Originally founded in 1962 as the National Instructional Television Library (NITL), AIT operated in Bloomington, Indiana for almost fifty years, creating educational television programming for National Educational Television (NET) and later PBS. The organization prided itself as leader in developing educational material for a television age and believed that evolving televisual technology could, according to one AIT catalogue, “complement traditional teaching by providing ‘field trips’ through time and space, demonstrations, and simulations.” A shift in emphasis from “television” to “technology” in 1984 marked the expansion of AIT to include development of instructional materials for computers and other technologies. The mission of AIT paralleled the various audio-visual instructional activities at Indiana University’s own Audio-Visual Center (AVC) and the NET Film Service, which, through a network of collaborative efforts, produced and distributed educational programming for nearly half a century.
Agency for Instructional Technology (AIT)
Features from the Agency for Instructional Technology

Learn about the digitization process of AIT video and the multiple formats of audio-visual materials being saved for the next generation of researchers.

Learn about the history and development of one of AIT's first educational series. Watch full episodes by clicking on the gallery on the exhibit page.

Watch full episodes from this fifteen-part series addressing problems of early adolescence. The program helps younger teens cope with physical and emotional changes.

John Allman was producer and director for educational films from the Agency for Instructional Television/Technology and Communico.

John Huston was Cinematographer for films made by the Agency For Instructional Television/Technology and Communico.

Watch the full series of this program that explores the complex emotions of children. Share in a child's attempts to deal with everything from bullying to climate change.

Watch full episodes from the entire 1975 series Wordsmith, with host Bob Smith and a colorful cast of language lovers. The series teaches valuable lessons about words and vocabulary.

Brush up on math skills with this 28-part series tackling everything from basic arithmetic to complex problem solving equations. See kid-centered learning in real life situations.

Watch the full series of this program designed to improve educational perspectives on economics and confront children ages 9-13 with economic questions and problems.

Watch the complete series of this innovative and entertaining program that was designed to help kids ages 9-12 with career choices and vocational development.

Immerse yourself in this sixty-part series that helps 5th and 6th graders become independent learners and improves skills in critical thinking and reasoning skills.

Listen to charming folktales with origins from all over the world (Russia, Germany, Iraq, Hawaii, and Zanzibar) and see illustrations from those stories drawn in real-time.

Early nineties drug abuse prevention program, depicting real-life situations that teach teens and young adults how to situations and influences that lead to drug use.

One of the first of its kind! Using real-world examples and stories to illustrate complex ideas about trade, free-markets, and more, the program teaches grades 8-10 about basic economics.

Entertaining series teaching teens how to confront real life problems and process feelings through dramatic scenarios and snappy dialog.

Learn Spanish with Perro Pepe and Senorita Fernandez through 31 lessons geared to elementary school children. There's mucho singing and adventuring!

Learn U.S. history through the lens of geographic change and social developments from the nation's past. For middle school grades.

This program teaches middle and high school math skills and demonstrates how they can be applied to real-world situations. Solve problems related to measurement and graphing.

Introduces elementary students to the science and functions of the human body. The program emphasizes good health and hygiene and even addresses psychological wellness.

Twenty-eight episodes introducing advanced elementary and middle school learners to basic mathematics. Each episode emphasizes a particular skill or math formula that can be applied to solve real-world problems.

Host John Robbins reads illustrated stories that teach elementary school children important lessons and help them build personal values.

Each episode from this series presents dramatizations designed to help teachers deal with problems like frustration, anger, isolation, change and pressure.

Arts Alive is a 13-part series introducing youngsters to the world of arts performance, entertainment, and appreciation. Hosted by Lynn Swann.

Ten 15-minute video programs in world geography for grades 6-9 in a joint project of the National Council for Geographic Education and the National Geographic Society.

A twelve part program of 15 minute episodes on language arts designed to increase the ability of students to communicate effectively in their own lives.

Paul Rigler teaches basic drawings techniques in the technical and creative process, walking viewers through everything from perspective drawing to cartooning.

Language arts program that uses dramatic storytelling and vocabulary applications to teach about words and their meaning.

Teaches strategies and techniques for communicating in business settings and every day workplace situations.

Meaningful conversations about emotions in this program that helps upper elementary school students process feelings.

Learn everyday mathematical skills in dramatic segments that use real-life situations and on the job scenarios to teach ways to solve common problems.

Join host John Rugg as he reviews historical sites and events from America's past. Episodes are organized by U.S. region to teach geography lessons to middle grades.

Explores a range of technological innovations and contextualizes them with critical questions about human communication, ethics, and other social concerns.

This energetic program focuses on health and wellness for children in kindergarten and the primary grades. Hosted by educational TV favorite Slim Goodbody (John Burstein).

Series of fifteen lessons designed to help teach sentence combining techniques to third and fourth grader. that features animated character R.B. Bugg and his editor Red Green played by Beverly Todd.

Program with eleven fourteen-minute episodes each one about a different aspect of measurement using the metric system. Shows how measurement can be applied to a variety of real-life situations.

Uses dramatizations to highlight teenagers' firsthand experiences with the effects of taxation and to explain the reasons for taxes.

Uses dramatizations to highlight teenagers' firsthand experiences with the effects of taxation and to explain the reasons for taxes.

Just for me is a program designed to help teachers and parents aid children in dealing with the peer pressures of drugs and alcohol use.