The integration of television and the Internet

The ongoing development of digital television to provide hundreds of channels, plus the provision of Internet services through domestic televisions with interactivity via the subscribers' telephone line (or very soon, return satellite signal) is but the beginning of a process of integration between television and Internet services that heralds new dimensions to entertainment and e-commerce. The advent of mass home storage technology: personal video recorders (PVRs) and video-on-demand (VOD), also heralds a related revolution (www.durlacher.com). In most countries, mass culture is still driven by television rather than the Internet, and thus changes in access to the former remain much more influential. Even if all this only heralds a further dumbing-down of the mass media, what could it mean for forms of e-learning such as educational broadcasting or online learning? The article reports on some of the leading-edge developments and seeks to provide insights into the impact that the integration of television and video with Internet protocols will have on the provision of educational opportunities, and how educators might prepare themselves and their institutions for the revolution ahead.