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

LET THE ELECTRIC BOARD HELP YOU TEACH by JOHN MOLDSTAD The right connection brings audio acclaim. HAVE YOU ever used an electric board to stimulate interest in learning new facts? Or to challenge students to try their powers of mental calculation? If not. you are missing an opportunity to give your students an exciting learning experience. Whether you are a kindergarten teacher or a college professor, the electric hoard is a device you can use. But what is an electric board? It is sini|ily a device which enables a teacher to set up a series of matching questions or problems in one column and a number of possible solutions in a second column. When a student places one lead wire on a contact beside a specific question or problem and a second lead wire on a contact beside the correct answer, he is rewarded by seeing a bulb light up, or hearing a buzzer, or both, depending on how the board is equipped. If he fails to select the correct answer to the problem or question he has chosen, he receives the "silent treatment"— no lights, no noise! Dr. Moldstad is Instructor m Education and Research Associate at the Audio-Visual Center, Indiana University. Phot') re-touching for this article was done by Harvey Fije, Supervisor of Graphic Arts at the lU Audio-Visual Center. What are some of its possible uses? .\n electric board is a very versatile teaching aid and can be used with ]jeople of all ages and in almost every subject and interest area. For exam|)le, on the elementary level many teachers like to use the electric board lor developing vocabulary and reading (omprehension. They place small ]jictures of farm animals in one column and names or short descriptions of the animals in the second column. The youngsters then have an exciting and rewarding experience while checking their ability to match the animal ))ictures and their correct names or descriptions. It's no problem to encourage youngsters to learn their arithmetic combinations when the electric board is put into use. If the board is properly designed, the problems and an.swers can be made on cards by the students and easily inserted opposite the electrical contacts. In this way, additional learning experiences are provided. The electric board is just as useful on the intermediate and junior high levels. Children find it a fascinating way to learn music notes and their relative values. Mathematics teachers use it to encourage mental calculation of areas and volumes of some of the common geometric figures, or to challenge their algebra students to match linear equations and their solutions. History teachers encourage review of historical events and their respective dates by letting students try their skill on the electric board. Senior high teachers in specialized areas such as shorthand, sewing, and industrial arts find many situations where this device enables them to provide intriguing and challenging problem situations. The matching of shorthand symbols and corresponding words, various sewing stitches and their names, models or pictures of various joints or wood cuts and their identifying terms, referee hand signals and football infractions, highway road signs and their meanings are but a few of the numerous possibilities which this device offers. .Size and type of materials are the first considerations in making an electric board. The dimensions should be determined by use; however, in most situations an electric board need not be larger than 21 by 3(i inches. A wide variety of materials may be used, de])ending upon desired permanence. Inexpensive materials such as stiff cardboard or poster board are suitable, provided they are of sufficient rigidity to resist bending. Quarter-inch plywood is very satisfactory material if a more duraljle electric board is desired. The layout of the board will depend upon the specific material to be September, 1955 295