From the 2006 NHK School Broadcast Utilization Survey
May 2007
“School Broadcast Utilization Survey” is a nation wide opinion poll the NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute has been regularly conducting since 1950 to study the school media environments and media usage in the classroom.
The fiscal 2006 survey was aimed at grasping situation of media use in schools and potentials of school education in the digital era, targeting elementary, junior-high and high schools, focusing on how media environments had been developed based on “Informatization of Education,” one of the agendas of the government-led “e-Japan Strategy,” which had been introduced to be achieved by the end of fiscal 2005.
1.School computing facilities still lag behind
There has been a certain progress in digital environments in schools since fiscal 2000 in terms of Internet accessibility, number of computers, broadband connections, and school LANs. However, the latest survey reveals that although schools now have better computing facilities than in 2004, the pace of progress is slowing down in general.
2.Diversifying usage of school educational programs
In fiscal 2001, NHK started providing “NHK digital teaching materials” linked to its school educational broadcasts. The survey results show some elementary schools use digital teaching materials separately, indicating there are diverse usage of broadcasting programs and online materials. It also suggests there are raised expectations for programs dealing with extracurricular activities in junior-high and high schools.
3.More demand for services for teachers
A program for teachers “Wakuwaku jugyo: Watashi no oshiekata (exciting lessons: my way of teaching)” are watched by many teachers of all three levels of school. Teachers are also interested in “NHK Teachers Net,” an Internet service for teachers launched in fiscal 2006. The survey results indicate teachers want more information regarding lesson procedures or effective teaching.
4.Utilization of NHK educational services and expectations for school broadcasts
87.1% of elementary schools, 76.5% of junior-high schools, and 72.7% of high schools use services for schools provided by NHK such as broadcasts, digital teaching materials, educational events organized by NHK, and commercially available videos or DVDs of NHK TV programs.
Among those diverse educational services of NHK, broadcasting programs and digital materials are exceptionally widely used, suggesting there are large expectations for learning experience which is only possible through visual images.