Film and Radio Guide (Oct 1945-Jun 1946)

Jonuory, 1 946 FILM AND RADIO GUIDE 15 10. Maintaining a loan library for situations within a district which required only occasional use of films and filmstrips. For over two years Lieutenant Commander Noel headed the Utilization and Evaluation Section of the Training-Aids Division of the U. S. Navy and gave leadership to this program, which was an important phase of the Naval training activities. He ascribes to his officers, both men and women, most of the credit for the successful use of audio-visual materials in Naval training. In the fall of 1944, at the request of the Secretary of State, Lieutenant Commander Noel was placed on the Navy inactive list to go with the Department of State as an Audio-Visual Consultant to the Conference of Allied Ministers of Education then meeting in London. Noel’s special assignment lasted five months, two months of which were spent in London counselling with the ministers of education of the occupied countries on the place of visual education in the solution of their problems of educational rehabilitation. Questions like these were considered : What will the educational needs be after the war ? What will the schools be trying to teach? How can audio-visual materials help meet these objectives? What kinds of materials will be needed? In short, Noel’s duties included analyzing audio-visual education needs for the educational rehabilitation of European nations; exchanging views with the ministers of education of European nations regarding American experiences in this field; participating in the various meetings of the Conference ; observing United Kingdom practices in the use of audio-visual materials, and preparing the final reports and recommenda Lt. Commander Francis W. Noel tions for the future participation of the United States in this field on the international level. After completing his Department of State assignment in April, 1945, Noel returned to California to accept his present position as Chief of the Division of Audio-Visual Education in the California State Department of Education. Although California has led many other states in the development of audio-visual education departments at county and city levels, it was not until 1945 that a Division of AudioVisual Education was set up in the State Department of Education. The new Division aims to co-ordinate and give leadership to the audio-visual-education movement which is making such rapid strides throughout California. Problems of classroom and administration effectiveness in the use of audio-visual materials at all educational levels from the kindergarten through the college, of setting standards for the services of local audio-visual departments, of evaluating and appraising equipment and materials, of encouraging and counselling on production activities, of co-operating with museums, of serving the professional staff of the State Department of Edu cation, and of interpreting the State’s educational program to the public are a few that Noel is grappling with. Some idea of the magnitude and scope of the new Division’s task may be gained by a few statistics : in California, the second largest state in the union, there are approximately 50,000 teachers employed in some 1,800 kindergartens, 4,000 elementary schools, 550 junior and senior high schools, 45 junior colleges, 6 teachers’ colleges, and a state university. These institutions range from one-teacher schools in isolated mountain and desert areas to the University of California. All of this adds up to a challenge— a challenge to the new Chief of the Division of AudioVisual Education, Francis W. Noel, whose past experiences as a California teacher and administrator— in addition to his Navy-wide and international experiences— make h i m particularly well-qualified to do the job. No. 42: George A. Hirlimon George A. Hirliman, organizer and president of International Theatrical & Television Corporation, was born in Fort Lee, New Jersey, September 8, 1901 — the same Fort Lee that has become historic in the film industry as one of the earliest centers of motion-picture production. Here many a name that was to become a household word in America first came to public notice : Mary Pickford, D. W. Griffith, the Gish sisters, Anita Stewart, John Bunny, Norma Talmadge ; and among companies, Pathe, Peerless, Eclair, Solox, Kalem. It furnished a perfect childhood background for anyone destined to achieve a place in the moti()n-i)icture industry.