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Nowadays people, mostly parents, complain and nag their kids to stop watching TV and to do something more useful, like going outside to play, or do some revision or reading from a book.
This use to be the case with me. But then, during a Friday night of sitting in front of the box, it sprung to me: School TV.
Not all films, even violent ones, seem to be ‘stupid’. Some films, even though the directors and producers of that film don’t realise it, can be educational.
I can remember a film, which was showed not so long ago, called ‘The pirates of Silicon Valley’. It was like a docu-movie of the birth of PC’s. Starring a young Bill Gates and the original owner of Apple Systems, it gave a real-life film on how the computer biz exploded onto the scene. Apple started off as ‘the bomb’, that was the PC to buy – Apple. Microsoft were so small and so unknown. Apple then introduced the graphical OS, which is similar to what we use today. This just widened the gap between Apple and Microsoft. Bill Gates, then skint would you believe, offered IBM – the biggest things PC’s back then (remember this was early 80’s) – his company, Microsoft. And what a mistake IBM made. They declined Bill’s offer, and Bill was back on his own.
Taking a gamble, Bill offered a programmer $50,000, of which he had none, for his OS which he had designed in his bedroom. Mr. Gates and co. then combined it with the graphical OS idea Apple were using – stealing it - to create an early version of Windows – Windows v 1.0. Even though it was full of bugs and glitches, it boomed onto the market, overturning Apple. The Apple CEO, furious at how Microsoft had ripped his OS off, went beserk, and got himself fired by the rest of his employees shortly afterwards. And Microsoft just kept on growing and growing and growing…. And look at them now
I knew zilch of that before I saw the movie, and learnt a great deal about how the computer industry took off. I bet you just learnt something new whilst reading the above paragraph.
The thing is that the producers of the movies go to great lengths to get the movie looking lifelike to what it would be like in real life.
The films including police give you a feel as to what being in the police force may be like, and can give you an idea of what career track you want to choose depending on what other jobs are stated in the flick. Whether it’s Police chief, Medical services, or even a crook can depend on what you see in movies. After watching Independence Day I thought that being in the Royal Airforce would be cool – ok, so there’s no aliens to blast down (or not yet anyway) but the thrill of flying mid-air so quickly gave me a thrill.
Other things that you can learn in movies include: Medical Instruments and what they look like, how the baseball league works in America, and how to operate a solar powered Plasma Rifle can all be found in movies.
Ok so obviously in all respect TV education is not better than school, and you should appreciate the free education you get whilst in the lower divisions of school life. But, the next time you go to the cinema, or sit down in front of your TV, will you learn something new?
This use to be the case with me. But then, during a Friday night of sitting in front of the box, it sprung to me: School TV.
Not all films, even violent ones, seem to be ‘stupid’. Some films, even though the directors and producers of that film don’t realise it, can be educational.
I can remember a film, which was showed not so long ago, called ‘The pirates of Silicon Valley’. It was like a docu-movie of the birth of PC’s. Starring a young Bill Gates and the original owner of Apple Systems, it gave a real-life film on how the computer biz exploded onto the scene. Apple started off as ‘the bomb’, that was the PC to buy – Apple. Microsoft were so small and so unknown. Apple then introduced the graphical OS, which is similar to what we use today. This just widened the gap between Apple and Microsoft. Bill Gates, then skint would you believe, offered IBM – the biggest things PC’s back then (remember this was early 80’s) – his company, Microsoft. And what a mistake IBM made. They declined Bill’s offer, and Bill was back on his own.
Taking a gamble, Bill offered a programmer $50,000, of which he had none, for his OS which he had designed in his bedroom. Mr. Gates and co. then combined it with the graphical OS idea Apple were using – stealing it - to create an early version of Windows – Windows v 1.0. Even though it was full of bugs and glitches, it boomed onto the market, overturning Apple. The Apple CEO, furious at how Microsoft had ripped his OS off, went beserk, and got himself fired by the rest of his employees shortly afterwards. And Microsoft just kept on growing and growing and growing…. And look at them now
I knew zilch of that before I saw the movie, and learnt a great deal about how the computer industry took off. I bet you just learnt something new whilst reading the above paragraph.
The thing is that the producers of the movies go to great lengths to get the movie looking lifelike to what it would be like in real life.
The films including police give you a feel as to what being in the police force may be like, and can give you an idea of what career track you want to choose depending on what other jobs are stated in the flick. Whether it’s Police chief, Medical services, or even a crook can depend on what you see in movies. After watching Independence Day I thought that being in the Royal Airforce would be cool – ok, so there’s no aliens to blast down (or not yet anyway) but the thrill of flying mid-air so quickly gave me a thrill.
