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Using Interactive Digital Television toSupport Basic Skills LearnersMatthew Love a & Sheena Banks ba Sheffield Hallam University,b Sheffield University , UKPublished online: 07 Jul 2006.

To cite this article: Matthew Love & Sheena Banks (2001) Using Interactive DigitalTelevision to Support Basic Skills Learners, Journal of Educational Media, 26:1, 35-48, DOI:10.1080/1358165010260104

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Journal of Educational Media, Vol. 26, No. 1, 2001

Using Interactive DigitalTelevision to Support BasicSkills LearnersMATTHEW LOVE1 & SHEENA BANKS2

1Sheffield Hallam University, and 2Sheffield University, UK

ABSTRACT This paper outlines why television, and especially interactive digital television,is an effective medium for reaching people with basic skill learning needs. It describes theUpgrade2000 project, which developed a series of interactive television programmes for usein the home, workplace and training environments, together with a supportive learningsurround. The programmes are being broadcast under the series title Give It A Go! Thepaper particularly focuses on: emerging digital television technologies; the project's frame-work for structuring learning content; the potential for using digital interactive television ineducation, highlighting opportunities and constraints.

Introduction

Around one in six of European adults has difficulties with basic literacy, numeracyor communications. They would struggle to find a plumber in a Yellow Pages(Trader Pages) directory, or could not calculate how much change they were dueafter a simple purchase, for example. The figures vary (from Sweden 7% to Ireland24%) but even the Swedish figure represents 400,000 people. The figure for theUSA is 22%.

Adults with basic skills difficulties face a bleak future. For example, in the UKthey are five times more likely to be unemployed, the employment they do find istwice as likely to be officially classified as lowly paid, and few will return to theeducation system: at any time only 5% of the estimated seven million UK adultswith Basic Skills problems currently receive formal assistance (all figures derivedfrom Department for Education and Employment, 1999).

No country has found an effective way to attract Basic Skills learners back toformal learning opportunities. Many people have bad memories of their schoolingand believe that adult education will just repeat their cycle of failure. Television,though, offers a different means of introducing learning opportunities to potentialstudents. Previous research has shown that the Basic Skills population watches more

ISSN 1358-1651 (print)/ISSN 1469-9443 (online)/01/010035-14©2000 Taylor & Francis LtdDOI: 10.1080/13581650120072162

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hours of television than the average viewer, and that their households have beenamongst the early adopters of subscription-based multi-channel satellite and cableservices (Basic Skills Agency).

Recent experience provides evidence that television can motivate Basic Skillslearners into action. For example, in 1999 Channel 4 (a free-to-view station in theUK) included into Brookside, a popular soap programme, a storyline in which one ofthe characters faced up to and overcame Basic Skills problems. It then broadcast thecontact details of LearnDirect, the state-financed e-learning/local learning centreumbrella organisation. LearnDirect reported taking over 10,000 enquiries for furtherinformation.

The Brookside example was a conventional TV programme that offered links toexternal support agencies. In this paper we discuss digital television technology andpresent a categorisation of the types of interactivity that digital television can offer.We then describe the design principles and design structures the Upgrade2000project developed for the creation of a series of interactive programmes specificallydesigned for Basic Skills learners. Finally, we present a number of conclusionsdrawn from our experience.

What is Digital Television?

In very many countries at present, most television still uses analogue broadcasts.This is where image and audio signals are transmitted more or less in proportion tothe levels they are to be displayed/played on the television receiver. However, ifbroadcasters install (costly) encoding equipment and consumers install either digitaltelevisions or plug their existing television sets into Set Top Boxes (STBs), thesignals can be sent digitally, which makes far more efficient use of the limitedelectromagnetic spectrum allocated by governments for television broadcasting.

This extra efficiency can be employed in two ways: either transmit the samenumber of television channels but vastly increase the signal content and henceincrease the reception quality (in general terms, the USA approach), or keepapproximately the same quality and increase the number of broadcast channels (ingeneral terms, the rest of the world approach).

In the USA, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has stated thatthe top 40 free-to-view broadcast channels must adopt the High Definition Tele-vision (HDTV) standard by year 2003. All others must do so by 2006. HDTV willgive viewers superb image resolution on screens of movie-film proportions (notdimensions!), which better matches the human eye's field of vision. It also has'surround-sound' based on six audio channels.

