Displays - Bulletin boards

DISPLAYS

Depending upon the type of the display, materials can be arranged with the help of insulation, or soft board, perforated, magnet or chalkboard of glass or painted wood, showcases, tables, stands, or blocks. A display usually involves a careful and attractive arrangement of materials, which may be two-dimensional - paper, cloth, ribbons etc., or three - dimensional-objects, models, specimens etc. A single display can have materials of both dimensions; example - a display consisting of pictures and models of houses.

Different types of displays serve many purposes:

1.     stimulate interest of the students (a bulletin board display on flower arrangement, a chalkboard work involving diagrams and line drawing)

2.     publicise ideas (a perforated or a magnetic board display to publicise a family planning campaign)

3.     explain things effectively (a chalkboard work on the various steps in cleaning precious metals)

4.     bring several scattered ideas together (a flannel board story on sources, nutritional values and deficiency diseases of protein)

5.     helps to introduce or summarise a topic (a showcase display on four food groups either in the beginning or at the end of a lesson on 'balanced diet')

6.     give recognition to the creative and original work of students; examples - an insulation board display of stencil printing articles develop a group feeling if the displays are'put up by the students as a group

7.     help students share things for which only one copy or specimen is available; examples - a recipe, an article, a picture- on any home science topic.

Like graphic aids, displays also are comparatively inexpensive, therefore, most schools and adult education agencies can afford them. They consist of locally available materials and it is possible to introduce improvisation. All displays have some common advantages. They

1.     can be put up in advance/or their display material can be prepared in advance

2.     are easy to put up, use, and transport

3.     can be used repeatedly

4.     can be used for a variety of subjects.

BULLETIN BOARDS

A bulletin board is a board that is usually used to exhibit bulletins but may be used also for

making announcements

placing notices

posting examination results

exhibiting displays

Posting anything that has to be seen or read by the students.

You may use anything light in weight on a bulletin board, such as, bulletin, leaflet, folder, pamphlet, booklet, journal, picture, cutout, notice, announcement, chart, light model, sketch etc. Besides having all the general advantages of displays discussed earlier, a bulletin board display allows the study of subjects not otherwise brought up in a class; examples - display on - 'What does India Export', or 'Literacy among Urban and Rural Women'.

A bulletin board can be of any size. It might cover a part of the wall or the entire wall but the vertical dimension should not be less than 30 inches. If illustrative materials are to be displayed, use 40 inches wide board. A bulletin board can be made of-

Insulex board (available in various thicknesses and in a size of 8 x 4 feet)

cork board

gunny bag or khadi

brown paper or newspaper layers

Anything that is soft but firm enough to hold the display materials well with pins or tacks.

A perforated board or a panel of boards on stands with evenly distributed holes can be used with the help of special pins and accessories available with it to hold two-dimensional and small three-dimensional articles, such as craft pieces, and books.

Protect your bulletin board. Frame it with a wooden frame or plastic tape or any other material. A bulletin board can form the front or back side of a storage cupboard or can be the inner back-side of a shallow glass case (4 inches in depth) with a one-piece glass door or two sliding doors which can be locked and can be used for displaying small three-dimensional articles like books, models, specimens, besides two-dimensional things. The board can be either fixed on a wall with screws, or kept on an easel-stand or placed on a table.

A bulletin board that is used for day-to-day purpose of posting notices, announcements and bulletins, needs no special arrangement; however it can be covered with a dark colour background or paper or cloth or permanently painted with plastic paint, (since most of the paper articles are in white or light colour).

A bulletin board display which is arranged, specially to exhibit the display materials either for classroom teaching or for a special public exhibition needs very careful planning and arrangement.

Select a topic appropriate to the age, experience and understanding of your audience, example - college students; women belonging to various communities who are attending adult education classes, etc.

Decide upon the display material such as pictures, light models, cut-outs, sketches, written materials etc. The illustrations must be large, colourful, related to the topic, simple and easy to understand.

A bulletin board may or may not have a main title, but if it has, select titles which are brief, attention compelling and relevant to the topic; example -

'When there are no flowers....'

'Care for your Woollens!'

Legible and attractive captions, labels and titles are a must for effective displays.

Size of the lettering should be according to the size of the board and the audience. Avoid very large letters for the main caption, and too small letters for the sub-titles and text. Use simple bold letters and avoid ornamental styles. The spacing should be optical rather than mechanical. For some purposes, typewriting may be adequate and convenient, but with practice, most people can do freehand lettering with felt-tip pens.

Plan the layout. It can be formal or informal. The former being more appropriate for classroom teaching, and the latter for the whole institution or general public, for greater motivational appeal. Avoid overcrowding of display material.

Heavy articles and large pictures should be kept at the bottom to give a feeling of solid security. Titles can be written both vertically or horizontally, though better readability is achieved with straight horizontal ones. Avoid splitting words, or writing them by spreading out each letter.

Use a few striking and pleasing colours. Start with the colours already present in the display materials since you cannot change them. Then select the colours of the background and titles which are well matching with effective contrast. The background should make the display materials stand out rather than draw attention to itself. Therefore, avoid flashy, heavily textured, bright or merging type backgrounds. You can use cheap coloured cloth or coloured paper, which can be easily cut into the same size as the bulletin board and can be reused in future. Combine two or more colours in unequal sizes to make an interesting background.

Balance the colours of the display materials, on a bulletin board arrangement, harmoniously. As a rule, very bright colours should be used sparingly as they give the effect of burning and so cause uneasiness among viewers. People continue to look at cool colours for a longer time. So use very bright colours like, red, yellow, shocking pink, green etc. in small proportions just to attract attention, but present major visuals in cool colours only.

Use colours to:

attract attention

show boundaries

indicate classification of groups

have effective background for materials.

Usage of a special colour, unusual shape, picture etc. helps to attract attention even if it does not add to the educational value of a bulletin board. This principle may not be necessary for day-to-day teaching but for a special public exhibition, it is indispensible. A bulletin board, however well and neatly arranged is a failure if it fails to attract the attention of a passerby in the first instance!

Use strips of paper, ribbons, or yarn to connect the display articles and direct the eye to move in a specific direction.

Lay out the arrangement with some pins. Make necessary alterations and only then fix the display material securely and neatly. Fix boundaries of the bulletin board also very neatly.

Achieve a three-dimensional effect on a bulletin board display by using light models made of balsa wood, styrofoam and cork, putting these behind the flat tiles and objects and not by letting the pins go down completely inside the board. This helps the thick flat materials to stand away from the board and create a three- dimensional effect Change the bulletin board displays frequently to attract the stu dents attention. You may store your display materials carefully for ready reuse.