Part 2: Anna Verona Dorris and her contributions to the Visual Instructional Movement.

Education and technology have both changed drastically over time. Small isolated classrooms and chalkboards are now replaced with online classrooms and smart boards. For these changes to have happened, pioneers of education technology (edtech) have had to lead the change. One of these periods of change is now known as the visual instruction movement (VIM) and took place in the United States (US) during 1918-1928 (Johnson, 2008). Anna Verona Dorris was an irreplaceable leader to the VIM and believed that “interest is the key to knowledge” (Dorris, 1930, p. 201). Not only did Dorris write the first comprehensive instructional manual on teaching with visual aids, but she did so in a time where females were significantly underrepresented in leadership roles and edtech (Doyle, 2016; Johnson, 2008). Dorris’ approach to education was cutting edge for the time, and helped mold the VIM landscape; furthermore, by putting the students’ interest first her ideas are still relevant to education today.

The VIM’s intent was to utilize visual aids to broaden and deepen education (Johnson, 2008). Societal changes such as increased access to technology, compulsory education laws, and schools becoming responsible for social progression lead to an evaluation of current public education (Dorris, 1928). It was the intent of forward thinking educators, like Dorris, to use visual aids to meet these new challenges. The visual experiences and aids used in classrooms could be broken up into four different categories: actual reality, artificial models and exhibits, pictorial realism, and pictorial symbolism (Dorris, 1928). The specific technology at the time included photographs, prints, exhibits, graphic art, globes, maps stereographs, stereopticon slides, and excursions (field trips).  Pictures of animals, history, or different parts of the world could be used to enhance learning since the students would not have the opportunity to see these otherwise (Dorris, 1928; Dorris 1930). The impact of using these aids would hopefully broaden the students’ views and opening them up to a larger world. The inclusion of visual aids allowed for students to better understand their learning material, have a more immersive experience, and better prepare them for the technology in their new world.

Dorris was instrumental to the VIM and contributed to it in many ways. At the beginning of the VIM, she chaired a committee that set out to rationalize visual instruction (VI) in education and concluded that there were many areas of modern life that VI was already crucial to, such as the promotion of national unity (Johnson, 2008). These findings helped to exemplify why VI was such an important addition to education. Dorris created a survey to determine how many universities, colleges, and normal schools were teaching VI techniques to new teachers, a task that had not yet been done (Johnson, 2008). This showed that this educational movement was not isolated to just the California area. Furthermore, as director of VI for Berkley public schools, Dorris was also responsible for setting up the distribution centre (Johnson, 2008). Near the end of the VIM, Dorris authored a book that was the first of its kind and filled a much needed gap on VI (McClusky, 1929). The examples that Dorris used showed that she had “intimate knowledge of working conditions in the schools” (McClusky, 1929, p. 468). This book helped to not only explain the purpose of visual aids, but gave concrete examples of how to implement visual aids in classrooms. Dorris’ roles and contributions allowed for her to bridge the gap from the theory used in the committee/university, to what was actually happening in the classrooms, and share her knowledge with others.

Not only was Doris a pioneer for the VIM, she was a pioneer for women in edtech and leadership.  In 1927, Dorris became the first female president of the National Education Association’s Department of Visual Instruction (now known as the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT)), only four years after it was founded (Doyle, 2016; Johnson, 2008). To date, the AECT has had 88 presidents, with only 17 of them being women and 11 of which has come after 1982 (Doyle, 2016). At the time when she was president, women were widely underrepresented in leadership roles. Dorris was president four years before the first female was elected to the senate, and six years before one was appointed to the cabinet (Doyle, 2016). She chaired a committee in a field that was dominated by men and was often more educated than her male colleagues in similar roles (Johnson, 2008).  By having numerous leadership roles and accomplishments, it demonstrates not only that Dorris was a strong leader, but she was well received and respected within her field and is remarkable role model for women in edtech.

Dorris’ educational beliefs were revolutionary at the time, and still hold relevance today. With the end of the world war I, the 19th amendment, new technology, and other societal changes, the youth were different:

 A new civilization has dawned; new problems confront us; a new type of youth with different standards, with different ideals, and with different ambitions greets us here, there, and everywhere. (Dorris, 1930, p. 201)

Dorris believed that education needed to change to keep up with its current civilization (Dorris, 1928; Dorris, 1930; Johnson, 2008; McClusky, 1929). This equally rings true today, and Dorris’ quote above could easily be applied to the youth of the twenty first century. With the advancement of technology in the past years, and the presence of it in the classroom only growing, it is important that we hold on to Dorris principle that technology is not to replace instruction but to support and elevate it. Even as late as 1928, Dorris had to defend her reasons for using technology in classrooms as some teachers could not differentiate between education and entertainment (Johnson, 2008). However, Dorris believed it was the job of the teacher to discriminate between which material was entertainment and which was for learning, and was adamant that teachers need to be properly trained (Dorris, 1928). The discussion around relevance, impact, and training is still discussed today as new technology is being introduced to school. Students interest was a key factor to Dorris, and she believed that the use of VI could help spike interest in pupils (Johnson, 2008).  By allowing students to use visual aids and explore areas they were interested in in more detail, they were able to have a more personalized experience. Educators in the 1920’s were facing the problem of teaching for world peace and international consciousness, and Dorris stressed that books alone would not be able to accomplish that (Dorris, 1930). That topic is still relevant in today’s education, and using technology to assist in the learning process allows for the world to become a smaller place. We still need to use technology to enhance our students’ learning and to introduce them to a possibly unfamiliar world, much like Dorris instructed.

Dorris was an amazing educator and truly had the intentions of students at heart. Her contributions to education were numerous, and many of her beliefs are applicable today. As technology continues to evolve and we wait to see what is next, it is important to remember that technology needs to be correctly implemented. For this to happen teachers need to be correctly trained, the technology needs to supplement the instruction, and the technology needs to be relevant to world outside of school. Dorris’ legacy is one that should not only be studied, but be learned and applied to today’s classrooms.

References

Dorris, A. (1928). Visual instruction in the public schools. Boston: Ginn.

Dorris, A. (1930). Educating the Twentieth-Century Youth. Junior-Senior High School Clearing House, 5(4), 200-204.

Doyle, R. G. (2016). Paralleling women as presidents of aect with changes in u.s. laws and social norms. In J. A. Donaldson (Ed.), Women’s voices in the field of educational technology (pp. 155-164). Switzerland:Springer International Publishing.

Johnson, W. G. (2008). Making Learning Easy and Enjoyable: Anna Verona Dorris and the Visual Instruction Movement 1918-1928. TechTrends, 52(4), 51-58.

McClusky, F. D. (1929). Review (untitled) of visual instruction in the public schools. The Elementary School Journal, 29(6), 467-468.