centers like
community radio system, televisions, internet, community multi-media centers etc.

Media and Children:

Media Literacy: "the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and communicate information in a variety of
formats." —David Considine 
The role of media in imparting education is increasingly on the rise. Media surrounds us and is present in
everything. This phenomenon has made learning easier and interesting for children. Television, radio, and
computers are gradually entering classrooms and changing the way of learning. With the onset of new
technologies and the emerging trends in the global economy, the present day education is changing.
Therefore, there is a need to educate ourselves with the emerging wave of technology. It is well known that
by learning to read and write, we can be called literate. Similarly, in the 21st century, by gaining knowledge
about the different aspects of media, we can also be called media literate, although there are both positive
and negative sides of it. Therefore, as we are adopting the good from it, the bad should be avoided. The
negative messages could be avoided by developing the skills of questioning, evaluating and analyzing them.
This can be called media literacy or media education.
Media literacy or education does not mean to know about media but to learn something from it. Moreover,
we find the subjects that we learn in our curricula are also found in media. They may be related to arts,
science, different languages, social sciences and health. It also helps to develop critical thinking skills. The
students can get a vast exposure to the pop-cultural references. They can get statistics and data from the
news, which can be the basis for math and science learning. The teachers can also incorporate media
analysis whenever the Internet, television or video are used in the classroom.
The impact of media is vast on children and even on the adults. The intellectual curiosity of a child is
satisfied by media literacy. At present, in order to exist in the competitive market, there is always a need to
equip oneself with better knowledge and analytical skill. Apart from books, television also helps to improve
the Intelligent Quotient and General Knowledge of every section of the society, particularly the children.
Media education skills develop the children’s thinking and analyzing power, which in turn, inspires them to
make queries and think about the media messages they watch, hear and read. As a child tries to critically
analyze the things he reads, likewise he tries to do the same with sounds, actions, moving pictures etc.
There are numerous benefits of media on children. The first and foremost effect of media is definitely the
accumulation of General knowledge, different dialects and cultures. Television boosts the social awareness of
a child to a great extent. Sports channels develop the logical mindset of a child. Cartoon channels keep the
children happy. News channels increase the vocabulary of the children and inform them about the positive
and negative impacts on the society. It increases the concentration and retention power of a child, which
benefits their studies to a great extent. 
There are also negative effects of media on children. Children often learn certain things, which change their
perspective towards life. For example, if they watch violent scenes on TV, their nature tends to be the same.
There are many incidents where children try to imitate the super heroes and it results in death. Studies
often get hampered and lapse of concentration occurs due to excessive watching of television. The
advertisements shown in the media often captures the mood of the individuals. Generally, girls are very
vulnerable and sensitive about their physical image. When an adolescent girl watches the ads that show
unless we buy a product or carry the style statement or wash our hair with a specific shampoo and look
smart like a slim model, we don’t get respect in the society or get a job. These messages attack our self-
esteem and create a negative impact on a child. Two Studies conducted by the South Australia’s Flinders
University have revealed that “television advertising featuring idealised thinness negatively affected both the
mood and the body image of adolescent girls, with those in the 13 - 15 year age group being more
affected”. 
On the whole, media has made a tremendous impact on children. Compared to the positive impact, the
negative impact is too negligible. The craze of media is such that no one can escape its vibe-be it the adult
or youth.
Effect of Community Radio on Education:
Radio has now started to enter into the education sector with the name of Community Radio System. The
term Community Radio signifies radio broadcasting with the objective of serving the community by involving
members of the community in the broadcast of their programmes. It will help the students to hone their
public speaking skills. Though the concept of teaching through radio or television is quite new, but some
media or production companies have come forward with such kind of proposals. 
Certain questions may crop up about the validity of the relation between radio and learning. The readers
may also ask whether the community radio is performing any tasks of e-Learning. If learning is universal
and ‘e’ is used for ‘electronic’, then why can’t the verbal knowledge spread through electronic media like
community radio as a part of ‘e-Learning’? The advantage of a community radio is that any listener within
the range of five to ten kilometers can tune in the radio channel. Community radio is helpful enough for
people of the poor and developing countries and even for people living in rural areas without basic amenities
like electricity, satellite television, internet etc.
In India, the non-commercial organizations were not allowed to run radio stations. The private organizations
with good financial background like Radio Mirchi, Red FM, Big FM, Radio city and educational institutions only
get broadcasting licenses. This distinction is little reduced with the Cabinet decision. This move has triggered
modest celebrations among a number of community radio, NGOs and broadcast professionals. A number of
broadcasting organizations have moved forward to introduce community radio in schools and colleges. With
the introduction of this technology, quite a few civil society organizations have come forward to broadcast
their educative radio programming over AIR. 
Webel Mediatronics, a profit making company, engaged in the development, manufacturing and in the areas
of Studio and Broadcasting Systems, Industrial Electronics, Information Technology Applications and various
systems for the disabled has come up with the idea of introducing radio in schools. It has already given
offers to two schools-Heritage school and GD Birla Center for Education. If the offer is accepted, Webel feels,
the radio system can make teenagers conversant with public speaking. According to Gautam Burman, Chief
Executive Officer of Webel Mediatronics, “Schools feel that perfection in public speaking can only be
achieved through practice. The community radio system will give students the opportunity to develop their
communication skills and expand their knowledge base”. 
This community radio can also help to organize counseling sessions, prior to any board or entrance
examinations. Moreover, this kind of radio will help students to revise their classroom teaching, which they
may forget. The health and hygiene issues can be addressed; lifestyle problems can also be solved though
these programmes and even an awareness campaign by experts on HIV/AIDS can be transmitted. CRS can
also help to notify parents about important announcements of schools. Burman added that “Often after
exams, students seek informations in scholarships and admissions in other universities or courses. All such
queries can be clarified through community radio. Eminent educationists can be invited to the studio to
deliver lectures. Radio browsing will soon become popular among Gen Y”. Any listener within the range of
five to ten kilometers can tune into the radio channel of the schools. It can also familiarize the local students
with the similar syllabus of the other schools. There are schools that have allocated a budget of Rs.1 crore
for students’ development programmes in the next few years by incorporating Radio programmes.
The impact of community radio is massive and its impact is felt on every section of the society. With the
passage of time everyone has learnt to acknowledge its positive impact on individuals. 
Effects of Media Boom on distance education:
Distance education is often defined as "institution-based, formal education where the learning group is
separate, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and
instructors" (Schlosser and Simonson, 2002). 