Other things that you can learn in movies include: Medical Instruments and what they look like, how the baseball league works in America, and how to operate a solar powered Plasma Rifle can all be found in movies.
Ok so obviously in all respect TV education is not better than school, and you should appreciate the free education you get whilst in the lower divisions of school life. But, the next time you go to the cinema, or sit down in front of your TV, will you learn something new?
Nowadays people, mostly parents, complain and nag their kids to stop watching TV and to do something more useful, like going outside to play, or do some revision or reading from a book.
This use to be the case with me. But then, during a Friday night of sitting in front of the box, it sprung to me: School TV.
Not all films, even violent ones, seem to be ‘stupid’. Some films, even though the directors and producers of that film don’t realise it, can be educational.
I can remember a film, which was showed not so long ago, called ‘The pirates of Silicon Valley’. It was like a docu-movie of the birth of PC’s. Starring a young Bill Gates and the original owner of Apple Systems, it gave a real-life film on how the computer biz exploded onto the scene. Apple started off as ‘the bomb’, that was the PC to buy – Apple. Microsoft were so small and so unknown. Apple then introduced the graphical OS, which is similar to what we use today. This just widened the gap between Apple and Microsoft. Bill Gates, then skint would you believe, offered IBM – the biggest things PC’s back then (remember this was early 80’s) – his company, Microsoft. And what a mistake IBM made. They declined Bill’s offer, and Bill was back on his own.
Taking a gamble, Bill offered a programmer $50,000, of which he had none, for his OS which he had designed in his bedroom. Mr. Gates and co. then combined it with the graphical OS idea Apple were using – stealing it - to create an early version of Windows – Windows v 1.0. Even though it was full of bugs and glitches, it boomed onto the market, overturning Apple. The Apple CEO, furious at how Microsoft had ripped his OS off, went beserk, and got himself fired by the rest of his employees shortly afterwards. And Microsoft just kept on growing and growing and growing…. And look at them now
I knew zilch of that before I saw the movie, and learnt a great deal about how the computer industry took off. I bet you just learnt something new whilst reading the above paragraph.
The thing is that the producers of the movies go to great lengths to get the movie looking lifelike to what it would be like in real life.
The films including police give you a feel as to what being in the police force may be like, and can give you an idea of what career track you want to choose depending on what other jobs are stated in the flick. Whether it’s Police chief, Medical services, or even a crook can depend on what you see in movies. After watching Independence Day I thought that being in the Royal Airforce would be cool – ok, so there’s no aliens to blast down (or not yet anyway) but the thrill of flying mid-air so quickly gave me a thrill.
Other things that you can learn in movies include: Medical Instruments and what they look like, how the baseball league works in America, and how to operate a solar powered Plasma Rifle can all be found in movies.
Ok so obviously in all respect TV education is not better than school, and you should appreciate the free education you get whilst in the lower divisions of school life. But, the next time you go to the cinema, or sit down in front of your TV, will you learn something new?
This use to be the case with me. But then, during a Friday night of sitting in front of the box, it sprung to me: School TV.
Not all films, even violent ones, seem to be ‘stupid’. Some films, even though the directors and producers of that film don’t realise it, can be educational.
I can remember a film, which was showed not so long ago, called ‘The pirates of Silicon Valley’. It was like a docu-movie of the birth of PC’s. Starring a young Bill Gates and the original owner of Apple Systems, it gave a real-life film on how the computer biz exploded onto the scene. Apple started off as ‘the bomb’, that was the PC to buy – Apple. Microsoft were so small and so unknown. Apple then introduced the graphical OS, which is similar to what we use today. This just widened the gap between Apple and Microsoft. Bill Gates, then skint would you believe, offered IBM – the biggest things PC’s back then (remember this was early 80’s) – his company, Microsoft. And what a mistake IBM made. They declined Bill’s offer, and Bill was back on his own.
Taking a gamble, Bill offered a programmer $50,000, of which he had none, for his OS which he had designed in his bedroom. Mr. Gates and co. then combined it with the graphical OS idea Apple were using – stealing it - to create an early version of Windows – Windows v 1.0. Even though it was full of bugs and glitches, it boomed onto the market, overturning Apple. The Apple CEO, furious at how Microsoft had ripped his OS off, went beserk, and got himself fired by the rest of his employees shortly afterwards. And Microsoft just kept on growing and growing and growing…. And look at them now
I knew zilch of that before I saw the movie, and learnt a great deal about how the computer industry took off. I bet you just learnt something new whilst reading the above paragraph.
