Tuesday, June 12 1962
Summer Nebraskan
Page 3
College
Editor's Note: This is the
first in a series of articles
on the use of television as
an educational tool both for
the nation and for Nebraska
specifically.
By Dave Griffin
Educational television
once widely accepted as a
new advance in the teaching
11 curriculum is now being crit
I ically re-examined at the Uni-
versity of Nebraska Teach
, ers College.
In a recent study on the
merits of educational televi
sion, Paul Johns and John
Vpright, graduate assistants,
presented arguments for and
8gabJ.it the classroom aid at
& seminar this spring.
The University's KUON-TV,
Channel 12, is one of 62 edu
cational channels operative in
the United States.
"Actually, we reached no
formal conclusion from the
study," Johns said. "Our pur
pose was only to give some
insight into the potential and
drawbacks of educational
television.
"As changes in population
trends become more acute for
Foreign Ag Specialists Attend
Land-use Symposium Here
Thirty-one agricultural spec
ialists from 16 foreign coun
tries are attending the Home
stead Centennial Symposium
on land-use at the University
of Nebraska this week.
Held at the Nebraska Cen
ter for Continuing Education,
the four - day Symposium
which opened yesterday will
hear the nation's top scholars
and governmental authorities
on land-use policies.
The foreign specialist are
Critical Year
At University
(Continued from Page One)
of Nebraska to maintain a
strong University. I think,
however, that it also reflects
an underestimation of the job
and the requirements which
, must be met to see it
, through."
s The Chancellor said that in
creased support the Univer-
f sity has received during the
past three years has, up to
now, placed the University in
a better position to compete
for staff than at any time
and that the investment. has
paid dividends in attracting
millions of dollars in outside
support and in the growth of
the University's graduate program.
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Re-examines
the secondary schools, televi
sion will offer many attrac
tions for schools with limited
resources," he said. 'Thus,
the decision to include tele
vision in the classroom cen
ters around local needs and
resources," he said.
School Systems Decide
The trend found in our re
search is that each school
system should decide for it
self, Johns explained.
In handling the research,
Johns presented the pro ar
guments for educational tele
vision, while Upright handled
reasons against the medium.
"Althogether, we found
about ten persuasive argu
ments both for and against
educational television," Johns
pointed out. "Probably its
largest advantage is that it
brings superior techniques to
the attention of supervisors
and classroom teachers.
"Thus it is valuable in teach
er preparation and in-service
training," he cited.
Other reasons cited were
that educational television
brings about a rethinking of
curriculum and course ob-
in two delegations; one, on
"Economics of Agricultural
Production and Re
source Use", and the other,
on "Agriculture and Land De
velopment" Sponsoring the groups are
the Agency for International
Development, U.S. Depart
ment of Agriculture, and
Land-Grant Colleges.
The seven-member group on
ag economics includes repre
sentatives from Columbia,
Nicaragua, Spain, Surinam,
Turkey and Vietnam. Dr.
Ralph Cole of the University
of Nebraska said the group
will spend two and a half
months in Nebraska studying
the economics of agricultural
production and the supply of
food.
The second group, under
the direction of Dr. Lloyd K.
Fischer, will consist of 24
members from British Gui
ana, Cameroon, Ceylon, Chile,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecua
dor, Malagasy, Mali, Paragu
ay, Senegal and Surinam.
Remaining in Nebraska
through June 23, the group
will study relationships be
tween agriculture and other
segments of economics.
Woods Fellows
Make History
Forty-four outstanding high
school teachers of English in
Nebraska are on the campus
as Woods Curriculum Insti
tute Fellows, according to Dr.
Paul A. Olson of the Univer
sity of Nebraska.
As pioneers of a new ap
proach to teaching English,
the Fellows are attending an
eight-week Institute from
June 11-Aug. 4. They will
have all of their expenses
paid through a $27,000 grant
from the Woods Charitable
Fund.