To see and hear this quality, households must purchase a new HDTV-formattelevision set and where necessary install a new aerial to receive signals fromland-based transmitters. In parts of the USA these aerials will have to be over tenmeters tall, which rather rules out hand-held or portable television systems. Whensignals are eventually broadcast in digital format only, consumers will have to installthese aerials even if they then buy STBs to convert the signals to be watched on theirold-quality analogue television sets.

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Digital television to support basic skills learners 37

Cable companies do not use airspace for broadcast, and are free to choosewhether to convert to HDTV. Most are choosing not to, preferring instead to usedigital technology to carry more channels of the old quality. Given the fragmentedmarket for digital services in the US, many industry observers doubt that the digitalconversion will be achieved in accordance with the FCC's timetable.

A second constraint on the growth of interactive digital television in the US is theavailability in many places of high bandwidth connections to the Internet. Advertis-ers and e-commerce sites, likely to be a key source of revenue for interactive digitalbroadcasters, can use Internet streaming technologies to show interactive video clipsto their customers.

The reader should also be aware that in the US the term 'interactive educationaltelevision' is often used to describe private, point-to-point (or point-to-points)links used to show classroom-based teaching in other locations, akin to video-conferencing. Sometimes it is only the audio channel that is two-way. This is not thesense of 'interactive television' that the remainder of this paper uses.

There is no equivalent at the European level of the FCC. Each state setsbroadcasting standards to meet its own country's needs. However, all Europeanstates, and many other countries in the rest of the world have chosen to follow theDigital Video Broadcasting (DVB) standard. There are compatible DVB standardsfor each of satellite, terrestrial and cable transmission systems (discussed shortly),meaning that programmes do not have to be digitally re-encoded for each trans-mission media. Although the DVB standard has a range of screen formats andpicture qualities including an HDTV equivalent, most broadcasters are likely to usethe one designed to allow relatively simple (and therefore cheap) STBs to play thesignals through the existing (analogue) television sets already installed in the house.European broadcasters are choosing to transmit extra channels rather thansignificantly enhance the audio-visual quality.

DVB can already be received throughout Europe from satellite broadcasts (andOpen has already terminated its analogue broadcasts). Sweden and the UK starteddigital terrestrial broadcasts in 1999, and cable companies are choosing to convertto the digital format. Many European governments intend to end analogue broad-casts between 2006 and 2010. In the UK, consumer access to digital services wasconsiderably aided when the main rival broadcasters, Open and ONdigital (nowcalled ITV Digital), started to distribute their STBs at zero-price rental.

To allow the transmission companies to monitor the use of their premium/paychannels, the 'through-the-air' (i.e. satellite and terrestrial aerial) consumersare usually required to plug their STB into the home's existing telephone line.Informally, this line is sometimes referred to as the 'back channel', but the wireis actually bi-directional and transmission companies can use it to deliver tothe consumer additional on-request personalised interactive services such asbanking, shopping pages and e-mail to the television set. That said, the lowbandwidth of the domestic phone line and the lack of surplus processing powerwithin the STB restricts the offer of high-quality interactive services: for example,streamed video and graphic animations were not supported by the first generationSTBs.

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An alternative to 'through-the-air' broadcasting is cable transmission. In someEuropean countries, Germany for example, this is the dominant form of trans-mission. Most of the cables already in the ground can carry digital signals withoutreplacement, but the cable companies must still invest in complex transmissionequipment throughout the supply system, and replace the STBs in each home. Thedigital cable itself can be used as the back channel, and its higher bandwidthcapacity is available for delivering to the viewer full web access, and possiblyvideo-on-demand services. The combination of video-on-demand and full webaccess is very attractive for educational programme providers, and is discussedfurther below.

Unlike satellite broadcasters, cable companies may switch to digital transmissiongradually, region by region. The limiting factor is the cost of providing the newSTBs. However, the marketing opportunities offered by interactivity mean that mostcable companies intend to complete their conversions well before 2005.

In summary, it is clear that in Europe digital reception will be standard by theend of the decade, and that because the transmission companies are coveringthe costs of the STBs (rather than the consumer covering the costs of new receivers),low-income households will not be barred from access.

