Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-06-29
HAcERsTowN TWO YEARS
How TV Is Working Out in Classrooms
nv q. K. HoDENFIELD

kAAGEkkCA0WN hds
classroom television have q real
and valuable place In American
educationa
or is II Just another expensive
frill that should be cast out OF our
schools before Il takes root7
You can get q lot Of argument
on those points-but not here In
Hagerstown. For two years this
community has been carrying on
the Nations most elaborate ex-
pertinent In educational television.
The near-unanimous verdict:
TITS wonderful"
What happens here Is being
watched closely by educators
across the country.
Is this the great cure-all TO the
Nations educational ills2 WIN
this whip the teacher shortage,
and In turn the problem OF raising
teachers salaries2 Can standard
courses be adopted and beamed
into every school In the country
from one master studio?
The answers they get here add
up to "Not yet, probably never"
Classroom TV has serious draw
backs. For one thing, 1t costs lots
of money TO buy and install Co
axial cables, cameras, stuolo
equipment.
Teachers Still First
with a few rare exceptions, 1t
doesn't reduce the number OF
teachers needed because 1t just
can't do the work Of the classroom
teacher.
It can't begin to handle the
day-to-day classroom discussion
which is the backbone Of educa-
ton. It can't answer the million
and one questions that children
are bound to ask.
Is il Just q gimmick, then2
Absolutely not" declares VII
liam B. Brish, superintendent OF
schools for washington County.
"Television is no more gadget
than the textbook, Mr.. British says,
Gin fact, It deserves a place along
side the textbook as the most Inn
portant educational advance OF
the century.
THE biggest problem is finding
TVS proper place in the scnooi
system. We know 1t can't take
over the whole education process,
1t can only be a part OF 1t.
The experiment started in the
fall of 1856 with eight schools and
5000 pupils. In the school year
lust ended, the hookup included
% schools with 1920 pupils. Next
fan the program viii be expanded
to include all 48 schools in Wash
ington County with total enroll
nent of more than $4,000.
Washington County got a big
financial break when various in
terested groups picked 1t 10 op.
crate a flve-year experimental
project. Most of the heavy costs
have been paid for by the fund for
the advancement Of education, the
Electronics Industry Association
and the Chesapeake & Potomac
Telephone Co. Of maryland.
Will Keep Program
a- But Washington County isn't
looking its gift horse in the mouth.
The county board Of education
fully intends to keep the program
going when the subsidies run out
three years hence.
It's easy to get the wrong idea
about classroom television. The
kids in Hagerstown, for instance,
don't sit quietly in their seats
staring at q 21-inch screen all the
school day long.
They get an absolute maximum
of one hour and 20 minutes OF
TV teaching a day, and that much
only in Junior high school. High
school students get rs minutes
a day. and grade school pupils
about an hour.
If classroom TV isn't used any
more than that, what's the
advantage?
A recent 9Th grade science
demonstration is an example. 4
representative Of the State fish
hatcheries brought a huge aquar'
ium to the school systems studios
In the same 25-minute periot
more than 1000 students in s.
classrooms got a closeup look a
the FISH on their TV screens, ever
saw the fish laying their eggs
Experts in all sorts OF held
can be lured to the studios TO
half an hour; few If any Of then
would agree to visit number o
classes in schools scattered al
over the city.
And the television camera Cal
control the size Of q demonstra
ton. even to the point of perrin
into the eyepiece Of a microscope
Lessons Better Presented
What has really sold the teach
ers, students and parents /
Hagerstown is that the lesson
given on TV are better prepare
and presented than they coul
be otherwise.
It's a question Of time.
Consider Mrs. Joseph Vance. ]
years a teacher and for the la
two years the television INSTRUCT
for sixth grade science. ST.
teaches just three rs minut
classes a week. Sound like
snap? 1t isn't.
II work just as hard now as
ever did" says Mrs. Vance. "MaI
be harder. I'm in front OF Il
camera only rs minutes wee
but I'm busy all the rest Of Il
time. even on week ends. sper
my time reading, doing researc
preparing experiments and visu
aids.
Regular classroom teachiI
can build up Illustrations. W
never feel you have time to
x,a,,r xuork Y1ronorlv Won 70