NAEB Newsletter (Jan 1958)

NCTE RESOLUTION The following resolution is one of 14 adopted by the National Council of Teachers of English at a recent meeting, attended by representatives of 40,000 teachers of English: “Whereas the National Council of Teachers of English recognizes the importance of exploring the use of television as one way of meeting the teacher short¬ age, but believes that important goals of instruction in language and literature are best achieved in small group-individual learning situations where the teacher is able to establish close personal relationships with each learner; be it resolved that the National Coun¬ cil of Teachers of English 1. Commend and encourage sound experimenta¬ tion in using television as a new medium of com¬ munication in learning; and recommend that the researchers study the possible use of tele¬ vision in improving the quality of instruction in language and literature. 2. Urge more consideration of the effect of tele¬ vision on the processes of learning, particularly on those intangibles in the classroom situation which cannot be easily measured by objective testing, such as the learners active participation in discussion and the effect of individualized in¬ struction by the teacher.” WQED GETS $250,000 WESTINGHOUSE GIFT A gift of a 500-foot transmitter tower, adjoining land and buildings was made by Westinghouse Electric Co. to WQED, Pittsburgh’s educational TV station. The property, valued at $250,000, has been used by WQED since the station went on the air April 1, 1954. Gwilym Price, president of Westinghouse Electric Co., presented the deed to John Rayan, president of WQED, during a luncheon. Donald McGannon, president of Westinghouse Broadcasting Co., predicted at the luncheon that ed¬ ucational TV stations will become an indispensable part of the United States educational system. More than three years of WQED operation in Pittsburgh, McGannon said, is proof that educational TV need not be dull. He said educational TV “sup¬ plies pure research for commercial television in de¬ velopment of varied forms and techniques before they are brought into commercial television.” Commissioner Robert Lee of the FCC told the group that his own original concern about the feasi¬ bility of educational TV has been erased by the suc¬ cess of many stations and that he is now its ardent supporter. WQED, now broadcasts 90 hours of programs per week and reaches directly a total of 350 classrooms in Pittsburgh area schools. ADVERTISERS' PSYCHOLOGY BELIEVED HARMLESS Popular fears that advertisers soon will have the public at their mercy through manipulation of the subconscious mind are debunked by H. Richard Blackwell, University of Michigan professor of psychology and opthalmology and director of the U. M. Vision Research Laboratories. “I am not convinced,” he said, that subliminal projection would be at all effective as an advertising technique. Ads we faintly see would have about the same effect as the ones that are obnoxiously visible. We would pay little or no attention to them once the novelty had worn off. Subliminal projection, as applied to advertising, consists of flashing a series of movie frames over a regular movie or TV program already in progress. Each special frame contains a slogan, such as “eat popcorn.” The slogan is flashed too briefly to be seen in the usual sense of the word, but is assumed to leave its imprint on the subconscious mind and, in some cases, to cause the audience to do as the slogan suggests. While banned by the three major TV networks, it is being considered for possible use by movie house chains and independent TV outlets. Blackwell studied subliminal projection during World War II for the U. S. government and since 1945 at the U. M., where he set up special apparatus exclusively for measuring responses to sight stimuli. SUMMER WORKSHOP ANNOUNCED Kenneth Harwood, chairman of the Department of Telecommunications at the University of Southern California, has announced the scheduling of a summer workshop in educational broadcasting to be conducted at the University June 24 through Aug. 1, 1958. The workshop, which will yield three semester hours of college credit to advanced undergraduates and graduates, will be conducted by Dr. Burton Paulu, director of radio-TV broadcasting at the Uni- JANUARY, 1958