Depending upon who you read and/or believe, today may the exact anniversary of the publication of the Gutenberg Bible.

Huh?

Well, a little background. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe and much of the “civilized” world entered an era commonly referred to as “the Dark Ages”, so called because after the “light of learning” in Rome was extinguished an intellectual  “darkness” supposedly fell across Europe for many centuries. Though the term is now considered misleading and unfair by many medieval historians, there is some truth in it. From roughly the 6th Century until the 10th or 14th Centuries (depending upon who you read), learning was highly restricted across Europe and tightly controlled by the church.

A large reason this control existed had to do with the way in which books were made. Prior to about 1455, all books were created through transcription by hand, a monumentally time consuming task, and one that was the exclusive province of medieval monks. Thus, with control over the creation of books, the church basically controlled all learning and all learned content. And they were pretty darn tight with this control.

But that changed when, perhaps on this particular day in around 1455, Johannes Gutenberg began to operate the first workable printing press in history and published the Gutenberg Bible. With this simple machine began a new wave of learning as information and books rapidly became available to more people and control of ideas passed out of the hands of the church and into the public sphere. A simply monumental change.

Today of course we are possibly moving beyond the printed book entirely as more and more content now finds distribution through electronic media and devices. Kindle Fire anyone?

But when it comes to teaching children, not all minds work the same. While some children respond to books and the printed word (whether on a page or an iPad), others do not. And while most children respond to the attention of a great teacher, sadly, not all teachers are great (despite hard work and the best of  intentions).

The truth is there is no silver bullet for learning which will work with all children in all schools. However, the best educators know this, and know that live events must be part of a broad based rich curriculum that has something to intrigue and excite and inspire students of all types, regardless of their abilities in different areas.

Which, of course, is where we fit in! With a plethora of school assembly ideas, from portable planetariums to live animal programs to costumed historical characters and anti bullying school shows, the menu of options available through Mobile Ed is without peer. These professionally performed, high quality educational programs are specifically designed to excite students in particular area’s of their learning, and forge within them a strong desire to learn more. And it works. Pure and simple. As just one example, following a visit from The Living Lincoln school assembly, featuring a costumed actor presenting a realistic and highly educational but very entertaining portrayal of Lincoln, schools universally discover that all the Lincoln themed books in their library go home with students that night. They want to learn more!

While school assemblies may quite rightly enjoy a status far below that of Mr. Gutenberg’s invention in the grand scheme of things, there can be no doubt as to their positive impact on children.

When can we come and see you?