The importance of radio and television to education is that they overcome distance. This is especially true for television. Details of the plant life in the African bush can be brought to the school room or to one’s home in an instant; whereas reading about such information does provide the student with a lot of details. The book medium is primitive when compared with television. Through television, it is possible to give the viewer a realistic experience, which is next in quality only to a real experience.
Certain events which cannot be seen in real life can be shown over television. It is not possible for students to go into a volcano to see how it functions, but over television, this becomes a real experience. Other experiences like the opening flower can never be seen except through television or the movies. It has long ago been established by educationists the world over that student learns better if they see rather than just listen. In this sense, television is more effective than just pictures because television is moving pictures.
Thought it does not show pictures, the radio is still the first with the news. Also, it is more versatile that there are smaller radios than television sets and this makes radio more portable. Programmes on radio are listened to everywhere and are a reliable and cheap method of getting up to date information. The form of education they provide is that they update everyone on whatever is going on anywhere in the world.
Besides education of children in schools, the media brings informal education to adults and children all over the world. Musical and other cultural programmes can be seen in the privacy of one’s home. The scientific world is moving ahead in leaps and bounds. A lot of information is getting outdated almost daily and new information is added in its place. It is the speed of radio and television which educate people in time, so that the new information can be put to use. Such information includes economic news and financial trends.
Radio and television are certainly very important means of education, though it can be said that because of the added factors of pictures and movement, television is the more important of the two.