Cable Television and Education.

Cable television can augment educational broadcast services and also provide a level of individualized educational services not possible with either broadcasting or classroom audiovisual aids. The extra channels provided by cable television allow the following extra services for education: 1) broadcast of a multitude of programs, including delayed or repeated broadcasts, selected lectures or classroom pickups, specialized classroom related reference materials; 2) one-way services like medical and/or free course materials; 3) subscriber response, polling, and request services, with the addition of a limited return signal capacity. Although designs for two-way systems exist, no major two-way system has yet been built. Such systems will present problems such as noise and signal intrusion. Tests that are now scheduled for several sites across the country should solve these problems. Then educators, cable operators, government, and foundations will have to determine the cost benefits of using cables for education. It may be that the costs of leasing channels and terminals will be less expensive in the long run than adding classrooms and instructors, projectors, and cassettes. (JK)