What was this microfilm gadget called?
October 15, 2010 8:13 AM Subscribe
'70s microfilm technology filter - what do (did) you call a gadget for testing or enhancing reading ability by having a student look through a viewer and read one line at a time?
When I was a grade school student in the 1970s, I was bright/gifted in reading and remedial in math. So I got tagged "special ed" and went to classes about one hour a day separate from the others.
I dimly remember having one or two sessions with a gadget that I would describe as a microfilm/filmstrip viewer - one peered into it like a microscope or like Mr. Spock's bridge viewer, and lines of text would appear that one would read. I forget now if it advanced the lines of text with a clicker that the student controlled, or if the lines of text were advancing at a certain rate automatically (I think the latter). As I recall, one was tested for reading comprehension with a multiple choice exam afterwards.
Assuming I'm recalling all this correctly, I burned through the thing and aced whatever tests they gave me, and they put the thing away and set me to memorizing times tables and other 1 on 1 math tutoring, which is what my problem was in the first place.
Does anyone recall the name of this machine, and/or more generally what the process of this type of testing would have been called? Is it still used (on a computer, for example), or is it outdated/outmoded, discredited, etc?
When I was a grade school student in the 1970s, I was bright/gifted in reading and remedial in math. So I got tagged "special ed" and went to classes about one hour a day separate from the others.
I dimly remember having one or two sessions with a gadget that I would describe as a microfilm/filmstrip viewer - one peered into it like a microscope or like Mr. Spock's bridge viewer, and lines of text would appear that one would read. I forget now if it advanced the lines of text with a clicker that the student controlled, or if the lines of text were advancing at a certain rate automatically (I think the latter). As I recall, one was tested for reading comprehension with a multiple choice exam afterwards.
Assuming I'm recalling all this correctly, I burned through the thing and aced whatever tests they gave me, and they put the thing away and set me to memorizing times tables and other 1 on 1 math tutoring, which is what my problem was in the first place.
Does anyone recall the name of this machine, and/or more generally what the process of this type of testing would have been called? Is it still used (on a computer, for example), or is it outdated/outmoded, discredited, etc?
Response by poster: could be - the tachistoscope certainly features prominently in web site mentions among the tin-foil hat crowd. :-)
posted by randomkeystrike at 10:48 AM on October 15, 2010
posted by randomkeystrike at 10:48 AM on October 15, 2010
It sounds like a regular microfiche (AKA microform) machine, just with a reading comprehension page on the film in it instead of of newspaper archives or public records or the other more usual uses for those machines. The regular machines often had a way to slowly scroll the film.
posted by -harlequin- at 11:08 AM on October 15, 2010
posted by -harlequin- at 11:08 AM on October 15, 2010
Response by poster: harlequin - used those back in the day, ex. looking at newspapers in the '80s or early '90s pre-internet. The machine I used seemed more like a tachistoscope, in that it did not scroll in a way that was apparent to the eye. This machine snapped from one image to the next.
posted by randomkeystrike at 2:12 PM on October 15, 2010
posted by randomkeystrike at 2:12 PM on October 15, 2010
Best answer: I'm thinking of a controlled reading device much like the one linked here.
I attended elementary school in the 80s, and we used something very similar to this as a reading training tool to help students increase reading speed. The actual function here sounds the same as what you describe, but this particular model that I've linked to projects onto a screen rather than having you look in. I recall there being a whole library of specialized film strips with a series of sentences that the machine would flip through a specified WPM.
There are several other models floating around out there. I can't tell that there's an official name for these, but controlled reading device seems closest.
posted by owls at 8:45 PM on October 17, 2010
I attended elementary school in the 80s, and we used something very similar to this as a reading training tool to help students increase reading speed. The actual function here sounds the same as what you describe, but this particular model that I've linked to projects onto a screen rather than having you look in. I recall there being a whole library of specialized film strips with a series of sentences that the machine would flip through a specified WPM.
There are several other models floating around out there. I can't tell that there's an official name for these, but controlled reading device seems closest.
posted by owls at 8:45 PM on October 17, 2010
We used the same thing in middle school in the mid-80s.
posted by Chrysostom at 5:44 AM on October 18, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Chrysostom at 5:44 AM on October 18, 2010 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: owls, chrysostom - I think you get the steak knives - the drawings in the patent app even resemble the device that I recall seeing (either because I did, in fact look on a screen, not a viewer, i.e. my memory of the experience is faulty, or because of family resemblance between two devices made by the same company).
I'm guessing the theory that this helped students any went by the wayside. I can see how it would MEASURE reading speed, but not how it would IMPROVE it. I was/am an excellent and fast reader, and I remember the thing being fairly unnatural and stressful to be exposed to. I can only imagine an average to poor readering being frustrated and freaked out by it.
posted by randomkeystrike at 10:34 AM on October 18, 2010
I'm guessing the theory that this helped students any went by the wayside. I can see how it would MEASURE reading speed, but not how it would IMPROVE it. I was/am an excellent and fast reader, and I remember the thing being fairly unnatural and stressful to be exposed to. I can only imagine an average to poor readering being frustrated and freaked out by it.
posted by randomkeystrike at 10:34 AM on October 18, 2010
Response by poster: and a poor READER would be frustrated by it, too.
posted by randomkeystrike at 5:59 PM on October 18, 2010
posted by randomkeystrike at 5:59 PM on October 18, 2010
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posted by newmoistness at 8:44 AM on October 15, 2010