Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) - Australia
The Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) is a national non-profit organisation that has been working since 1982 to encourage development, production, and dissemination of television programmes, films, and other audiovisual media for children. It promotes these productions in the Australian community, sharing information through media such as the Learning Centre available on its website. The ACTF's aim is to create products that are entertaining, educational, and identifiably Australian.
Communication Strategies
The ACTF acts as a catalyst, bringing together the industry's resources and complementing the work of those already involved in children's programming. Its role is to:
To launch this process, as part of a commitment to the World Summit on Media for Children, ACTF's International Training and Development scheme sought to empower producers and broadcasters to provide quality content in children's programmes, particularly in developing countries. Seven professional development workshops were conducted over that time; regional and international events for children's media practitioners were also supported. Although there was a strong emphasis on content, directing and general production for children's programmes were also a focus. As participants in these workshops, broadcasters in Mongolia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, China, Brunei, and other countries worked to develop new programmes for children and help their producers gain a better understanding of the needs and wants of their child audiences.
ACTF is also involved with a range of community groups as part of an effort to extend the use of ACTF programmes. Face-to-face encounters are part of this strategy: ACTF provides educational workshops in all states and territories. Books and teaching materials accompany all ACTF programmes, which are also available on video. ACTF has also developed a Resource Centre of books, periodicals, and tapes on children and the media; it is designed for use by researchers, producers, tertiary students, and academics, but is open to all members of the public. (These holdings may also be searched and/or accessed online).
The ACTF website is another key tool for sharing information. For example, the "Teaching Materials" link in the Learning Centre page on this site provides lesson plans that have been developed around ACTF's productions. In addition, connections are made here between the different media in which ACTF works - each television programme has its own website, which might feature trivia, free e-cards, educational sections for teachers, and character profiles.
Along these lines, ACTF believes that entertaining media can be an effective teaching and learning tool. It has created the educational multi-media construction tool-set "Kahootz" to be used in schools by primary and secondary students across a range of key learning areas. The tool-set gives children the power to create complex narratives, puzzles, and presentations in a 3-dimensional world. Teacher tools and classroom examples can be found on the Kahootz website.
Advocacy is another core ACTF focus; the organisation actively engages in debate on issues concerning Australian children's program content. It prepares submissions to regulatory bodies and government, and seeks to inform key decision-makers.
The ACTF acts as a funding body for other children's television producers, offering both script development funding and production investment. The aim is to stimulate greater activity in the development and production of high-quality television programmes for children. The programme provides development finance for producers, script writers, script editors, and consultants, as well as funds for budget preparation.
- initiate development and production of innovative television programmes and concepts provide development finance to writers, directors, and producers for script, programme, and series development
- undertake production-oriented research and evaluation
- provide an advisory service to programme makers
- market programmes in Australia and overseas
- develop educational materials to support ACTF programmes
- promote ACTF programmes in the community
To launch this process, as part of a commitment to the World Summit on Media for Children, ACTF's International Training and Development scheme sought to empower producers and broadcasters to provide quality content in children's programmes, particularly in developing countries. Seven professional development workshops were conducted over that time; regional and international events for children's media practitioners were also supported. Although there was a strong emphasis on content, directing and general production for children's programmes were also a focus. As participants in these workshops, broadcasters in Mongolia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, China, Brunei, and other countries worked to develop new programmes for children and help their producers gain a better understanding of the needs and wants of their child audiences.
ACTF is also involved with a range of community groups as part of an effort to extend the use of ACTF programmes. Face-to-face encounters are part of this strategy: ACTF provides educational workshops in all states and territories. Books and teaching materials accompany all ACTF programmes, which are also available on video. ACTF has also developed a Resource Centre of books, periodicals, and tapes on children and the media; it is designed for use by researchers, producers, tertiary students, and academics, but is open to all members of the public. (These holdings may also be searched and/or accessed online).
The ACTF website is another key tool for sharing information. For example, the "Teaching Materials" link in the Learning Centre page on this site provides lesson plans that have been developed around ACTF's productions. In addition, connections are made here between the different media in which ACTF works - each television programme has its own website, which might feature trivia, free e-cards, educational sections for teachers, and character profiles.
Along these lines, ACTF believes that entertaining media can be an effective teaching and learning tool. It has created the educational multi-media construction tool-set "Kahootz" to be used in schools by primary and secondary students across a range of key learning areas. The tool-set gives children the power to create complex narratives, puzzles, and presentations in a 3-dimensional world. Teacher tools and classroom examples can be found on the Kahootz website.
Advocacy is another core ACTF focus; the organisation actively engages in debate on issues concerning Australian children's program content. It prepares submissions to regulatory bodies and government, and seeks to inform key decision-makers.
The ACTF acts as a funding body for other children's television producers, offering both script development funding and production investment. The aim is to stimulate greater activity in the development and production of high-quality television programmes for children. The programme provides development finance for producers, script writers, script editors, and consultants, as well as funds for budget preparation.
Development Issues
Children, Youth, Education.
Partners
Financial support provided by: Commonwealth Department of Communication, Information Technology and the Arts; Australian Capital Territory Department of Education, Youth and Family Services; New South Wales Film and Television Office; New South Wales Department of Education and Training; Northern Territory Department of Education; Education Queensland;
South Australian Department of Education and Children's Services; Tasmanian Department of Education; Film Victoria; and the Western Australian Department of Education and Training.
Sources
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