The original distance education by correspondence has been upgraded by twenty-first century technology.
Distance education has vastly benefited from the media boom with telecasts and broadcasts limiting the
dependence on the written word. In the past, distance education was primarily delivered through mail and
was called correspondence courses. The medium of instruction was mainly through books, paper documents
and other printed materials. Contrary to classroom learning, instructions provided by professors or teachers
were delivered in print to the learners who didn’t have the opportunity to have interactive classes. Queries
and notes were interchanged between teachers and students and vice versa. But now the trend is fully
replaced by colourful computer-based graphic resources. Computer-based education has changed the
traditional offerings of correspondence education. This medium of education converts the traditional static
resources into interactive and interesting online modules for the learners. Moreover, online-learning retains
most of the characteristics of the classical form of distance learning, while offering more sophisticated
learning materials at a much reduced rate.

At present, the concept of distance education with the help of media has gained wide popularity. The media
boom with telecasts and broadcasts has to a large extent limited the dependence on the written word.
Moreover, with the emergence of the Internet as a global media, the concept of distance learning has been
revolutionized. From the age old days, distance learning was mainly provided through correspondence. But
the introduction of the internet has changed the concept of distance learning to a great extent. At present,
distance learning programmes are increasingly being delivered through computer technologies but the
traditional media is not totally obsolete as it helps in effective learning. We can define quality online
education as a people-oriented, instructor-led activity, where the level of communication should be
comparable with on-campus education. Due to the connectivity of the internet, distance education is often
called online learning because the Internet-connected computers bring the teacher and learner face to face,
which substitutes/replaces classroom learning. Moreover, the Internet has also facilitated the students to
study online from any location and at any convenient time. 

There are numerous factors which have contributed to the increasing popularity of the distance education
through media. With the introduction of online learning in universities, distance learning has gained
immense importance. Online learning has assumed the role of an important media for imparting distance
education. It also went to the extent of providing quality online courses which have become almost
comparable to the traditional classroom learning. Now students can get access to a broad spectrum of
disciplines from any location. With the mingling of online learning and distance education, education is no
longer a constraint for any class of the society.

Distance education can also be termed as Interactive Telecommunications system. Interactive

telecommunications systems broadly mean that the instructors and the learners use a variety of
technological resources while teaching and learning from a distance. Now-a-days, many universities have
come up with the idea of transferring its on-campus learning into online learning. 

Now-a-days, we see an excessive use of media in education. Media has made its presence felt everywhere,
be it by television, radio or computers, the most popular medium of imparting education. Unlike the past,
education and examination is no longer monotonous. With the introduction of media, education has assumed
a different role. Now-a-days, we can see that before the board exams or any competitive exams, different
medias like television, radio etc. come out with different education-related programmes to help students to
deal with their study materials. These media channels rope in different intellectuals, professors and teachers
of different institutions to guide the students with their valuable suggestions and give them necessary moral
boost to cope up with their burden of studies. 

