Classroom teachers who use television as a teaching device are neither lazy nor slighting their students minds: Instead, using news videos in class may actually help children remember more of what they are taught, reveals a new study published in APA?s Journal of Educational Psychology (Vol. 89, No. 1).

Previous studies have found that adults remember more news from what they read than from what they see on television. Psychologists Juliette H. Walma van der Molen, PhD, and Tom H.A. van der Voort, PhD, of the Center for Child and Media Studies at Leiden University in The Netherlands wondered whether those results applied to children as well.

The researchers presented 152 children, ages 10 to 12, with five children?s news stories either in their original televised form or in a verbatim printed version with no photos or illustrations. For half the children, the researchers simulated a 'school setting' by telling the youngsters they would be tested on the news stories? content. For the other half, the researchers simulated a 'home setting' by telling the children the exercise was for entertainment.

In both settings, children reading the print version could take as long as they needed, while those watching the 11-minute televised version could view the program only once. Poor readers were not included in the experiment because the researchers were concerned they would not understand the printed material well and therefore skew the results in favor of the television condition.

In both conditions, children who watched televised news reports recalled more than those who read the printed version.

The finding is good news for children for two reasons, the researchers believe.

First, the study suggests that television news that is adapted to children?s level of understanding may be an extremely effective teaching aid. Second, at home, children are more likely to watch TV than read, so the fact that they learn news well from TV means they are served by the most effective news medium for them when at home.