A discussion of three factors which could make a difference in learning from television: the technology involved, the content transmitted, and the symbolic codes into which the messages are coded. (Author/HB)

Media research in the future is seen as focusing on the educational potentialities of the distinguishing qualities that cut across media in interaction with personal, social, and cultural qualities. Media research will also become better oriented toward understanding and generating theoretical constructs. (Author/STS)

The definition of film attributes must bridge the gap between technical descriptions of the attributes (e.g., the arrangement of the visual material) and expected psychological effects of the attributes. Interaction effects between learner traits, learning objectives, and a film's attributes should be expected, since each attribute contributes to…

The major theme is that better and more productive studies could emerge if media research would move out of its traditional either-internal- or-external validity conflict. (Author/MV)

Research on media and technology in education appears in many forms and styles. The results of this research so far has been quite disappointing, in that researchers have failed to point out the difference between research on media and research with media. Research also has tended to become highly specific, thus losing representativeness. A…

The class of media characteristics, which is generic to them and which may be of potentially great relevance to learning, is the way in which media select, highlight, structure, and present information, i.e., their "languages" or symbol systems. How, if at all, and why do symbol systems, in general, differentially relate to cognition and learning?…

Sixth graders (n=124) were tested for their perceptions of self-efficacy with print and TV, perceived media realism, and attributions of failure and success with each medium. The amount of invested mental effort (AIME) and achievement were measured. The roles of a priori perceptions and AIME in learning are discussed. (Author/BS)

This is an initial examination of findings from laboratory and field studies done in Israel on the cognition-cultivating functions of media. The studies reasoned that highly explicit presentations of film-mediated operations can be imitated by observers, and that once imitated, they are internalized and can serve as modified mental skills. Two…

These two studies suggest that children's preconceptions of the effort needed to understand material presented on television and in print appear to affect the depth with which they process the information, thereby making their own expectations come true. (PD)

The failure of research on media to deal with media's symbol systems is discussed. Nature of symbol systems is described and related to cognition and learning. Symbolic elements used by media can facilitate the cultivation of mental skills in interaction with individual differences and depth of processing. (Author/RD)

The "symbol systems approach" to the study of computers in education that is outlined avoids the pitfalls of past media research--particularly research on the effects of television on children's learning and knowledge--and asserts that media can be usefully distinguished in terms of the symbol systems they present and the kinds of…