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Abstract Research on comparative efficacy of media has been flawed, giving a false impression of equipotentiality between media. Consequently, the need for workable criteria for optimal media deployment has been underestimated. A framework is proposed to help course developers design such media selection procedures. This has two ingredients: a broad categorisation of comparative merits of different media and a finer‐grained inventory of media‐distinctive techniques and teaching functions. Five media are considered in depth: radio and TV (broadcast), audio and video (cassette, with complementary notes) and print. These are then compared briefly with computer‐based media. The analysis considers six types of media characteristics: symbol system, access, controllability, student reactivity, interactivity, adaptivity. The framework was developed collaboratively over several years, with the help of theorists and practitioners in international seminars and workshops.
Jack Koumi (1994) studied this question.