Types of Interactivity for Educational Television

Authors have been proposing definitions of the term 'interactive' for electroniclearning materials since laser disks were introduced some twenty years ago. Keycriteria that appear in a number of authors' work (e.g. Sims, 1997; Fenrich, 1997)are (a) the mechanics of the interaction, (b) the educational function of theinteraction, and (c) how the interaction affects the fundamental structure of thelearning material.

Schwier and Misanchut (1993) present a model of interactivity with threedimensions:

• the interface of the interaction (the hardware involved—screens, pointers, keypadsetc—but also its visual or human-perception aspects)

• the underlying nature of user participation (reactive to provided materials, proac-tive construction and generative activity, through to a 'fully franchised' dialoguewith an adaptive learning environment)

• the function of the interaction. (Structural function ranges from control over thepace of delivery; navigation through the contents; the system's ability to verifyresponses and provide feedback; the learner's ability to interrogate, search andinquire of the learning contents; knowledge construction).

Table I displays a categorisation of types of interaction especially suited to digitaltelevision. Where appropriate we map these back to Schwier and Misanchut'smodel.

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Digital television to support basic skills learners 39

TABLE I. Types of interaction suited to digital television

TYPE OFINTERACTIVITY DISCUSSION

Post-programmeenhancements

Multi-channel

Navigational

Response verificationand feedback

A simple form of interactivity is to broadcast pointers or links tofurther sources of information—teletext pages, web addresses,telephone numbers—either during or at the end of the programme.The programme itself, though, is designed to be watched in anuninterrupted manner.

The value of post-programme enhancements should not be dismissed.Much of the power of television comes from its ability to build up theviewer's motivation to follow a narrative. Many makers ofdocumentary programmes argue that interaction during theprogramme risks disrupting the viewer's 'emotional' involvement withthe developing storyline.The large number of channels available to digital television does allowfor the broadcast of one event from several perspectives, with onechannel per 'angle'. In a sports match, one channel could repeatedlyreshow a particular goal, whilst another could give a match report sofar. An educational example of multi-channel coverage would allowthe viewer to concentrate a chosen instrument in an orchestralperformance. As a second example, the viewer could select to receivean explanation of a learning point at a chosen level of detail. Thisgives the viewer some control over the depth or pace of teachingdelivery.

Multi-channel use is expensive for the transmission company, as itprevents it broadcasting other programmes (and adverts) to other setsof viewers. The method is, really, only economically viable for largeaudience events such as sports matches. Also, current video taperecorders can be preset to record one channel only. It is not possibleto record the interactivity of multi-channel programmes. Both thesefactors constrain the format's use for education.The viewer can select their route through pre-designed components ofthe programme content. If the content designers have allowed for it, aviewer may repeat an item, get an alternative explanation, study at adeeper level, etc.

Navigational interaction requires that the next component of theprogramme is available 'on demand', i.e. each key press on theRemote Control leads to more-or-less immediate branching to the nextpart of the learning package. The technical section (below) shows howthis can be achieved.Navigational systems can constructed such that the televisionprogramme content provides information about the learner's progressas well as delivering new information.

The navigational options available to the viewer do not have to befixed. 'Intelligent' systems could self-adapt, based on histories ofprevious answers (Barrett, 1990). Green (1999) notes the problem of alearner not knowing what information they need, and suggests how thesystem can promote content at the right level for such a user.

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TABLE I. {Continued)

TYPE OFINTERACTIVITY

Content search andassembly

Collaborative assembly

DISCUSSION

At this level of interactivity the viewer is given a set of electronicitems—video clips, audio clips, still photos, text, or the means to inserttheir own—and the tools to assemble their own materials. This couldbe for formative learning, but it could also contribute towards aportfolio entry for summative assessment.

Content assembly requires some way for the viewer to control theassembly tools. In effect, the STB would have to have many of thefeatures of a multimedia PC. Although this is technically possible, thefact that the transmission companies have issued customers with 'free'STBs has almost certainly suppressed any embryonic market forpaid-for high-feature STBs. Currently the authors feel that contentassembly will remain in the province of the PC.Many teachers see constructivist problem solving through collaborativework as a productive style of learning (Sims, 1997). Videoconferencing is the most TV-related tool in this area. Effectivevideoconference systems require multi-way video pictures, awhiteboard area for shared notes (perhaps overlaying a main set ofpresentation notes) and a text area for typed discussion. In addition toa multimedia-facilitied STB, the supporting network would need to beable to route video pictures between any two clients. This level offacility is more the province of the Internet, and is not a seriouscandidate for research by the television companies.

