The Power of Film, Video and TV in the Classroom

The film, the video and the tv are indeed very powerful. Dale (1969) says, they can:

 Transmit a wide range of audio – visual materials, including still pictures, film, objects,
specimens and drama.
 Bring models of excellence to the viewer. – we can see and hear the excellent scientific like
John Glenn, the excellent speakers and Master teachers who lecture and demonstrate a
teaching method for professional development of teacher,
 Bring the world of reality to the home and to the classroom through a “live” broadcast or a
mediated through film or videotape. – Not all of us have the opportunity to see life
underneath the sea. But with tv, we are able to see life at the bottom of the sea right there in
our sala or bedroom through Discovery Channel, for example.
 Make us see and hear for ourselves world events as they happen. With a sense of
helplessness, we witnessed the fire that engulfed homes in San Diego, California in
earthquake shook Baguio, Agoo, Dagupan and Nueva Ecia, Philippines on July 16, 1990, the
aftermath of the earthquake was shown live in tv.
 Be the most believable news source.
 Make some program understandable and appealing to a wide variety of age and educational
levels. Literate and illiterate, young and old – all benefit from the common experiences that
the tv transmits.
 Become a great equalizer of educational opportunity because programs can be presented
over national and regional networks.
 Provide us with sounds and sights not easily available even to the viewer of a real event
through long shots, close ups, zoom shots, magnification and split screen made possible by
the tv camera – afraid of the mammoth crowd every time Baguio celebrates the Panagbenga
(Flower Festival), I prefer to stay home and watch it in tv. With the versatile camera, I can
have more close up view than those watching it from Session Road.
 Can give opportunity to teachers to view themselves while they teach for purposes of self-
improvement – teachers can’t view themselves while they teach but with videocam and tv
they can view themselves while teach after.
 Can be both instructive and enjoyable . – with sights and sounds and motion, tv is much
more enjoyable,

While the film, video and tv can do so much, they have their own limitations, too.

 Television and film are one-way communication device. Consequently, they encourage
passively. Today, however, we talk about and work on interactive classroom for effective
learning. We are convinced that learning is an active process and so the learner must be
actively engaged.
 The small screen size puts television at a disadvantage when compared with the possible
size of projected motion picture, for example. With new technology, how is this remedied?
 Excessive tv viewing works against the development of the child’s ability to visualize and to
be creative and imaginative, skills that are needed in problem solving.
 There is much violence in tv. This is the irrefutable conclusion, “viewing violence increases
violence”.

Basic Procedures in the Use of TV as a Supplementary Enrichment

For enrichment of the lesson with the use of TV, we have to do the following:

 Prepare the classroom. (if your school has a permanent viewing room, the classroom
preparatory work will be less for you.)
 o Darken the room. Remember that complete darkness is not advisable for TV
viewing. Your student may need to take down notes while viewing.
o The students should not be seated too near nor too far from the tv. No student
should be farther from the set than the number of feet that the picture represents in
inches. A 24-inch set means no students farther than 24 feet from the set. (Dale,
1969)
 Pre-viewing Activities
o Set goals and expectations. Why are you viewing the TV? What is expected of your
students? State clearly.
o Link the TV lesson with the past lesson and/or with your students’ experiences for
integration relevance.
o Set the rules while viewing. Will you allow them ot take down notes? Or are you
providing them with notes afterwards?
o Put the film in context. Give a brief background, if necessary.
o Point out the key they need to focus on. It helps if you give them guide questions
which become the foci of post-viewing discussions. Omit this, if you are using an
interactive video and the resources speaker himself/herself gives the questions for
interactive discussion in the process of viewing.
 Viewing
o Do not interrupt viewing by inserting cautions and announcements you forgot to
give during the previewing stage. It disrupts and dampens interest.
o Just make sure sights and sounds are clear. You were supposed to have checked on
these when you did your pre-viewing.
 Post-viewing
o To make them feel at ease begin by asking the following question:
 What do you like best in the film?
 What part of the film makes you wonder? Doubt?
 Does the film remind you of something or someone?
 What questions are you asking about the film? (Write them down. You have
not to end the class without answering them to make your students feel that
everyone and everything matter. Nothing or nobody is taken for granted)
 Go to the questions you raised at the pre-viewing stage. Engage the students in the
discussion of answers. Check for understanding.
 Tackle questions raised by students at the initial stage of the post-viewing discussion.
Involved the rest of the class. If questions cannot be answered, not even you can answer
them, motivate the class to do further reading on the topic and share their answers the next
meeting. You will not be exempted from the assignment.
 Ask what the students learned. Find out how they can apply what they learned. Several
techniques can be used for this purpose. A simple yet effective technique is the completion
of unfinished sentence. E.g. from this film I learned ___________. I can apply the lesson I
learned in/by ____________.
 Summarize what was learned. You may include whatever transpired in the class discussions
in the summary but don’t forget to base your summary on your lesson objectives.
 SOUTHERN LUZON TECHNOLOGICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION, INC.
Ramon Santos St., Brgy 33, Peñaranda, Legazpi City
College of Education

Prof. Ed. 4: (The Principles and Theories of Educational Technology)

Reaction Paper 12
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“The Power of Film, Video and TV in the Classroom”

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