Kibabii University use of Television in Promoting Teaching and Learning in Schools

Abstract

Television is an audio-visual tool which can be harnessed by educators to be used in education. Invention of television from 1843 was quite a milestone improvement on both the hardware and software to the current gadget we have in both household and educational institutions. The recent innovations in television have given rise to the interactive smart board technology which can be manipulated by the classroom teacher to create and share the content with the learners. This paper focuses on the forms of television used in teaching and learning and how it has promoted education in the Kenyan education. The theory underpinning use of television as an audio-visual tool in education is sensory stimulation theory which has its basic premise that effective learning occurs when the senses are stimulated. Television plays a very significant role in training students for citizenship, fostering the sense of understanding, environmental awareness and inculcation of socio-political and cultural values. The future of use of television in teaching and learning in Kenya depends on the ability of the teacher to create the programs that the learners can undertake to bring about the process of acquiring knowledge, skills and attitudes. In the same vein, television programs like education channel, cartoons, puppets and other graphics will be connected to internet and distributed widely for utilization in teaching and learning. Many schools have embraced the technology. The future of television in schools will depend on whether there is sufficient security to safeguard the gadgets, storage of these gadgets, sources of electric power, supply of internet facilities, roads to supply these gadgets in different schools and preparation of teachers as a resource person. Despite this there are challenges such as resistance from parents who only view television as an entertainment for watching football, news, cinemas and other programs of interests to them. Another significant challenge is lack of confidence and if any, very little in using television in their work as teachers, they therefore try to avoid them, the gadgets are constantly evolving from simple ones like great walls to complex ones like the big screens with large hunch backs, to plasma screens. Some teachers and other stake holders find the current television very expensive and they are owned by a few affluent householders. The paper concludes that, the children should be encouraged to view television as an audio-visual devise that can boost their learning experience.