The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

A-V COMMITTEE OF FIVE come down to earthly schools, come up with ten-volume report. versity of Indiana performed a real service for schools in making available a color motion picture on the making of lantern slides. In the U. S. as well as Mars, these slides make excellent class projects and pupils learn a great deal in their preparation. The miniature color slide is coming into its own in the schools. The Society for Visual Education and others have done a good job in making a large number of slides readily accessible. Here again the teacher and the class may prepare their own sets of slides for classroom use. The Committee noted that many classes have prepared Kodachromes for use in their study of the local community. Filmstrips With regard to the use of filmstrips. the Earthlings seem to have had an experience similar to that of Martians. Martian educators will remember that filmstrips once enjoyed great popularity in our schools. Then the teachers became discouraged with their poor quality and neglected them for the more glamorous motion picture. After the novelty of the motion picture had worn off somewhat, we re-examined our use of filmstrips and found that if they were properly made, they served many purposes beyond the realm of the motion picture. Thev presented illuminated still pictures in an organized and integrated series. They proved especially effective for discussion purposes and for teaching step-by-step processes. The Earthlings have made similar discoveries, and right now filmstrips are enjoying great popularity in the schools of the United States. Two threats to the efficient use of filmstrips were noted by the Committee. First, the quality still leaves much to he desired and, secondly, the country is being flooded with "package deals" that offer a large number of strips at very little cost. Unfortunately, many of the filmstrips in such a package are likely to be of little teaching value and often do not fit well into the curriculum. Earth educators would do well to select filmstrips with greater care, evaluating the worth of each one and not allowing quantity to take the place of quality. Motion Pictures Great strides have been made in the use of motion pictures. Encyclopaedia Britannica showed the way with their excellent science films. Coronet has done outstanding work in the field of human relations. United World Films has made earth geography come to life in a recent series of motion pictures. Others, too, have done outstanding work. The schools of the United States have welcomed the educational film. It has brought realism, drama, and adventure into the classroom. Films are distributed largely through state or local film libraries. Often schools have to wait for months to get the films they want. We Martians are indeed fortunate in having a film library in each school. Educators of the United States are aware that their greatest problem in connection with film use is the training of teachers to employ films as real learning materials rather than as novelties to use up a class period. Techniques of film use are being developed and real progress seems to be indicated. Recordings Records, transcriptions, and wire and tape recorders are being used more and more extensively. The disc record is the good old standby, enlivening music, English, and social studies classes especially. There seems to be a need, however, for a central distributing agency for (Continued on page 243) June, 1951 221