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

Letters To the Editor: For some time I have been wanting to write you telling you how much I enjoy EdScreen and AVGuide — and especially your editorials. These are always of a high calibre, and many of them are almost masterpieces! I feel constrained to take issue with a couple items in the November issue. On page 607 is the story of Family Films Filmstrip Replacement Policy. The author was quite right in saying that it may be that other filmstrip producers follow a similar policy, because Cathedral Films instigated this practice about 8 or 10 years ago. Every Cathedral filmstrip can for years has carried a decal giving this replacement information. Actually, Family Films followed suit four or five years ago! The article on "The Diggleswitch" is a classic! I want to use it in some of my presentations! The article on the "Do-ItYourself" Language Lab was read with interest because I have been working on a similar project. A couple of things disturbed me about this article, however. One is the complicated way in which it is set up. By using a different make of tape recorder, the entire operation can be accomplished much more satisfactorily without all the extra "gadgets." But the thing that disturbed me most was the statement of Cost of Equipment. In the first place, a magazine of this high standard should not be a party to deliberate price cutting practices. It may be that the author was able to get all of the equipment and parts listed for "$225," but that does not mean that others could do the same. If the author had given the standard selling prices for all the parts, it would not have disappointed those who cannot obtain these at the fantastically low prices he quoted. For example, while he did not mention the recorder by name, the description and picture indicate that he used the Wollensak T-1515 stereo Two AV Books Available Educational Screen has a limited supply of two volumes, Picture Values in Education, and Comparative Effectiveness of Some Visual Aids in Seventh Grade Instruction, both by Joseph J. Weber. One or both are available upon written request at a cost of one dollar each to cover postage and handling. tape recorder. This is priced at $229.50. The Mixer-Pre-AmpUfier is a Bogen MX6, priced at $65.00. Earphones can be obtained in many prices, but let's take an average of $7.50 each. Then there are an assortment of jacks, resistors, switches, boxes, wires, etc., that would probably mount up to $10 or $15. Add to this the assembly of this equipment. This gives a total of approximately $322.00 for just the student position, plus approximately $25 to $30 for the teacher position as a minimum. This is quite a bit different from the author's "$225" mentioned in the article, and it is much more realistic. Actually, we have a modified version of the V-M 720 tape recorder that we sell to schools for $225 (plus whatever headphone they desire) which is a complete self-contained language laboratory that will use all standard language laboratory tapes, which the above setup will not do. And we do it without any external contrivances of any kind (except the microphone and headphones). The point I'm trying to make is that standard prices should always be shown; then if the user can get lower prices all the better, but if he is not able to, he will know what to expect, pricewise, when purchasing. Harvey W. Marks President National Audio-Visital Assn. Denver To the Editor: I read your editorial regarding 4letter words as titles of organizations. I would like to add a few. A few years ago I wrote an article about a mythical Instructional Materials Center (as I dreamed it). The article was never published, mainly because one magazine rejected the idea because it was too hypothetical. I called the center CRADLE (Curriculum Research and Development Laboratory Experiment) because it could be the cradle of a new curriculum. To add to your list: BARD: Bureau of Auditory Research & Development BRAT: Bureau of Research and Training BROAD: Bureau of Research on Automated Devices BEAM: Bureau of Educational Aid Maintenance BULB: Bureau for Unscrewing Light Bulbs BOLD: Bureau for Obsolete Lighting Devices BARN: Bureau for Automation Research Nullification (Continued on Page 88) EVEN IN CLASSROOMS SUNSHINE-BRIGHT Your Present Projector . . . shows clear, brilliant motion pictures For less than the cost of darkening a single room, the Wilson Movie-Mover "RP" brings motion-picture education to every room in a building, wing, or floor! Solves teaching problems, frees needed funds for purchase of materials and equipment. Demonstrated in your own school without obligation. Just send in the coupon. For every projector table need, see the Wilson line first. Full line / of quality tables, * competitively priced, with exclusive safety features, including the only table built for safe operation of RCA, Eastman, and Ampro projectors. Specially-built tables for your ETV needs, too. H. WILSON CORP 106 Wilson St. Park Forest, III. Please send full informat on, including name of my nearest dealer on: n Movie-Mover "RP" n Movie-Mover Tables D Speelol ETV Tables SrhnnI Address rih/ X. <;ini» Educational Scrren Aivn AiininvisiiAi. CiiinE — Ff.rriiary. lOfil ^<;