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Week 7 - Activity 4 Audio-Only

Sounds

According to Alten (2002) sound is described as “vibrations that set into motion longitudinal waves of compression and rarefaction propagated through molecular structures such as gas, liquids, and solids” (p. 14).  Audio is the second most distributed medium of instructions, with text been first (Unwin & McAleese, 1988).

How do you think the use of audio-only instruction will benefit teaching and learning?

There are so many positives when it comes to using audio-only instruction.  Audio content is mobile friendly.  Learners can download the audio content to a CD, flash drive, smartphone, and iPads and play the recording anywhere, including in their car while driving to a vacation destination.  Audio files can also be managed easily, rewinding them or fast wording them as one chooses.  Audio files can also be used very effectively to teach someone a new language.  It allows the learner to do proper words pronunciation, something that text based or image based content is not able to do.  Another positive of audio-only  text is that the author of the content can convey emotion by emphasizing certain words.  Instructors can also take advance of audio when giving students feedback.  The instructor could use a strict tone if the student is not doing a good job or a happy tone if the work is superb.  Yet another positive of audio-only  content is that if a student misses class, a recording of the lecture could be made available for review.  And finally, audio is more cost effective than textbooks.

What do you think will be potential issues with the use of audio? 

Some of the negatives about using audio-only  instructions include some users having hearing problems or not having or having to spend money on the right equipment (speakers, headphones, audio drive, etc.).   Creating audio content requires the right software and the right skills.  The content creator would need to be knowledgeable enough to render audio files.   Also, different research has found that there isn’t an added benefit to learning when it comes to audio-only  content.

How do you think it will impact your teaching and learning?  How do you think it differs from using images and text?

As a learner, audio has had a positive impact on me.  I can listen to audio instructional material in the comfort of my own home and I can increase the speed so that I can finish listening to the lesson a lot faster or so that I can cram in more content in less time.

References:

Alten, S. R. (2002). Audio in media.6th edition. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Barron, A. E. (2004). Auditory instruction. In D. Jonassen (Ed). Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and Technology, 2nd Ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Retrieved

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