Educational screen & audio-visual guide (c1956-1971])

.hildren Learn! hy James M. Meagher Coordinator, Audio-Visual Instructional Materials, Penlield Central Schools, Penfield, New York ^ ^Utl/0 COtiTkOL 7 I — t STUDIO l\ O PRiVIEW i SCHSEHinc D D D D D D D D P D □ D D D D n bio VISUAL DEPARTIAEIi T fiti!) HICH SCHOOL Ftii Fl nt>. tldV YOKK '.OVS, PAkKS, /AOA/ff, HALL 4 AAfHItAff UTtCTS f.DCHtST[H,NllY YOUK. tions. The audiovisual office is the administrative center for audiovisual instructional materials for the school district. It is here that routine detail is handled; film bookings for example. Here also, professional literature, catalogs of materials, new recordings and so on are displayed. And it is in this office that teachers confer with the audiovisual coordinator in relation to all matters concerning procurement and use. Leading from the office are the following rooms: a preview and screening room, an audio control room, an audio studio, a recordings storage room, and two rooms serving to house a filmstrip library and for the production of materials. Between the library and the audio visual area is a conference room, which is used also for individual listening to both tape and disc recordings. The preview and screening room is designed to accommodate small groups for preview and workshop purjxjses. Straight down Kleigl lighting strips fall upon folding lecture chairs, enabling note-taking during the projection of pictures. Remote control of apparatus is provided through floor conduits from the front to the back of the room; speaker lines run from the front to the back of the room in comparable floor conduits. You will note on the drawing that separating the screening and preview room from the audio studio is a large modern folding door. The idea here is to adapt this entire area to a production set either for television or motion picture production. The audio control, located adjacent to these rooms, houses the public address console and is designed with a large monitoring window so that production in the studio areas can be directed. The recordings library room needs no particular discussion. Records are stored in vertical shelving and arranged on the shelves by Dewey number. Recordings are circulated in the same manner as books from the library. Providing space for the storage, distribution and production of materials was an important consideration in planning the audiovisual offices. Two rooms illustrated in the accompanying drawing and photographs provide for this. In this area filmstrips are stored on shelving designed to hold several thousand titles. The filmstrips are arranged on the shelves by Dewey number and may be quickly identified by teachers and students and previewed at preview stations provided in the counter. Drawers and cupboards serve for the storage of spare lamps and other appropriate materials. Production of materials is provided for in these rooms with cameras and other production facilities. However, it is important to observe here that darkroom facilities are incorporated in the science area, as it was thought that photography was a proper function of science teaching. The darkroom is available to all teachers for the production of materials. In planning for the most effective utilization of materials, each classroom and laboratory was equipped with its own wall screen, and all classrooms were equipped with audiovisual Venetian blinds. By using blinds, provision was made not only for darkening but also for light control. During the construction of the new high school, problems developed which were not foreseen in the planning stages. For example, in many modern schools wall and ceiling construction is such that adequate support ordinarily is not provided for wall and ceiling type screens. Fortunately, this situation was observed in time, so that spe EdScreen & AV Guide — January, 1959 17