The Film Industry in Canada: A Report (1977)

0a = As with other applications of computer-communications , progress has not been as rapid as was expected, and the vision for educational developments by 1980, now only four years away, is unlikely to be achieved. Nonetheless, the widespread use of audio-visual materials in education today is revolutionary. The standard television receiver has become commonplace. Many schools are cabled for internal distribution of programs received by a headend either from direct broadcasts or through a commercial cable system. Head-ends are now being equipped with videotape equipment so that classes may receive programs whenever they are required rather than when they may have been broadcast. Head-ends can also be equipped with telecine chains, so that large portions of existing film libraries can be distributed over the video system. Individual classrooms are now being equipped with videotape players and monitors; the programs available will, in the foreseeable future, be greatly increased in numbers by the introduction of the video disk. In the fall of 1972, the federal Government, with the approval and cooperation of the Council of Ministers of Education, initiated a program of research into educational technology. The reasoning behind this development was that the federal government had available, in the Department of Communications, a source of technical expertise that could provide beneficial information to all the provincial education authorities in the field of audio-visual developments. Unfortunately, this promising program was terminated on 31 March 1976 as part of the general cut-back in federal expenditures.