The thing is that the producers of the movies go to great lengths to get the movie looking lifelike to what it would be like in real life.
The films including police give you a feel as to what being in the police force may be like, and can give you an idea of what career track you want to choose depending on what other jobs are stated in the flick. Whether it’s Police chief, Medical services, or even a crook can depend on what you see in movies. After watching Independence Day I thought that being in the Royal Airforce would be cool – ok, so there’s no aliens to blast down (or not yet anyway) but the thrill of flying mid-air so quickly gave me a thrill.
Other things that you can learn in movies include: Medical Instruments and what they look like, how the baseball league works in America, and how to operate a solar powered Plasma Rifle can all be found in movies.
Ok so obviously in all respect TV education is not better than school, and you should appreciate the free education you get whilst in the lower divisions of school life. But, the next time you go to the cinema, or sit down in front of your TV, will you learn something new?
no
'(.)'
'(.)'
I'm sure I would have enjoyed school more if my timetable looked anything like this:
SCIENCE Jurrasic Park
FRENCH Delicatessen
MATHS Pi
R.E. Dogma
HISTORY Bridge Over The River Kwai
But the problem is that films (even documentarys) are not made in order to inform an audience, but rather to entertain them. You just have to look at the difference in audience viewing figures for an Open University programme about quantum physics and an episode of Eastenders to see that film and television are about entertainment rather than education.
Look at Saving Private Ryan, for example. If you were using this as a source of information about the Second World War the message you would get is pretty far from the truth. It is historically inaccurate and gives no explanation as to why the war took place. It's true that you see the ferocity of war but the film is brimming with phoney sentimentality and typical action movie heroics.
Historical events don't translate well to film. Some examples are Titanic, Pearl Harbor, Bonnie & Clyde and Gladiator. These films, all based on historical events or periods, are actually about smaller human achievments -love, family, revenge, etc. The historical events are just backdrops to these human dilemas and conflicts. The events have to be edited and sometimes completly fabricated in order to fit the desired storyline. In Bonnie & Clyde, for example, Clyde is sophisticated and attractive. It is never mentioned that Clyde was actually a bi-sexual trouble maker who shared male sexual partners with Bonnie. The story is glamorised and altered to make it a love story (I'll bet most of you didn't know that fact about Clyde -the Hollywood version is now accepted because it is more paletable).
You said that you can learn about careers such as the army, the police and the air force. To be honest, I think that using film as your source of information about these jobs is about as useful as talking to a brick wall! They are hugely glamorised to the point of being ridiculous. In William Goldman's recent book 'What lie did I tell?', he says that he asked a fireman what the bravest thing he ever saw was. His answer was that one time he saw a fireman leap into a burning building to save a baby's life. Goldman's point was that in a Hollywood movie this would be nothing. Sylvestor Stallone would save a whole creche full of babies in an instant. Arnold Schwarzenegger has usually rescued a whole family before breakfast! Film does not equal real life. Real life does not equal film.
Even documentarys don't tell the full story. They are edited to tell certain events from a certain point of view. They have to entertain and captivate the audience just like any other kind of film. Just the fact that a camera is present means that the people catured on film will be behaving unnaturally.
I do agree that you can learn some things from film, just not in the ways that I think you intended. Empathy can be learnt from film. Even though the events we see are inaccurate and staged we can still feel for the characters on screen. Human emotions are captured on film very well. We can view the world through other people's eyes and witness events that would not otherwise be available to us.
Overall, I think film can provoke thought and stretch the imagination but I don't think it can ever be used as a learning tool unless it is a plotless, unbiased educational film or unless you are learning about film itself rather than about the real world. Film is fantasy, created by people with their own agendas. Nothing is sacred in film -if you want then the German's can have won WW2, man can have landed on Mars, all policemen can look like Brad Pitt and medical operations can be carried out using a pick axe and a tooth pick!
SCIENCE Jurrasic Park
FRENCH Delicatessen
MATHS Pi
R.E. Dogma
HISTORY Bridge Over The River Kwai
But the problem is that films (even documentarys) are not made in order to inform an audience, but rather to entertain them. You just have to look at the difference in audience viewing figures for an Open University programme about quantum physics and an episode of Eastenders to see that film and television are about entertainment rather than education.
Look at Saving Private Ryan, for example. If you were using this as a source of information about the Second World War the message you would get is pretty far from the truth. It is historically inaccurate and gives no explanation as to why the war took place. It's true that you see the ferocity of war but the film is brimming with phoney sentimentality and typical action movie heroics.
Historical events don't translate well to film. Some examples are Titanic, Pearl Harbor, Bonnie & Clyde and Gladiator. These films, all based on historical events or periods, are actually about smaller human achievments -love, family, revenge, etc. The historical events are just backdrops to these human dilemas and conflicts. The events have to be edited and sometimes completly fabricated in order to fit the desired storyline. In Bonnie & Clyde, for example, Clyde is sophisticated and attractive. It is never mentioned that Clyde was actually a bi-sexual trouble maker who shared male sexual partners with Bonnie. The story is glamorised and altered to make it a love story (I'll bet most of you didn't know that fact about Clyde -the Hollywood version is now accepted because it is more paletable).
You said that you can learn about careers such as the army, the police and the air force. To be honest, I think that using film as your source of information about these jobs is about as useful as talking to a brick wall! They are hugely glamorised to the point of being ridiculous. In William Goldman's recent book 'What lie did I tell?', he says that he asked a fireman what the bravest thing he ever saw was. His answer was that one time he saw a fireman leap into a burning building to save a baby's life. Goldman's point was that in a Hollywood movie this would be nothing. Sylvestor Stallone would save a whole creche full of babies in an instant. Arnold Schwarzenegger has usually rescued a whole family before breakfast! Film does not equal real life. Real life does not equal film.
Even documentarys don't tell the full story. They are edited to tell certain events from a certain point of view. They have to entertain and captivate the audience just like any other kind of film. Just the fact that a camera is present means that the people catured on film will be behaving unnaturally.
I do agree that you can learn some things from film, just not in the ways that I think you intended. Empathy can be learnt from film. Even though the events we see are inaccurate and staged we can still feel for the characters on screen. Human emotions are captured on film very well. We can view the world through other people's eyes and witness events that would not otherwise be available to us.
Overall, I think film can provoke thought and stretch the imagination but I don't think it can ever be used as a learning tool unless it is a plotless, unbiased educational film or unless you are learning about film itself rather than about the real world. Film is fantasy, created by people with their own agendas. Nothing is sacred in film -if you want then the German's can have won WW2, man can have landed on Mars, all policemen can look like Brad Pitt and medical operations can be carried out using a pick axe and a tooth pick!
Its a great concept that schools should utilize more in my opinion. It does happen to a certain extent. I remember in my school being shown Philadelphia as a way of gaining information on Aids. It was a great way to be taught because all you do is watch but you learn so much more because you don't feel you're being forced to do anything.
I think a lot of the effectiveness of videos as learning tools is in the psychology. The kids think 'Huhuhuh... no work.. watch a video.. cool' but really they're probably learning a heck of a lot more than if they were bored out of their minds in a regular teaching situation.
If you present a class of 30 kids with a teacher and an obvious agenda you are just giving them something to oppose. Its inviting rebellion in my opinion.
Teaching associations or the government or whoever it is that decides how kids are taught (probably both, or neither) should recognise the potential the film industry has to educate instead of opposing it and seeing it as a negative influence which is disruptive of students' progress. I think the system is probably changing, but i don't think anyone realises just how effective films can be in education at the moment.
Schools ought to stay away from all that trendy 'new' learning crap (like the yuppy office 'team work' days you get) and teach kids in a way they won't throw right back at them.
I think a lot of the effectiveness of videos as learning tools is in the psychology. The kids think 'Huhuhuh... no work.. watch a video.. cool' but really they're probably learning a heck of a lot more than if they were bored out of their minds in a regular teaching situation.
If you present a class of 30 kids with a teacher and an obvious agenda you are just giving them something to oppose. Its inviting rebellion in my opinion.
Teaching associations or the government or whoever it is that decides how kids are taught (probably both, or neither) should recognise the potential the film industry has to educate instead of opposing it and seeing it as a negative influence which is disruptive of students' progress. I think the system is probably changing, but i don't think anyone realises just how effective films can be in education at the moment.
Schools ought to stay away from all that trendy 'new' learning crap (like the yuppy office 'team work' days you get) and teach kids in a way they won't throw right back at them.
I just have to make one remark about the film. You state that Microsoft steel the graphical interface from Apple but you neglect to no note that Apple conned the interface from Xerox. Anyway the only decent software packages on the Mac are Outlook Express and IE. IE for its side bar and Outlook because it is the best e-mail client I have ever used. Anyway back to the real subject. There are already a lot of docu-films out there but not all that many interest young kids. I like documentaries especially when they are about technology but most of the people I went to school with hate the things and only liked the movies being shown in class because it ment that they could take a nap or do something I cannot mention here.