The most important advantage of online distance education is to earn a degree from one's home or
workplace. In traditional distance learning, interaction is limited to a certain point and feedback from the
other side is often delayed because of slow postal systems. It has helped a large number of people to pursue
education, who don’t even have the time to enroll for regular courses. Moreover, it is usually easier and less
competitive to obtain admission for the online courses. Moreover, in case of online distance courses,
learning is more fun and interactive. It is also flexible. It is possible to incorporate charts, maps, graphs,
moving images, slides, video clippings and even audio recordings with the course material. It helps to
understand the entire syllabus without the help of a teacher. The students are able to interact with their
peers through online class projects, e-mails and also with the help of online conferencing. This interaction
with the help of media using e-mail, conference calls and chat makes learning easier and entertaining. It
substitutes the face-to-face experiences of traditional learning. The availability of online libraries with their
huge collection of books has also made the learning process easier and worthwhile. Speaking about the
economic side of online distance learning, it is seen that most of the time, the expense of a regular course is
much higher than the online courses. The media-related online distance learning is relatively economical
than the traditional class-room learning. Nevertheless, keeping in mind its positive effects on individuals,
these computer-based distance education continues to grow. 

Role of Interactive Learning Module in Education:

Interactive Learning module is another form of online distance education. The main idea of interactive
learning is to provide educational guide through on-line education. In this module, support learning is
available on a 24/7 clock and delivered from class-room to anywhere and at anytime. The Interactive
Learning module generally engages the learner and the teacher in effective instructional communication
without disturbing the interaction. Interactive learning modules developed by corporate media companies
are becoming increasingly popular. Now-a-days, the Interactive Learning Module materials are used in
management courses, undergraduate and graduate engineering courses, as well as technical and
management corporate training programs. The prime aim of the Interactive Learning Modules is to create
modular interactive learning materials for the development of education and to demonstrate their
effectiveness in university curricula as well as industrial training programs. Thus, the acquaintance of
knowledge is maximized through the advent of Interactive Learning Module.
Now-a-days, we have seen that interactive learning modules developed by different corporate media
companies are becoming increasingly popular. Witnessing the importance of Internet, innumerable training
players are offering their training online. These modules are helpful to provide value-added services and
equip professionals to work in a dynamic and competitive environment. Interactive design tools help the
learners to explore the activities of product development and emphasize on the integration of design,
manufacturing and marketing concepts. Moreover, interactive learning provides solutions for evaluating and
monitoring of the learner’s progress.

Like most of the media houses, ZEE has also come up with the concept of online education, which they
named as ZEE Interactive Learning Systems (ZILS). ZILS generally provides its online courses through a
Learning Management System. According to Rajendra Raju, executive vice president, corporate services of
ZEE Interactive Learning Systems, “this offering not only facilitates in Synchronous and Asynchronous
learning but also provides Customized Training Solutions based on individual needs and access to rich
resources and expert support”. Apart from ZEE, another company which came forward for making faster its
training market is Xansa Websity (formerly known as IIS Websity). It planned to focus on the
corporate IT training market through its Learning Management System called the ‘Quality Learning System’
(QLS). Apart from ZEE and Xansa, Oracle also thought of introducing an e-learning methodology for its
existing and future courses through the Oracle Learning Network (OLN). According to SV Krishna, head-Asia
Pacific division, Oracle OU, “The purpose is to disseminate information anytime, anywhere and help in
providing to those who are really in need of it. On OLN, one is learning from Oracle and with Oracle. The
corporates can choose their specialized module, rather than undertaking the whole course. And the whole
offering becomes more customized”. 

Interactive Learning Modules are designed not only for the technical and management corporate trainee
people but also for the people with learning disabilities. With the advent of technology, physical barriers are
no longer a constraint for leading a normal life. Technology can abate any learning disabilities. It can also
make learning accessible for the people with disabilities. Interactive Learning Modules are particularly helpful
to people with learning disabilities.

With the transformation of a new era, we have seen that the concept of E-learning, supported by the web-
based learning environments. This could help people with learning disabilities or social difficulties to adjust
with normal contemporary life and knowledge-based curricula. Till now, the society and the media have not
thought about the impact of computers on the lives of the disabled in general and the visually-challenged in
specific. Special schools were built for their education. But the federal ‘Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act’ (IDEA) made it mandatory for the schools to educate children with disabilities in general classrooms. 

The Interactive Learning Guide for the disabled, coupled with the application of technology in education
provides better understanding of theories, their applications and identification of alternate solutions for
them. This advanced type of learning for the disabled has helped them to get over their weaknesses and
start a new life afresh with better knowledge as their strength. A teacher, principal, specialist or a
paraprofessional can help a child with learning disability to achieve full potential by helping them to adapt
the online interactive education guide. Therefore, education is no longer restricted to the normal persons,
but it has crossed the barriers and enlightened the life of every individual irrespective of their disability.

From the above inferences, we can rightly conclude that the effect of media is vast on the life of each and
every individual. With the on-going development of information and technology in the society, media has
given particular attention to the need of education and cultural diversity and promoted media consciousness
among individuals. Media has entered in every sections of our daily life- be it in education, news,
entertainment, culture, sports, etc. Last but not the least, media has opened a new dimension and gave a
new meaning to education. Education has become more entertaining like never before.

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