The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

June, 1934 Page 163 AMONG THE MAGAZINES AND BOOKS CONDUCTED BY MARION F. LANPHIER The Nation's Schools (May '34). "Visual Aids at tlif World's hair." by Major Chester I.. Fordney, I.'. S. Marine Corps. Major Fordney thinks that he can now come near giving a favorable reply to the ancient Ptolemy inquiring for a royal road to learning by citing the World's Fair. If the Egyptian ruler has not profited by his several millenia. perhaps he may return to acquire vast learning at Chicago's spectacle. "A visitor to a Century of Progress has available a broad road to knowledge which, if not shorter than the conventional way. is, we like to believe, wider and more easily traveled. The ex- hibits and the methods used in their presentation should have a definite effect on education." They are of the dynamic type and are sufficiently durable to last 150 days. The scientific exhibits cannot be too technical for the populace, nor can they be mere fireworks, nor stoop to charlatanry. "Perhaps the oldest science (mathematics), is characterized by its perennial youth." The slides projected from within an octagonal prism in the Hall of Science reveal this fact, as they appeal to all spectators from ten years of age to the eldest. Almost a year was required to prepare them in the University of Michigan. A spectacular display of Pollock's Models presents ever changing surfaces of light intersecting stringed surfaces in motion. "Those who have with closed eyes and bowed heads tried to visualize the figures and curves met in descrip- tive geometry will groan in an agony of regret that this presentation was not available in Fresh- man davs. . . ." The author believes that what may seem to be impractical truths of abstraction often have a most wholesome effect upon the mind, and that a deliberate attempt to create something of immediate utility usua'ly leads to "shoddy work of only passing value." Sight and Sound (Spring '34) "How to Get the Films You Want." by R. S. Lambert. (Address broadcast. Feb. 27.) In an address to the North Kssex Educational Fellowship, Mr. II. Ratnsbotham, M. P., Parliamen- tary Secretary to the Board of Education, said that we may consider the educational value of the mo- tion picture as instruction and as illumination. The latter is the more important. We have not been taught to use our eyes sufficiently. "I am inclined to think that the silent film is better for the pur- pose of teaching than the 'talkie'. It is likely to he a more satisfactory representation of the time (in historic films) for I think it must he a good deal easier to give a reasonably good picture of the peo- ple of a past age than to reproduce accurately their h and their opinions. So it seems to me best for the teacher to be the 'talkie'." "Films in Medical Education/' by L. W. Harri- son, l>. S. O., M. B., F. R. C. P. E., appears in the same i~sue. A clear report of experience in filming medical subjects for thirteen years includes the diseases of gonorrhea and syphilis, For the latter filming, a temporary studio was fitted up. The Illinois Teacher ( May '34) "The Motion Pic- ture in Theaters Its Relationship to the Work of the School." by Cathcryn Cooke Gilman. As chairman of the Motion Picture Committee of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers for many years. Mrs. Gilman speaks with authority on the power of the motion picture to create and to change attitudes for or against social sanctions. political practices, economic theories, and religious concepts. "Motion pictures exhibited in theaters have a dis- tinct advantage over teachers, the text, and the school buildings. Mental receptivity is at his height in the theater. The observer is there by choice . . . The mental resistance prevalent among stu- dents in schools is removed in the theater." The Payne Fund Studies show that "not only do moving pictures leave a definite imprint upon the minds of children but that this effort or mental in- fluence is cumulative in accordance with the sub- stance of the pictures seen." In view of these facts .-be urges school authorities to use motion pictures as visual aids and to give immediate consideration to the character and treatment of subject material used in the motion picture theatre. International Review of Educational Cinema- tography (April '34) This number is well up to the standard of previous issues in interest and useful- ness, as a brief summary of the contents shows. It includes: "The State and the Scholastic Cin- ema," by Prof. Aniedeo Perna. who advocates con- trol of films by the state and outlines a plan of work: "The Recreational Film and Elementary School Children," by Dr. Louis Gesek, an exposi- tion of the legislative measures governing attend- ance of young people at the cinema in Austria; "The Classification of Educational Films for an In- ternational Catalogue." by 1 >r Ernst Rust, which otTers suggestions for such a comprehensive work: and several articles on the general subject of "The Cinema for Documenting the Life of the Peoples.'