We are constantly exploring how to inspire adult learning
From its very beginnings the BBC has had a mission to inform, educate and entertain audiences. Lord Reith, the BBC's first director-general, saw the power that broadcast, initially over the radio, could have on education. In his book Broadcast Over Britain, published in 1924, Reith identified how the BBC could be used to educate audiences of all ages through the broadcast of lectures for adults "at some convenient hour which will not interfere with the normal work".
And so the BBC's commitment to adult education began. During the 1920s and 1950s, adult education lectures were broadcast on topics such as natural history, politics and music. Hundreds of listener groups were set up across the country to help audiences pursue education and training. By the 1960s adult education had made the leap on to television, with factual series such as The Science of Man, with content often supported with print resources, mailed to viewers once they had sent a stamped-addressed envelope. Drama was also developed as a tool for educating audiences. Perhaps one of the best-remembered educational dramas was On the Move, which starred Bob Hoskins and portrayed a man's journey back into education. Its impact was huge, with more than 125,000 adults recruited back into adult education over a three-year period, and truly showed the effect that broadcast could have in inspiring adult learners.
The power of broadcast was again seen in 1992, when the BBC launched Second Chance to coincide with the first Adult Learners' Week. Over the course of a week, 35 short sketches were played out across the BBC, supported by documentaries, radio content and a telephone advice line. As with On the Move, the impact on audiences was massive. Fifty-seven thousand people rang the helpline, 350,000 support publications were requested and thousands more people attended local events at further education colleges.
Today's audiences have different lifestyles, with different needs, interests and demands, and the BBC has moved on from stamped-addressed envelopes to embrace new technologies. Online campaigns such as the People's War and First Click, and our adult skills sites Skillswise and Webwise have been extremely popular. The combination of online resources and new technologies, including mobile and iPTV, provide new and innovative ways of connecting with and inspiring audiences, and we are constantly exploring how we can use these in order to engage adults in learning.
But broadcast, whether on television or radio, still has an important place in adult education if we are to deliver our renewed vision to inspire a life full of learning for all our audiences. Earlier this year I announced a new partnership with BBC Daytime on a documentary and drama project on BBC1 around adult literacy. My hope is that through our work with internal and external partners we can create a multifaceted campaign, driven by broadcast and reinforced with online and face-to-face interactions – a campaign that will resonate with today's generation of adult learners with as much, if not more, power and impact as On the Move did in the 1970s.
Saul Nassé is the controller of BBC Learning