Utilization of Educational Media: Introduction

Utilization of Educational Media: Introduction Robert E. Stepp, Jr. An important year in the education of the hearing impaired was 1958, for that year marked the formation of a new agency in the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped named Captioned Films for the Deaf. This new program brought to fruition the labor of many leaders of the deaf who had sought captioning for both entertainment and educational films. Modeled after the subtitles on foreign films which provided English captions for foreign language sound tracks, this technique was the forerunner of the present (1980) closed captioned television transmissions. Captioned Films for the Deaf grew in scope and program under the very able leadership of Dr. John Gough. He envisioned an expansion of this federal agency's services to include many forms of audiovisual materials and equipment, later to be called educational media and technology. For example, one of the most "natural" devices for use in teaching the hearing impaired is the overhead projector because of its brilliant image, its versatility, and the fact that the teacher faces the students while operating the projector. As a result of nation-wide federal distribution of this device, there was a time in the late '60's when practically every classroom for the deaf in the nation had an overhead projector. About this same time distribution was also made of filmstrip projectors, screens, and motion picture projectors. Technology had entered the classrooms for the deaf. To promote practical application of these devices and to ensure the achievement of full potential of these materials, in 1966 Captioned Films for the Deaf established four regional media centers which had the responsibility of assisting schools in the development of inservice teacher education programs. Each regional center served several states and within this territory conducted workshops and institutes on the utilization of educational media and technology in teaching the hearing impaired . In addition, each Center was charged with the responsibility for producing instructional materials for the deaf population. One center produced transparencies for the overhead projector; one, 8mm films in cartridges; another, television programs; and the fourth, programmed learning sequences. These services continued until 1974. One of the developments that followed these special programs was the establishment of Media Resource Centers in schools for the deaf. These centers are a combination of library/ media resources and local materials production facilities, along with special carrels for independent study. Also, many schools now have an internal closed circuit television system, with new construction of classrooms or renovated space specifically designed to promote proper utilization of these resources. Many schools have hired a media specialist who has an essential role as a professional member of the academic faculty. The media specialist assures the provision of media services to teachers and students and assistants in the design and production of instructional materials uniquely suitable to the learning needs of the acoustically handicapped. From a relatively modest beginning, captioning motion pictures, the BEH agency has grown to become today's Captioned Films and Telecommunications Branch, and its services have been extended to include television and a wide range of electronic devices, as well as sponsorship of the series of symposia—the latest of which is the subject of this issue of the Annals. Dr. Gough was succeeded, upon his retirement , by Dr. Gilbert Delgado, who ably carried the program forward. Dr. Malcolm Norwood is the present chief, and his commitment of excellence in services to the deaf is widely known. In 1965, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) was founded and established on the campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology. NTID constructed a classroom building specifically for deaf students and designed it so students and teachers could take advantage of the full range of educational media and technology. The classrooms have provisions for overhead projection of transparencies , rear-screen projection of filmstrips, slides, and films, the use of television and other suitable materials. Laboratories in math and speech were set up to permit independent study and direct student involvement with media. A sophisticated television studio was A.A.O. I September 1980 623 Introduction also included, as well as facilities for photographic and graphic arts. More recently the Model Secondary...