Movie in Class, Why Not
Essay title: Movie in Class, Why Not
Movies In Class, Why Not?
Someone says that since the day computers were invented, children have become lazier than ever before. Today, books are no longer their best friends. Instead of spending time reading books, children are more interested in watching television. In consequence, one common question is asked āShould we use movies in classroom regularly?ā In the article āHistory 101: Pass the Popcorn, Pleaseā, Elaine Minamide states āAnything that gets kids thinking and talking can only be positiveā. On the other hand, she argues using movies āas dessert not the main courseā. By giving many examples of kindergarten children, who āalready knew the ABCsā and get used to the āsong and danceā routine from Sesame Street, or ones of teachers in San Diego who often supplement the instruction with contemporary films, she throws out a matter:ā As the time goes by, will studentsā dependency upon audio-visual learning make it difficult, if not impossible, for them to extract meaning from books alone?ā
Actually, the traditional method of studying like sitting, listening to the lecture or reading books can develop studentsā imagination, but as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe says āThere is nothing more dreadful than imagination without taste.ā I wonder if without watching movies in classroom, all our imagination about the real world is still right. Therefore, I am not persuaded by Minamideās arguments, but I believe that using movies in classroom might give a new way to education.
One important benefit of movies is to give vivid illustrations for all students. Thereās no doubt about the first position of motion pictures among other entertainment kinds, especially, in our modern social, movies are so familiar with children. Whenever a child sits in front of the screen, nothing can disrupt him, and obviously, something repeats regularly will become unforgettable. The more movies children watch, the more attracted they are. Therefore, video has been widely used as an instructional tool in classroom and distance education during recent years. After many researches, scientists concluded āLearning will be more effective if the numbers of available cues or stimuli are increasedā (CNN News- āChildren and Televisionā), and we almost consent that imagines, which can add authenticity and reality to the learning context, worth