Frank_Withrow_pioneer

=  Frank Withrow   =

Frank recently sent the following essay.

On Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 11:08 AM, Frank Withrow wrote:

The rational for the federal government to be involved goes back to President Lincoln when he established the Printing House of the Blind and in when Captioned films for the Deaf was established. The principle established with these programs is that every learner is entitled to access to best stored stored information. The Printing House made books available to blind learners through Braille and audio books. Captioned films and later television made these vast resources available to deaf learners. Augmented audio on television made TV more meaningful to blind users.

The evolution of Sesame Street and broadcast television, satellites and Internet have opened new learning opportunities for learners all over the world.

In 1990 in Jomtiem, Thailand 150 plus nations agreed that every child in the world was entitled to the best possible learning opportunities. The nations have failed to live up to this pledge. It is not likely that we will reach this goal through traditional classrooms and teachers. It is possible that we can reach this goal through wise uses of technology. Blended education through teachers, plus technology both television and Internet offer us a reasonable chance of reaching educational excellence through out the world.

Sesame Street opened new avenues for preschool learning worldwide. Joan Ganz Cooney simply believed that if you could sell soap on TV you could teach early education skills with the media. Today Sesame Street has reached children around the world.

Technology has meant a greater access to learning for students around the world. Television remains the dominate learning technology however with Internet and MOOC new learning resources are rapidly finding their way into our daily lessons.

Frank Withrow

Liza Loop: Thank you, Frank. Great essay. May I publish it on your page? Frank Withrow: Fine