Abstract

“Television is not a credit course in anything. but it very definitely
has the marks of a natural environment in which the child forages
and finds his way…”
(McLuhan & Fiore, 1968, p.70)

While literacy programmes for young children deem it important to introduce the rudimentary codes and structures of reading and writing as early as possible, this is sadly still not the case for all media. After half a century of analyzing the effects various television programmes have on young children, we have all but ignored the crucial skills required to decode the complex television language and how these skill are acquired. The merits of content are often discussed, yet rarely is television itself the topic. This research proposes a process which hopes to grant the opportunity for children to “video scribble,” much like they would scribble with a crayon, thereby learning through an active interaction with the medium. Using a basic setup in which a camera feeds live images into a television set, this project allows for children to directly play with the medium of video, rather than passively consume it. Encouraged to interact with TV and participate in the act of production, young children will be given the opportunity to experiment and test the inherent codes, rules and limitations of the technology.