Videodisc Applications Bring New Promise to Schools (1988)

Videodisc Applications Bring New Promise to Schools Picture a training facility designed to teach future mission control specialists the skills necessary to successfully launch and land a space shuttle. When the applicant enters his or her name, the process of lerning the intricacies of these difficult tasks begins. Visual, auditory and textual information is communicated by video monitor and computer. At the press of a button, critical data on any particular system or structure is displayed. Once the applicant feels ready, a simulated launch is activated. The skills acquired by the prospective specialist in this simulation may ultimately determine the fate of both the on-screen shuttle and its screw. Children Lead the Way This training facility is not located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and the applicants are not NASA astronauts. In fact, it is not a training facility at all. It is the Educational Technology Lab at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and the participants are elementary school students. The space shuttle software simulation was created by a sixth-grader with help from a Cal Poly student. And it utilizes technology that is prevalent in our schools today: the computer and the videodisc player. Using images taken from the Space Shuttle videodisc by Optical Data Corp. of Florham Park, N.J., the simulation also employed LOGO tools for controlling the videodisc. Dr. Bob Blodget, who heads up the work of this unique lab, created the videodisc-handling LOGO tools. He is one of a number of pioneers leading the way in exploring new and creative ways to integrate videodisc technology into the educational process. Videodiscs Come of Age The explosive growth of interest in videodisc technology is due in lrge part to three major developments. First, the release of the LD-V2000 and LD-V4200 laser-disc players from Pioneer Communications of America, Inc. in Carson, Calif., is helping to create a hardware standard for equipment. Second, in August 1987 Apple Computer, Inc. released Hyper-Card to the public. This software program, termed an erector set by its creator, Bill Atkinson, facilitates authoring of individualized videodisc programs with little effort by the classroom teacher. Third, numerous sophisticated, curriculum-driven videodisc products with extensive documentation and lesson plans are available through distributors nationwide. The latest edition of Videodiscs for Education: A Directory, from MECC of St. Paul, Minn., lists more than 360 separate titles. Assisting the expanding role of videodisc technology in the classroom is the compatibility of the Apple II and Macintosh family in driving Pioneer's laserdisc players. At least 80 percent of our schools today are currently in a position to integrate videodisc technology into their teaching curriculum. Uses in Education Some school administrators have purchased videodisc players for use as stand-alone devices (Level I systems). Other schools have purchased systems to play back commercially developed material (Level II systems). The emerging trend, however, is that teachers are using microcomputers in conjunction with videodisc players (Level III systems) to adapt material to their individual goals, needs, teaching styles and preferences. There are a variety of ways in which the videodisc can be made a part of innovative education. In a nutshell, these applications are as follows: 1. As an Archive. The National Gallery of Art disc from The Voyager Co. of Los Angeles, Calif., is a good example of this usage. A double-sided disc can store 108,000 separate still-frames of information. This is equivalent to a 280'-high stack of 80-slide trays. 2. For Control Over Demonstrations. For instance, an origami lesson might use slow-motion, freeze-frame and reverse operations to demonstrate the making of a swam. …