Interactive Television and Children: Designing and Testing the Power of Interactive Television for Children's Learning

Interactive Television is seemingly a natural fit for enhancing the educational impact of children?s television viewing, through providing the possibility of a reciprocal interaction between the viewer and the experience. The ability to be an active participant in a television narrative has support from contemporary notions of childhood learning, however to date there is little evidence of programming that represent a compelling model of best practice. This study tested the assumption that interactive television can significantly increase comprehension in early childhood viewers. It accomplished this through researching and developing a model of interactivity based on childhood education theory. A children's programme was produced and tested with 199 children aged 4-5, and comprehension scores were compared to a non-interactive Control group. This study investigated an area that is largely overlooked by content producers, and discovered some compelling evidence of the power of interactive television for children's learning.