The plan of the Institute
involves the teachers taking
threec ourses each morning,
spending the afternoons in
planning and the evenings in
study or hearing lectures and
seeing films related to the
Nebraska Curriculum.
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jectives and it brings richer
educational experiences than
ordinarily possible under
conventional classroom for
mat. Museum Exhibits
Museum exhibits are
brought to the classroom
visually, according to the re
port. Famous experts are
more available for talks.
Also, because of the care
ful planning necessary, the
television courses are general
ly better organized and cover
more ground in less time,
Johns said.
In fact, 83 per cent of the
teachers in Hagerstown, Mary
land, favored teaching with a
television aid. Hagerstown
was one of the first cities to
adopt educational television
and now uses it for grades
three through eight
Open circuit television en
ables parents to watch the
same educational program
as their children, he point
ed out Fifty-three per cent
of Hagerstown children re
ported discussing school
with their parents more than
before educational television.
Sixty per cent said they
had studied more since the
advent of educational TV in
Hagerstown while 50 per cent
noted that they had read
more library books.
"There are substantial sav
ings in teaching positions
and classroom space. More
time is available for individ
uals if the teaching staff is
not reduced," Johns said.
Stimulates Note-Taking
The report noted that tele
vision stimulated note-taking
ability as well as the art of
speaking clearly and distinct
ly in large classes. Fifty per
cent of the Hagerstown stu
dents reported that they par
ticipated in class more, a
percentage confirmed by ob
servers who tallied the actu
al classroom participation.
Tardiness and absences
often tail off sharply among
TV classes and discipline is
not a problem except in a
few isolated cases, Johns
said.
Although many factors
can be weighed in favor of
television, the arguments
against it are also quite for
midable," Upright noted in
his dissenting report.
"First, classroom facilities
are inadequate. School cafe
terias and auditoriums were
not desiped for television
classes," he pointed out. "Al
terations in existing struc
tures are costly as well."
Obtaining Teachers Difficult
Finding, recruiting and
training studio teachers is dif
ficult, he said. It is also dif
ficult for the classroom teach
er to adjust, to be trained
for the techniques of handling
large classes and in solicit
in g students participation.
"Students themselves have
difficulty in adjusting to large
class situations."
Upright stressed the prob
lem of integrating the tele
cast part of the lesson and the
Classroom follow-up into a un
ified, meaningful whole.
Educational Television
I- :i
f
If
t
FRENCH CLASS Lincoln
"This involves the whole
question of the roles of the
studio and classroom teach
ers as members of a team,
a question that has not been
adequately explored, ne
said.
The reDort also noted that
curriculum revamping, to
take full advantage of tele
vision possibilities, is q u 1 1 e
complex in adapting to the
varying abilities of students
greater than the normal class
room situation.
Scheduling, both with re
sDect to the time of day the
lesson is telecast and to the
duration of the telecast and
its place in the class period
is most difficult also, Upright
said.
Problem of Quality
"Finally, there is the never-ending
problem of quality.
Television is essentially neu
tral as a conveyor of ideas
and concepts. The quality of
the output can only be as
good as the quality of the in
put he added.
fin
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elementary school children study French via KUON-TV at
"A mediocre teacher on
television communicates her
mediocrity to a much wider
audience than she would in a
classroom," he said.
The educational television
program, first inaugurated in
1953, has expanded rapidly to
colleges and universities and
now even includes a station
licensed by a municipal li
brary. In Texas, a closed circuit
network connects 11 college
campuses to enable the
schools to share resources by
using videotaped lectures and
demonstrations.
Fifteen small colleges co
operatively offer telecourses
over the Minneapolis-St. Paul
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that the Summer Nebraskan
reading audience includes:
3727 students, plus
faculty members, administration,
and Lincoln residents?
This makes the Summer Nebraskan
one of the most widely read week
lies in the state.
Summer
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the University of Nebraska
the merits of educational
television, Nebraska was one
of only two in which a ma
jority of supervisors wer
against the medium, accord
ing to the report.
1
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