Instructional Uses of Television by State and Land-Grant Colleges and Universities, 1978-79

Findings of a study that examined the extent to which television was used for instruction and other purposes in 1978-79 by all state and land-grant colleges and universities in the United States are examined. Questionnaires sought information about the college's uses of television, the uses for instruction, the types of television outlets, the college's relationships with those television outlets, factors that contributed to or hindered the college's use of television for instruction, and what the future role of television for instruction might be at the college. Based on responses from 410 institutions, the following information was obtained: 92 percent of all state and land-grant colleges and universities make some use of television; 85 percent use television for on-campus and/or off-campus instruction; 64 percent of the total television effort at those colleges is devoted to instruction, while the rest is devoted to other uses such as staff development, outreach, and counseling; while the majority of schools use television for instruction with more than one television outlet, more work with their campus closed circuit systems than any other type of outlet (public television, cable systems, commercial stations, and other outlets such as videotape/videocassette); and on-campus instructional use of television consumes three times as much of the total television effort as does off-campus instructional use. A sample questionnaire is included. (SW)