Sesame Street is based on a concept that the average viewer's attention span for recognition, acceptance and retention of concepts is no more than ten to twenty seconds in length. This is a daunting task. I teach two courses via television, Introduction to Business and Principles of Macroeconomics. To meet the challenges of the medium and the audience s expectations, I try to be as animated as possible. In fact, expressions you may think are extreme may actually appear quite appropriate when viewed later on tape.
Guest speakers can add diversity to the material presentation.
Some even can be colorful. Another way to meet the challenge of the medium is to infuse your course with visual variety. One of the advantages of teaching in a studio classroom is the ease with which you can incorporate slide presentations created in computer applications such as Microsoft s PowerPoint into the class presentation. The TV classroom design typically offers an instructor the capability to use such presentations easily. While the slides help to enhance the presentation, they must be added with some parameters in mind.