PRESCHOOL WebTV
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The developing relationship between TV and the Web has been more competitive than complimentary. WebTV tries to bank on the Web's best features, and the Web is all too often used as a promotional tool for TV-series rather than as a way to supplement TV's content. An exception is TOTS TV Theater, a website enhancing the award-winning TOTS TV preschool series, created by Ragdoll Productions (UK) Ltd. in association with Carlton Television, and produced in partnership with The itsy bitsy Entertainment Company. The series is aired in weekly half-hour episodes on PBS and its first episode was broadcast simultaneously on TV and the Web to launch the site. A website targeted at preschoolers seems to be a contradiction in terms (after all, preschoolers can't be expected to read or navigate the Internet) or at least a very ambitious enterprise. TOTS TV Theater--developed by Outreach Extensions and The itsy bitsy Entertainment Company in association with the PBS Internet Publishing Group--has in fact been designed with two audiences in mind: it strives to appeal to kids and directly engage them and offers parents tools they can use to help their children learn, giving them the opportunity to explore the site together.  A mixture of puppetry, live action and animation, TOTS TV centers on three characters--Tilly, Tom & Tiny--who live in a secret house in the woods. It presents preschoolers with a range of different experiences designed to encourage creative play, as well as emotional and imaginative interaction. Visitors to the site can preview a clip of a future show, and access the scripts (each presented in two acts) of all the previously aired episodes; they may also take a look at a VDOLive clip from each episode. The site also includes a section on "Puppet Plays and Activities" and "Puppets and Patterns," featuring suggestions for making different kinds of puppets as well as tips on how to use them. The most remarkable feature of this site is that it's bilingual (English/Spanish), and helps children to become accustomed to a different language. One of the characters, Tilly, speaks Spanish exclusively and English speakers understand what she is saying because the words/concepts are restated in English by the other characters. In a lot of ways, TOTS TV Theater sets new standards for educational websites targeted at children. |