The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

June, 194} Page 203 of all kinds, radio, jihonograph records, demonstrations, displays, working models, slides, film strips, and motion ])ictures, silent or sound, black and white or in color, are examples. For teaching Morse Code, no device can serve better its purpose as a teaching aid than the ])honograph record. There is on the market a splendid set of twenty records which is used in several schools at present. The method of use is simple. A record is played, then played again, and again, until the student has learned his lesson. He hears, at first, an attempt to vocalize the signal, da—, da, da (followed by the signal dash, dot, dot) and he is told that it is the signal for the letter D. Subsec[uent lessons increase in difficulty and soon code dictation is given which the students take down, and which can later be corrected from a key accompanying the teacher's manual. Records are u.seful. also, for ear-training in the lan- guages not only of the allied nations, but also of the enemy nations. .As they are played, the student listens to an explanation, a pronunciation, and then, in unison with the voice on the record, he attempts to pronounce himself, the letter or syllable .spoken. The process is repeated until success is attained. Especially for those who hope to become pilots or navigators and therefore will cover vast areas of the earth's surface, global geography is valuable, and can be made easier if a globe of the world is available. By carefully studying a sixteen inch physical and political globe, the student learns with a piece of string, using an easy scale (one inch equals about five hundred miles) that the .shortest route by air from Chicago to Moscow is by way of the north polar regions, and also why .ships from New York to Liverpool go by way of Newfound- land. On that same globe, he finds highlands and low- lands, prevailing wind directions and ocean currents; gradually he forms a vivid mental map of island dis- tribution and location. For the astronomer and celestial navigator the as- tronomical globe makes it possible for him to under- stand more clearly declination and right ascension. From it he learns the constellations and their locations, and soon finds the sixty .stars which he will be required to know, name, and locate in post-induction application. In a course in Aeronautics given in one Connecticut school, sections of Pratt and Whitney motors are demonstrated. Such parts as valves, pu.sh rods, cam, carburetor, comiectins; rods, master rod and crank .shaft are .seen and handled by the class meml>ers who usually have a good supply of questions to ask. The demon- stration certainly luakes the lesson clear. It is in this same class that after actually pulling the cord on a real jiarachute the students see the cover snap open and the small pilot chute unfold. In a few moments thev learn what a parachute looks like and feels like, but their most interesting experience is trying to get the cover closed again. Much energy is expended in the eflfort. but with little success. The lesson taught here is that a man luu.st be experienced in order to be a para- chute packer, and that proper folding and packing is essential for safety. Practice in constructing vector polygons necessary in the solution of navigation problems is given in a class in Plane Geometry using for the teaching aids only maps, protractors, compasses, and measuring scales. Demonstrating the effect of a swift current of air on top curved surface of plane's wing, in the Bray motion picture "Youth Takes to Wings." The diagrams constructed include wind drift, radius of action, interception, and wind correction, and involve drawing to scale, scale selection, laying-out angles vyith the protractor, and measuring direction between points on a map. This kind of work creates much interest among the students, and the results are surprisingly good, considering the crudeness and inaccurateness of the tools used. It is pre-induction training at its best. No attempt can be made to estimate the number of in.structors who are using film strips in their courses in Aviation. Theory of Flight, Electricity, Magnetism, Map Reading, Machine Shop, and Mechanics. These strips, or slides on film, are very compact, require little storage space and may be shown by anyone without previous instruction with a small ea.sy-to-handle pro- jector. They are very plentiful. One conqjany alone advertises seventeen thou.sand slides designed especially to meet current demand for accurate teaching aids for use in the pre-induction courses. These, however, are for sale and not for rent, although a few kits may be rented from private owners and some state defense councils. In using film strips, instructors find it an advantage to be able to project a frame on a screen, and to allow it to remain there as long as it is necessary, while spe- cific details of the material illustrated are ex])lained. And, too, after a frame has been removed, it can always be returned to the screen if needed again, and only de- sired fraiues can be selected. The motion picture film forms a very large source of teaching aids from which the pre-induction training teacher can select. More than one hundred and eighty titles are included in a list published by the Office of War Information. These titles cover many fields and are distributed through approximately a dozen govern- ment agencies, free of charge or for a small service fee. Likewise, a rather extensive list is published by the Connecticut State Defense Council. No rental fee is charged by the Council for use of a film but there is a service fee of fifty cents and transportation. All states have depositories, usually located at the state univer- (Concluded on page 217)