Abstract
“NHK for School” is an NHK's portal site offering various services for school education. Since 1996, when its predecessor “NHK School Broadcasts Online” was released, the portal site has been increasing users year by year and reaches a milestone to celebrate its 25th anniversary this year.
“The 2018 NHK Survey on Primary School Teachers' Media Usage and Attitudes” conducted by the NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute finds more than 80% of teachers knew “NHK for School” and 70% had used the site in the class. During the temporary closure of schools due to coronavirus, many households accessed the site, partly because of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's recommendation on its “Children Learning Support Website.”
Looking back on the history of online expansion of NHK's school broadcast programs, we come to understand the factors for the increase in users. Simply converting broadcast programs into webpages was not enough: there was a solid framework building, which involved thorough discussion with academic researchers on the media elements necessary for learners, as well as constant improvements of the site and services by understanding and reflecting users' needs.
With “one to one device” for school pupils being brought to realization and the government calling for the introduction of “personalized and self-regulated learning” and “collaborative learning,” the author discusses the future of educational services of public service media, by reflecting on the history of the school broadcast programs' online expansion.