Technology for Navigational Interactivity

From the above classification it can be seen that post-programme enhancements linkthe viewer to other information sources, which could be other television pro-grammes, postal addresses, telephone numbers, teletext pages or web links. As notedabove, it is now common for the STBs to use the 'back channel' connection to offerInternet access to the web pages and e-mail facilities. It is not necessary for theviewer to switch machines to access on-line resources. Multi-channel television isthe same user experience as watching analogue television, except there is morechoice.

At the other extreme, content assembly and/or collaborative working demandadvanced multimedia capability only found in home PCs at the top end of the pricerange. Because STBs are available 'free', it is very unlikely that consumers will buyjoint PC/STB boxes in sufficient numbers to make a sufficient market for tailoredprogramming content.

The transmission companies, though, are starting to distribute STBs capable ofsupporting forms of navigational television. Clearly they are doing this so that theycan launch their own revenue-generating services, notably:

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Digital television to support basic skills learners 41

• Video on Demand—to rival the video rental shop market;• Placed advertisements—to show different advertisement in households dependent

upon that consumer's viewing habits and/or purchasing profiles.

The Upgrade2000 project (described in the section below) explored how to makeuse of such technology for educational interactivity.

Some transmission companies are now issuing STBs with built-in memoryfacilities able to record up to 40 hours of broadcast content. This opens up thepossibility of a 'broadcast, save, and then navigate around' model of distributinginteractive content. By decoupling the broadcast time (which may be at night) fromthe viewing time (which may be any time), viewers may take any route through theprogramme, pausing, re-watching, branching and jumping forwards as they wish.

A second technical approach will increasingly become available: AsymmetricDigital Subscriber Line (ADSL). Standard cable television works by having one veryhigh capacity cable carrying perhaps one hundred channels into all the homes in anarea. Each STB then extracts the channel the viewer wants to watch. In contrast,ADSL uses telephone technologies to provide a separate medium-capacity line toeach household. When the viewer selects a channel the STB sends a request 'up' theADSL line to the transmission company, which then outputs the chosen signal inthe larger capacity 'down' direction. Unlike standard cable, the viewer may not haveto select just from channels relayed in common to all households. Companies suchas Kingston Interactive Television and YesTV are experimenting with placing largecontent server machines at the transmission end of the ADSL line, thus creating a'central store, selective transmit' model of broadcasting. This could be a veryattractive model for education, as each user can pull just the content they wish touse, at the time they wish to use it. The system does not rely on broadcasters toschedule the content. It will be necessary to devise some means to enable the viewerto find out what programmes are available for pulling, but searchable websites-for-TV seem the obvious solution. (Of course, there still has to be a financial case forthe broadcaster to store and serve the programme. This is outside the scope of thispaper).

The Upgrade2000 Project

The Upgrade2000 project was based at Sheffield Hallam University and included aspartners the BBC, City & Guilds, Tyneside Training and Enterprise Council,Sheffield College and Cambridge Training & Development Ltd. It was led by theUK Basic Skills Agency and was part-funded by the European Social Fund. Theproject was also assisted by a number of National Training Organisations (NTOs),which represent the training needs of the various UK trade and employment sectors.The NTOs provided guidance so that the content of the educational materialsaddressed known problem areas.

The purpose of the project was to make a practical test of the concept of usinginteractive television for Basic Skills learners, as surveyed in discursive documentssuch as Bates (1999). The major output was a template for structuring interactive

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learning content. The function of the programmes would be to 'hook' the interest ofthe viewers and encourage them, at their own pace, towards becoming activelearners. It was recognised from the start that navigational interactivity could not bethe only approach, and the project also explored the wider technical and educationalsupport systems that would be needed to sustain on-going learning.

