The use of videotaped broadcasts in interactive teaching

In 1986/87 and 1987/88 Dutch educational television broadcast a long series on mental arithmetic for the upper grades of the primary school. This study compares off-air videotape use under two conditions: (1) active use with video stops for interactive teaching, and (2) passive, uninterrupted viewing. Learning results in the active condition were better than in the passive condition. However, in a follow-up study those positive results were not confirmed, due to changing teaching styles in the active condition, and due to certain design faults in the programmes. Outcomes of both studies are interpreted as (1) providing evidence for the potential effects of interactive use of educational videotapes at classroom level, and as (2) underlining the necessity of well-considered didactic design of educational programmes for such new instructional purposes.