The article discusses the educational benefits of television viewing by children. The author suggests that educational television programs can teach skills such as letter and sound recognition and cultivate a love for reading. Other topics include infusing learning into television programming, children's television audiences, and sedentary behavior.

From the earliest days of "Sesame Street" nearly four decades ago, educational television has earned high praise and millions of fans for entertaining and educating young children.

While learning experts surely agree that too much television and inappropriate content can have detrimental effects on children, the right kinds of programs can set them on the path toward reading."I'm a big supporter of media technology and I do agree that kids spend far too much time with television and other media," said Milton Chen, who in the mid-1990s helped launch the Ready to Learn Service, a partnership between the Public Broadcasting Service, or PBS, and the U.S. Department of Education to create educational programming, "But I come out on the side that specific television programs and experiences can very much support literacy."Well-designed programs can teach distinct skills such as letter and sound recognition, as well as cultivate a love of reading, said Mr. Chen, the director of the George Lucas Educational Foundation in San Rafael, Calif. As the director of research earlier in his career for the Children's Television Workshop, which has since been renamed Sesame Workshop, Mr. Chen helped to design and test some of the lessons embedded in programs like "Sesame Street" and "The Electric Company."

his study examined the cognitive effects of an educational early childhood television program in Turkey that was designed to enhance basic cognitive skills and socio-emotional development of 5-year-old children. The program targeted children with low socioeconomic status who had limited access to formal preschool education.

The program was screened for a period of 13 weeks and was evaluated with an experimental design, with the addition of a natural observation group. Findings indicated that the program functioned as an early educational intervention for those children who had moderate exposure to it.

But what and how much they watch makes a difference Preschool children who watched a few hours a week of educational programming perform better on achievement tests over time than their peers who watch more general entertainment shows, according to researchers at the University of Texas in Austin.Dr. Aletha C. Huston, of the University of Texas in Austin.

Preschool children who watched a few hours a week of educational programming perform better on achievement tests over time than their peers who watch more general entertainment shows, according to researchers at the University of Texas in Austin.Dr. Aletha C. Huston, of the University of Texas in Austin

Each year, the children's reading, math and vocabulary skills were assessed. The researchers found that younger children, especially those aged 2 and 3, who watched a few hours a week of educational

This three-part report from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, researches the impact educational programming has on school readiness and early literacy skills, and its long-term benefits into adolescence. This study offers producers and educators an overview of the essential elements of educational television that can support the development of language and literacy abilities in young children.

Television Study Report [397KB pdf]