The project ran from October 1999 to June 2000. During that time the majorcable television companies in the UK were installing and testing their interactivedigital services. However, these initially concentrated on the web-for-TV ande-mailing facilities and, in any case, were not available to the project. Consequently,the project's programming concepts were tested via DVDs. It also created anexperimental website-for-TV, with content-assembly level tools. This 'site' was heldon CD, and could be viewed on a television set if played through a computer witha video card. The site used audio over stills to remind the viewer of the DVDmaterial and then, for example, allowed the viewer/learner to construct a 'story-board' of their own from a selection of stills, audio clips and text items. The projectnoted the possibility of allowing the learner to submit examples of their work forstorage in a portfolio of evidence towards summative assessment, and of using theweb-for-TV site for linking the learner into wider learning communities such asLearnDirect, though the implementation of these was outside the scope of theresearch. The concepts of 'e-learning = content + support' (Mason, 1998) andLaurillard's 'Conversational Framework' (1993) were both useful influences on theproject. Also, a guide was produced for employers willing to act as (or provide)mentors to learning. Some employers are distinctly hostile to the thought that theirstaff may not be fully literate or numerate (hence the need for home-accessiblelearning materials), but others are supportive, especially when they noted that thestudy periods themselves could be flexible and in employee time rather thanrequiring day/evening classes as at present.

The project was successful in that it validated its model for content bycreating ten DVD programmes for a variety of vocational themes from engineering,factory work, customer care and the leisure industry, plus examples of supportmaterials. These were tested with individuals and groups of Basic Skills learners,and the results used to refine both the content of the programmes and thedesign approach. We report below our key findings. However, it was not possibleto make an academically rigorous assessment of the extent of learning thattook place. Learners were aware of our presence in setting up the DVDequipment, and this could well have influenced their levels of interest in the project.Also further time would have been required to measure the long-term retention oflearning.

Since the completion of the project, the possibilities of broadcasting directly tohomes has increased markedly. In April 2001, through a collaboration with ColegDigidol (the state-funded Welsh Digital College) the programmes are being broad-cast in a morning slot in Wales on Sky's S4C1 (digital satellite) channel, nil (cable)and ONdigital (terrestrial). When the viewer interacts with 'live' broadcasts, anyfurther content is automatically recorded by the STB. A number of audio channelsallow the user to follow the video at different levels of Basic Skills difficulty.

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Digital television to support basic skills learners 43

In addition, the programmes are supported by web-for-TV resource sites. Adifficulty was designing the sites so that the same content could be reformattedeither for a computer screen or a television screen, as many of the visual presentationtechniques are not the same. A second technical difficulty was making the 'clickthrough' work from the television programme's web link to the actual web site. Bothdifficulties have now been overcome.

According to the automated reception figures, to date there have been over30,000 receptions of at least one of the programmes in the series. The actualnumber of viewers may not be 30,000 because, for example, a whole family mightwatch one reception. Also, the figure also includes recordings, and these may or maynot be watched later.

Starting from June 2001, the transmission companies will commence the distri-bution of STBs with built-in recording facilities. If the viewers, watching theprogrammes live, start to interact with the programme, they will branch to the weblearning materials whilst the rest of the programme is automatically recorded. Theymay then switch, on the same screen, back and forth between the two media.They may also branch around the video material, provided that it is has beenbroadcast and recorded. This implements the model anticipated by theUpgrade2000 project.

Interactive Programmes for Basic Skills Learners—Design Structures

People with basic skill needs are notably more receptive to learning if it has a clearlink to their immediate occupational or leisure needs (BSA). With this in mind, wedesigned each programme to have a main theme section showing practical andapplicable occupational situations, with in-context branches off to the basic skillsmaterials. Figure 1 shows the structure of the programmes.

• Many occupational tasks, such as wallpapering a room or planning exercises at ahealth clinic, can conveniently be explained though a naturally sequential develop-ment. The vocational skills section of each programme was designed to bewatched in a linear/sequential route. However, at the Basic Skills level, viewershave different learning abilities and interests. We used interactivity to allow theviewer to branch to 'Learning Encounters', where they could choose their ownroute though the basic skills content. Examples of Learning Encounters are: howto estimate the area of paint needed, communicating with customers, and skills inscan reading.

• The first item within the Learning Encounter is a bridge, which explains the linkbetween the work skill and the underlying basic skills. It is motivational in tone.

