The Tube as Teaching Tool One professor puts that most maligned of technologies — the television — to good use. We’ve been told often that we’re a nation of couch potatoes. Some years ago, L. George Van Son, associate professor of speech-language pathology and audiology, took heed. If students are so intrigued by television, he reasoned, why not put the medium to work helping them learn? Why not let students create educational television themselves? Van Son developed what he calls the VideoPaper, a method that allows students to use television to demonstrate their understanding of concepts presented by a teacher in class. During the past 15 years about 700 of Van Son’s students have used VideoPaper as an alternative to the traditional term paper or class project. The requirements are simple: only a video camera/recorder, monitor, and a supply of 8.5" x 11" blank cards for graphics. But VideoPaper itself is not simple. By requiring students to use several media, it gives them a structure in which to demonstrate what they’ve learned. They use analytical, research, and writing skills, as well as audio-visual and presentation skills. Their objective is not only to learn their chosen topic thoroughly but to make the subject understandable to viewers (generally their peers and teacher). As with term papers or projects, their work includes analysis of the topic they’ve chosen and a clear introduction of their objectives. Where it differs from the traditional methods is in the inclusion of an audio and/or visual demonstration of the concepts and the development of a quiz designed for the viewer — which itself becomes an evaluation of the students’ success. Van Son has tracked his students’ reaction to the use of his invention and says about 90 percent of them choose the VideoPaper over other methods of fulfilling course requirements. Among the comments he reports: "I like the feeling of really understanding and being able to transmit the knowledge to others." —Maura Stephens