Knowledge Network
Knowledge Network
Canadian (British Columbia) Public Educational Broadcaster
The Knowledge Network is the public educational television broadcaster of the Canadian province of British Columbia, a part of the province's larger effort to extend education to all parts of the province using various delivery systems. In 1978, the province established the Open Learning Institute (OU), to develop and deliver educational programming using distance education methods. These methods have included correspondence courses, audio, film, teleconferencing, video disks, and, increasingly, digital media products for reaching outside the conventional classroom. In 1980, in order to further the goals of distance education, the province created the Knowledge Network as part of OU. The network went to air on January 12, 1981. The Knowledge Network today reaches 100 per cent of all households in British Columbia. Its man date, however, has led it to pursue two different types of audience. On the one hand, the Knowledge Network was mandated to provide general public education programs, which might interest casual viewers. These typically involve nature documentaries, British series, international drama, and children's programming. On the other hand, the Knowledge Network was also directed to collaborate with the province's educational institutions to deliver formal instruction, which would only interest registered students. This double focus has led to a progressive diversification in the types of programs offered.
Bio
In 1988, however, OU was substantially reorganized. Renamed the Open Learning Agency (OLA), it was reshaped into three constituents: (1) the Open School, aimed at K-12 (kindergarten through 12th grade) students and teachers and administrators; (2) the Open College, responsible for adult basic education; and (3) the Open University offering accredited university-level degree courses.
The Knowledge Network's pursuit of two different types of audience (general and specialized) is typical of virtually all educational networks in Canada. As organizations concerned with education, educational networks naturally attempt to extend and give shape to the larger projects of their respective ministries of education. Consequently, they are involved in the delivery of course material, collaborate with educational institutions, and reflect various curricula in their scheduling. As television networks, however, they also find themselves confronted with a much broader constituency (in terms of age, background, ability, education, etc.) than would be likely in any classroom. Furthermore, they reach this constituency under conditions not conducive to learning. Hence, like all other educational networks, the Knowledge Network has construed education in a broad sense. It means not only formal education, or the content of lectures and courses, but also the attempt to create a generally literate, lively, and well-educated citizenry.
The result is clear in the Knowledge Network's schedule. The Knowledge Network devotes roughly half of its 6,000 annual broadcast hours to traditional educational material (credit and noncredit courses, college and university lectures, K-12 content, etc.). Televised courses constitute a minority of its schedule, and much instructional content has migrated to its interactive website. It devotes most of its broadcasting time to content of a more general and entertaining nature, such as programs devoted to film (international, Hollywood, Canadian), general documentaries, teleplays, how-to programs, music programs, children's shows, and so on.
The very effort to construe education as both formal and informal has led to the criticism that educational networks are no longer fulfilling their mandates. For some, they are increasingly perceived as publicly funded entertainment undertakings that compete unfairly with the private sector. This perception has, in turn, led to calls to cut public funding of the educational networks, or for them to be reorganized, abolished, or sold to private interests.