• Basic Skills learners often have a very fragile confidence in their own abilities. Itis important that we do not place them in positions where they believe they willfail again. The confidence check outlines a problem and asks the viewer if theythink they could solve it. Viewers can opt to attempt to solve the problem, requesthelp, or return directly to the occupational theme if the Learning Encounter is tooeasy, too hard, or not in their area of interest.

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FIG. 1. Structure of the main programme and learning encounters.

• The skills check builds on the confidence check and sets a problem encompass-ing all the learning points of the Encounter. The viewer may select an answer froma multiple-choice menu using the colour, arrow or the 0-9 keys on the remotecontrol. We chose not to use alphabetic keyboard input at this point, partlybecause not many consumers have purchased them yet and partly because of theextra difficulty their use would present to some of our viewers.

• If the skills check is answered correctly the programme gives positiveconfirmation and summarises our approach to the solution. The learner isinvited to follow our solution in more depth—perhaps they had a lucky guess atthe answer, or used a different method—or to go to the supporting web site forfurther practice, or to return to the main film.

• If the skills check is answered incorrectly, or the viewer opts for further learningeither at the confidence stage or after the correct confirmation, they are ledthrough the solution a little at a time. There can be further branching interactionhere, also pauses for reflection or short timed exercises. We used timed responsesto practice skills in scan reading, for example.

• Learning Encounters also offer information about other sources of help, includingLearn Direct. Selectable links are provided to the Upgrade2000's learner web site,especially designed for viewing on the domestic television set. Here the learnercould have further practice, and take practice assessment with formative feedback.An advantage of the web over current television is that the web server can beprogrammed to keep detailed records of answers and interactive inputs made bythe user, so it could—if authentication of identity could be resolved—be used forbuilding portfolios of work leading to summative assessment. As reported above,

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Digital television to support basic skills learners 45

the technology for television access of web sites was not common in homes in1999/2000, so this part of the project was not taken to completion.

Our trials with users found that Basic Skills learners are comfortable with usingthe remote control keys to answer questions. We assisted poor readers by havingvoice-overs for all menus, with the facility for the learner to listen again to theaudio instructions. Together these approaches were found to be sufficient instruc-tion—our learners did not need paper or human instruction to use the technology.Horsburgh and Simanowitz (1999) report similar findings for learners using PCequipment.

On the production side, our on-screen presenters were in some cases professionalactors and in some cases tutors of the vocation skills being presented. Learners wereequally happy with the non-professionals, so long as they could communicate theirskills and knowledge in an enthusiastic way. We did, though, find professionaldirectors most useful. During 1999/2000 we had to outsource the digitisation of thevideo and creation of the DVDs, but since then the cost of the hardware to do thishas fallen from around UK £30,000 (US $42,000) to under £5,000 ($7,000). Weconclude that it is possible for education and training organisation groups tocreate interactive learning materials that meet the quality standards required bybroadcasters for transmission on educational channels.

Conclusions

The aim of the Upgrade2000 project was to investigate whether, and if so how,interactive digital television could be utilised to reach Basic Skills learners. Themotivations for using television were that there is clear evidence that television canengage reluctant learners, and that digital broadcast television in particular avoidsmany of the access problems that have dogged earlier forms of interactive learningmaterials. Laserdisks, for example, required specialist equipment to be purchasedand remain a rarity, whereas digital television will be in homes in most parts of theworld well before 2010. An obvious alternative to broadcasting programmes is to useCDs and DVDs played through a computer, but there are logistical problems ofdistributing materials: Basic Skills learners may have difficulty writing to apply forand installing the disks, and PC ownership amongst the target group is lower thanaverage. Homes with high bandwidth connections to the Internet could accesswebsites with similar content to CDs. The Internet has the added possibility ofcollaborative working with tutors or other learners. Whilst this may be a viableapproach in parts of the USA, where high bandwidths to homes is more common,market penetration is far less in the rest of the world.

A finding of the project is that University and college-based educational contentproviders should not even consider setting up their own television signal distributiontechnologies, but instead should 'piggy back' upon the systems of interactive digitaltelevision currently being rolled out by the transmission companies. However, sincethese companies are financing the developments, it is natural for them to concen-trate on the revenue-generating markets, which are blockbuster film rental, shopping

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channels and advertisement-bearing information services. They are tailoring thehardware they distribute towards these services: the majority of STBs currently inhomes were designed to support the above functions and do not have the built-inmemory necessary to hold programme components to be watched interactively at alater time. The viewer tracking methods can record what programmes were watched,and can even recommend follow-ups of a similar genre, but the systems areorientated towards the needs of billing functions (paying for services received) ratherthan promoting offerings based on a learner's progress.

