CHAPTER ONEI
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The electronic media which is the focus of this study comprises the radio and television. The sophistication of these media of communication distinguished them as the wonders of modern communication. Just as the twentieth century dawned, a system was perfected which electromagnetic impulses could be sent through the air without wires carrying voice transmission over long distances.Electronic media are the machinery or an institutions used for simultaneous transmission of information to a wide and divergent audience. Although the electronic media are channels for which information is transmitted to the audience through the different types of media, yet they represent the attempt of man to relate to and interact with other men. It is clear to note that communication has been enhanced nationally and internationally with the use of technology. Mr E. N. Aniebona in his contribution to an impact of broadcasting in a developing context has this to say about electronic media “Electronic media are powerful and effective instruments for achieving national goals such as in need for widespread education for both children and adults in order realizes the set down objectives in economic growth, health care, political and social awareness, political stability self-reliance and national identify among other things”. Electronic media are aimed at presenting programs like news, drama, interviews, health and family planning religious programmes and agricultural programmes. The electronic media include the radio, the television and the cinema. On focus is on the radio, as the first source to which people turned for the latest developments in the war or crises time.
Radio is a potential means of supplementing telegraphy, the most important long distance communication medium of the late nineteenth century. Radio was the most popular entertainment and news medium. To a degree, the radio receiver was the centre of the home and family activities frequently revolved around the broadcast schedule. The average station schedule had something for everyone fro news and commentary through variety and comedy, to religion discussion, sports and children’s programme. The course introduces students in any areas of study on the fundamentals of using a range of electronic media to communicate information and ideas. It covers methods for digitally creating audio, visual images, and multi-media. Specific skills covered are: textual communication, digital sound editing, digital image manipulation, and interactive multimedia authoring. Through individualized projects, students have the opportunity to experience the effects of different media on information. Electronic media posses some inherent advantages that makes them unique in social and business studies. For one thing, they provide the teacher interesting and compelling platforms for conveying information since they motivate learners to learn more and more. Also by providing opportunities for private study and reference, the learner interest and curiosity are increasingly stimulated. Furthermore, the teacher is assisted in overcoming physical difficulties that could have hindered to effective presentation of a given topic. Teachers with how voices, for instance, are enable by the microphone system inherent in most electronic media. They generally make teaching and learning easier and less stressful. They are equally indispensable catalysts of social change and development.In this paper, we shall discuss the use of electronic media as instructional materials in Nigerian education. Before that, however, we shall make conceptual clarifications of important terms implicated in the chosen topic as well as general considerations of instructional media generally used in education. Subsequently, we describe the methods and the procedure employed in generating and analyzes the data generated from our field work and test relevant hypothesis. Finally, we make necessary concluding remarks