Educational Television Goes Digital. Children’s Television and Italian Public Service Broadcasting During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Since its origins in the Fifties, Rai has always paid attention to pedagogical aspects of its offer, consistent with its Catholic inspiration, combining different genres and divulgation approaches. In the first years of its history, Italian public television represented a “second school” for different targets, producing iconic titles in learning and training. A particular branch of educational approach to television content has often been represented by the direct involvement of school groups within the programs, in the logic of game and soft competition oriented to the transmission of knowledge. During the Covid-19 pandemic, with the closure of schools and the deployment of distance teaching, Rai recovered its pivotal role in learning practices through TV programs; in a period marked by an increase of television and audiovisual consumption, Italian public service broadcasting played a distinctive role in diversifying learning opportunities of Italian students and adults.