Accreditation of home-based learning could be a problem. Some systems have afacility whereby viewers can place a card into the STB to identify themselves andgain access to view given channels. It is a parent's responsibility if they let the childuse the card to watch something inappropriate. This level of 'security' is inappropri-ate if tracking is used for accreditation, where it is essential to know who actuallyanswered questions, and whether they were receiving help from others in the room.Perhaps the only answer is to bring people to test centres?

Privacy is also a possible issue. Digital television companies can maximise theiradvertising revenues by displaying different adverts in breaks between programmesdepending upon the individual's profile as recorded by the tracking system. A viewermay be embarrassed by adverts referring to their Basic Skills needs appearing if theircard is in the slot but the whole family is watching. Bates (1999) notes thestranglehold that broadcasters have on analogue and existing digital channels.

Broadcasters impose high technical quality standards on material that they arewilling to convey, partly so that the public does not perceive the channel itself asbeing low quality reception. These standards are perhaps higher than education,rather than movie film, content actually requires.

Broadcasters hold the copyright on vast volumes of potentially useful content.Copyright clearance methods are slow and involve many stakeholders. Presenterswith carefully crafted 'personalities', or directors of programmes with distinctiveimages may well not permit their material to be used in other contexts, even if allthey are doing is releasing old footage. This may force educational establishments tolead projects to produce all their own filmed content, which adds to the complexityand budget.

Broadcasters also control the schedule of broadcasting, and tend not to beinterested in one-off or small volume programmes. Of all the broadcast technologies,perhaps ADSL offers the greatest chance of breaking the barriers, because it allowsviewers to pull interactive programmes on-demand from a menu of choices ratherthan waiting for programmes according to the broadcaster's schedule.

Our research concludes that interactive digital television can indeed be used tobroadcast educational programmes to home- or work-based learners. It has aparticularly strong audience appeal to 16-18 year old school-leavers and viewerswith skill problems in mathematics, literacy or communications. People in both ofthese groups are especially hard to attract back into training and education. Theproject has developed a programme content model showing how viewers may be'hooked' towards initial learning and then, through an on-line and human surround,move forwards towards continuing learning.

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Digital television to support basic skills learners 47

Our development work and trials have indicated that there is potential demandfrom tutors and learners for these materials. We have opened up a number ofpotential instructional design approaches to interactive learning through digitaltelevision. We consider that digital learning is a variant of e-learning, but one thatneeds considerable further development and testing to establish proven benefits fordifferent groups of learners.

Acknowledgements

The Upgrade2000 project was part funded by Objective 4 Priority 3 Strand 1(Development of New Training Systems) of the European Social Fund. This paperextends upon materials previously contained in the following conference papers.The authors thank the conference organisers for permission to reproduce therelevant elements (LOVE, M. & BANKS, S. (2000) Reaching the masses, EDEN OpenClassroom conference, Barcelona, November; LOVE, M. (2001) Give It A Go!—UsingInteractive Digital Television to help passive viewers become active learners, ED-MEDIA Conference (World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia& Telecommunications), Tampere, Finland, June).

Notes on Contributors

MATTHEW LOVE is a lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, UK, with aresearch interest in the construction of network-based computing applications. Hewas the leader of the technical team for the Upgrade2000 project reported above.

SHEENA BANKS is the E-learning Research Associate in the School of Educationat the University of Sheffield, working on the TLTP Computer Based CollaborativeGroup Work project. She is a specialist in the Pedagogy of the Internet with aparticular interest in e-learning applied to continuing professional development. Shewas formerly Principal Lecturer on the Virtual Campus Programme at SheffieldHallam University, working on the Upgrade project.

Correspondence: Matthew Love, School of Computing & ManagementSciences, Sheffield Hallam University, Howard Street, Sheffield S1 1WB, UK;E-mail: m.love@shu.ac.uk; Sheena Banks, Dept. of Educational Studies,University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK; E-mail:S.B.Banks@sheffield.ac.uk

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