Parents often complain about the time their kids spend in front of the TV and how it affects their studies. However, proponents of television have always argued that TV can be a fun learning medium for kids. Till now, learning on TV, was restricted to a “Sesame street” or “Dora the explorer” kind of kids programs where puppets and cartoons taught children about new things. However, it was very one-dimensional and not interactive at all restricting the potential of the medium.
Tata Sky services by pioneering interactive services like Actve stories and Actve learning adds a new dimension to this TV learning process. As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, Actve learning is a quiz based educational service covering math, GK & science for children in age group of 7-12 years while Actve stories is TV based story delivery that children can read and listen to it at their own pace.
Recently, as a part of Actve stories, Tata Sky had launched the Great Personalities Week. (Scheduled to run till 3rd Feb 2009) the series brings about information about the lives of our great leaders who have made significant contributions for the country in a fun and informative way. It is designed to teach and narrate the life proceedings of such great personalities, including the immediate past president of India, Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam, Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi. The list continues as the series continues.
I could not but help think of my own years of learning history, those dreary lessons where teachers in their monotones tried to drill impossible to remember facts in our heads. I had developed such a dislike for history remembering all those dates and treaties! History seems such fun with these interactive stories. It would develop an interest in these young children. I wish we too had such a fun way of learning history as kids.
I think this is just the beginning and interactive television shall soon be the new medium for education. Learning from visuals is much more effective than learning from texts. As this trend catches on, Tata Sky will have a big captive audience among the school going kids. Tata Sky is promoting this service in schools across India and has met with a positive response from children as well as teachers. These services have potential to be valuable teaching aid for the teachers as well.
If you have young kids at home, just put on these services for them and make their learning fun. You won’t have a reason to complain about TV anymore!
To check out the whole dedicated website created by Tata Sky for its interactive services for kids, follow this link
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