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

AT a lime when schools are expanding their audiovisual programs, it is well to take a long, hard look at maintenance practices for costly equipment. The next five years will see tremendous growth ol investment in equipment designed to bring sight and sound into the classroom; the annual output of motion pictures and other audiovisual presentations for school use will undoubtedly keep pace. Part of this predicted growth is due to the enactment by the Federal Government of Public Law 85-864, "The National Defense Education Act of 1958," which specifically provides funds for the purchase of audiovisual equipment and improvement of such facilities in .schools. Why? .Someone, somewhere along the line has failed his responsibility—to the teacher, students and community. The magic moment is gone, never to be recaptured. To say that "all machines break down at the least expected time" is not enough. It is cjuite impossible to explain that the projector lamp has burned out; that all projector lamps burn out sooner or later, and "we were only trying to save money by using this one past its normal life." The school that has invested hard-to-come-by taxpayer dollars in audiovisual equipment owes it to itself— and to its students and supporters — to inaugurate a program of preventive maintenance. To fail to do so is to court disaster. ilirectly responsible for equipme can double check their own mat tenance programs: 1. Buy equipment that is capaV of giving toj) performance. It invariably more economical specify heavy-duty gear where cc stant use is likely to cause wt to moving parts. Quite often t lowest priced, or "special modi proves to be the costliest piece equipment in the long run. 2. Install equipment propei Where the equipment is in da use, there is little excuse for posed electrical connections. 0 school system found that its p jector maintenance bill could cut in half by providing for "u tized" dollies built in the sch' shop. When each projector This article is reprinted through the courtesy of THE APERTURE, publicacion of The Calvin Company, Kansas City, Missouri. The Author, Edgar Parsons, is president of Sight & Sound Inc., Washington, D. C. film consultant service. AUTHORS NOTE: No attempt has been made here to describe in detail the various types of audiovisual equipment used in schools, and it is intended to imply < any particular ty|ie quires more than o nary care. All manu turers imply or statt^ their guarantees thati equipment will perfi according to specL tions WHEN HANDD AND OPERATED CORDING TO DIW TIONS. No more cat expected of any pieo mechanical or electri equipment. One of the costliest — and most embarrassing — phases of any school audiovisual program is the failure of equipment to behave as the manufacturer intended. This aspect accounts for countless "embarrassing moments" when classes are assembled and keyed up to see a motion picture or sound slide film which illustrates a point in a course of study. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, the room goes dark, the screen image vanishes, and a buzz of conversation sounds throughout the room. When teachers are plagued by equipment failure, they lose their enthusiasm for use of valuable classroom tools. And when audiovisual programs lag through lack of enthusiasm on the part of teachers, a chain reaction sets in that is damaging to the entire concept of up-to-date instruction through use of the graphic illustration. The following checklist is for everyone concerned with effective utilization of audiovisual facilities, and provides a "road map" through which school officials and those rolled from classroom to classro the entire "package" was comp on a specially designed rolling < .\11 connections between exten speaker and projector remainec place, and the operator had onl insert a heavy-duty electrical ] into the room outlet, uncoil speaker cord and start the chine. Indeed, the picture c(' even be threaded ahead of V Such portable projector stands> now on the market but m schools still require students' lug the projector, speaker and • • by Edgar Parsons 22 EdScreen & AV Guide — January, 1