Showing posts with label Instructional Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Instructional Technology. Show all posts

Saturday, October 22, 2022

Is The Children's Media Archive Real?


Yes Virginia, There is a Children's Media Archive....in theory! Here is a history of how this blog and accompanying YouTube channel began.

As a 1990s kid, I consumed new kids shows from both TV and VHS tapes. In a typical week I looked forward to the syndicated Disney Afternoon shows and a new episode of Family Matters on 5he ABC TGIF lineup. My parents are baby boomers, and it was through them and my grandmother that I was encouraged to try Abbott and Costello, The Three Stooges, Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan, Shirley Temple and much more.

As an adolescent I was perfectly comfortable watching media that children would have enjoyed from multiple generations across 75 years. My bedroom included VHS tapes recordings of movie serials from American Movie Classics, old time radio sets from Radio Spirits, and books on every day life in American history. The 1930s was a favorite decade of study, when radio, comic strips, sound features and mass merchandise properties began to dominate the American childhood. Gradually, I accepted my growing fascination with what entertained, and educated kids from the past century.



A decade ago while studying instructional technology in college, I developed an idea that if today's content creators, digital storytellers, teachers, and media makers studied the kids media of yesteryear, it would lead to richer content today and a greater appreciation for the changes in methods, storytelling and technology across a century. 

An example of this would be comparing NBC TV Ding Dong School's Dr. Frances Horwich with a YouTube content creator for children. In the early 1950s "Miss Frances" Horwich was limited to one television camera on a studio set, compared to a teacher today who can record, edit, stream, and share multiple videos (in Color!!) with their phone.

Admittedly outside of this theory, it is still fascinating to learn about what past generations watched, read, or listened to. For fun one can for a few minutes imagine being part of the first generation to watch TV, or learn about kids who made their own instructional films with a super 8mm camera. With an episode of Radio's The Lone Ranger, Red Ryder, and Little Orphan Annie you can be Ralphie from "A Christmas Story".

Part of research collection before it was placed in storage earlier this year. If you squint, you can see hundreds of DVDs and VHS tapes, children's 45 LP records, and toys from Fisher Price, G.I. JOE and more.

Learning about historical children's media can also give an appreciation for how we became a society where a kid can over consume media. Just a little over 90 years ago CBS and NBC radio had only a handful of programs for children directed by Yolande Langworthy and Madge Tucker. 75 years ago the youngest baby boomers began to watch Howdy Doody, and the Small Fry Club on television. From 30 years ago, I remember the wonder, and curiosity of VHS tapes, and whether it was a big deal not having cable, since the networks still had the best kid shows anyway.

While several colleges and universities in the United States have archival collections full of children's literature, and others have rare children's films as part of a large collection, I am not aware of a massive collection devoted solely to the study of children's audio & video media; across decades and formats.

Materials in storage include a collection of TV Guides from the "Little House on the Prairie" (1974-1983) TV series, and a file box on James Basquette, the pioneering Oscar winning actor who starred in Disney's "Song of the South".

This motivated me to create an experimental "children's media archive" collection. In 2015, I began this blog to practice writing for books, and a YouTube channel to share content. My personal research collection has grown to include materials from the estates of Ireene Wicker, Mary Hartline, rare signed books by 1920s children's radio hosts, numerous recordings in multiple formats, reference books, and small toys. 

The blog and YouTube logo were handdrawn, with text added with Microsoft Paint.


As a trained librarian and archivist, I organize and preserve items as if I were running an actual children's media archive. Most of my collection is currently in storage as my wife and I make room for our own expanding family(!) 

I am especially proud that children are using the resources of this blog for their school projects. It is terrific to know that today's kids are looking into the past.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Lessons From Miss Frances and Ding Dong School



I like referring to early instructional television shows (as primitive as they can seem) because it is my long held theory, that the techniques of these broadcasting pioneers can be replicated today for digital media. Many teachers, parents, ministers, instructional designers and digital storytellers today do not have any more resources than the early educators and personalities from the pioneering age of television did (before the 1960's). Many digital videos today are made in one room with little or no budget, sometimes only one or two people editing, providing narration and creating the visuals. Of course our advantage is all the digital technology in the place of large bulky cameras and control rooms.

One of the first nationally broadcast programs for preschoolers was Ding Dong School hosted by Dr. Frances Horwich of Columbia University, or "Miss Frances" to the little ones. The NBC series, which originally ran from 1952 to 1956 was praised by almost every education and parenting organization imaginable, and reportedly held 96% of TV's preschool audience. Horwich was reportedly the first children's host to talk directly to children via the camera to create an engaging feedback response (like Blue's Clues or Super Why...."Where is the clue?" "Do you know what today is?").


Using a one-room set for an instructional video

In this video, Miss Frances was filmed in a one room set with one camera zooming in and out, and the props, toys and sponsors products had to be inserted in the frame gradually when needed. I believe that this is an early example of how a digital storyteller could manipulate objects in a single space or a single camera frame to tell a story or to offer instruction. Many of us are used to instructors filming themselves with one camera for teaching but maybe not to show an experiment, demonstrate a toy, or even to read a book. Dr. Horwich demonstrates bubble-blowing, dolls, tells a story and talks to parents in a single space in a half-hour.

If anyone watches this entire clip, (especially those of you who want to make instructional stories) send me a message or respond to this blog and tell me if you think this could work today, or any other thoughts you may have on this idea.


Sources

Samuels, R. (n.d.). Ding Dong School. Retrieved September 27, 2014, from http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/dds.html

Woolery, G. (1985). Children's television: The first thirty-five years, 1946-1981. Pt.2, , Live, film, and tape series. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow.