 Final logo | |
| Launched | 1989 |
|---|---|
| Closed | August 1, 2017 (8 years ago) |
| Country of origin | North America |
| Original language | English/French (Quebec)/Spanish |
Cable in the Classroom was an American division of theNational Cable & Telecommunications Association that assisted thecable television industry in providing educational content to schools. The organization was founded in 1989.[1] ACanadian organization, also called"Cable in the Classroom" (in Quebec,"La câblo-éducation" inFrench), was founded in 1995, and held the same scope as the US organization.[2]
Cable channels broadcasteducational television programs at specific times (usually early in the morning) commercial-free and notified Cable in the Classroom as to when the shows would air, which maintained a master list for educators to reference. This way, educators were able to record the programs for free and use them in school as learning tools for children.Copyrights were cleared so that educators could use the content of the listed programs as they wished for their syllabus and learning plans.[3]
10 years later, the organization has helped train approximately 7,500 teachers per year in workshops that demonstrate strategies for teaching with technology. The new Cable in the Classroom Professional Development Institute adds to this commitment by helping to train teachers about basic Internet use and curriculum integration as well as advanced Internet training.[4]
Over the years however, many networks discontinued promoting Cable in the Classroom or stopped using their programming for the organization's purposes, focusing more todirect marketing of their educational television programming to teachers and school districts through theirhome video departments, theirinternet sites, or in the cases of networks such asABC Family,Disney Channel andCartoon Network, removing their involvement altogether, commensurate with the internet ending other cable services tied to traditional scheduling such as "nearvideo on demand". Another factor was likely the decline inVHS recorders, asDVRs with non-portable storage became the recording format of choice overDVD recorders, the equivalent successor to VCRs.Streaming video also played a factor in the decline of Cable in the Classroom, as educators can now access and play content at any time through computers connected to in-classroom televisions,interactive smartboards, andvideo projectors, rather than on a set schedule requiring pre-recording of content.
In 2017, Cable in the Classroom was entirely discontinued in the United States withCNN Student News being the last program left under the effort, and the NCTA redirected the former Cable in the Classroom portal to promote their "Cable Impacts Foundation"charity arm instead. The Canadian effort ended asvertically integrated cable and satellite providers purchased networks and campaigned successfully for theCRTC to relaxCanadian content restrictions that defined them to schedule programming in a certain manner, including educational programming.
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