EFFECTIVE USE OF
AUDIO-VISUAL
TEACHING AIDS
MR. AMEIR M.MAKAME
Visual Aids
• Castle (1956) highlights that visual
aids are the one appeal to the eye.
• Visual aids appeal to the
understanding and are essential in
teaching.
Why visual Aids
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2.
3.
Used in schools to give meaning to words. A
word description of an elephant or pineapple is
always made more real if we are helped by a
picture of the real thing, or better still by
seeing the thing itself.
Hence visual aids are aids to understanding.
There are 3 ways of learning an elephant:
By hearing it described in words
By seeing a picture
By seeing an elephant in the jungle
Why visual Aids
• Visual aids to learning are especially
important in Africa because so few can
travel fro their homes to see the world
about which they have to learn
• Few homes have books and pictures which
children can study in their leisure time
• Today African children have to learn
English if they are to go far in their
education
Examples of Visual Aids
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Pictures
School visit
Films
Film-strips
Television
Solid objects
Flat pictures
The Use of Visual Aids
Visual Aids are good servant but a bad master. Here
follow some principles to ensure their proper use:
• Visual aids are not a complete method of teaching
but an aid to learning
• Visual aids are not necessary in all lessons
• Too many aids in one lesson may distract attention
from the main subject of the lesson
• Aids should be adapted to the understanding of
the class
• Aids should be relevant to the subject of the
lesson
The Use of Visual Aids…
• Do not use pictures when children can see and
handle the real thing, e.g. in nature study, a real
leaf is better than pictures of a leaf (this is not
always so: with a complex thing such as an eye, a
model may well be better then a real eye).
• Teachers and pupils should co-operate in making
their own visual aids. Never give a lesson just
because you have a ready-made visual aid for it,
probably brought from college.
The Use of Visual Aids…
• When possible, models should be
made of local materials.
• Do not leave visual aids on show for
too long. when the class loses
interest in them they have served
their purpose.
• Make new aids each year. This
revives the teacher's interest and
creates interest among pupils.
Audio/Aural Aids
• Castle (1956) defines aural aids as the ones appeal
to the ear.
• As visual aids audio/aural aids appeal to the
understanding and are essential in teaching.
• Examples
• Radio
• Record player
• Tape recorder
• Human voice
Meaning of Audio-Visual
Aids
• Audiovisual aids are defined as any device
used to aid in the communication of an idea.
From this definition, virtually anything can be
used as an aid, providing it successfully
communicates the idea or information for which it
is designed.
• Lestage (1959) claims that audio-visual aids are
the most modern or the most recently used of
these methods (films, filmstrips, radio and
television).
Meaning of Audio-Visual
Aids…
• AV aids help the educator by offering him a
complete arsenal in order for him/her to work
effectively
• The educator is the one who chooses the means
which is best adapted to his/her subject, his/her
audience and his/her circumstances.
• It is clear that audio-visual aids cannot be
separated from educational materials in general.
Planning, Preparing and
Using Audiovisual Teaching
Aids
Why Audiovisual Aids?
• I hear, I forget
• I see, I remember
• I do, I understand
• Visual perception contributes to about
90% to all human learning.
• Maximum attention span of an adult
learner is 20 min To sustain attention and
interest various stimuli are necessary
Planning, Preparing and
Using Audiovisual Teaching
Aids…
• Audio Visuals will lead to more
number of senses used by learner.
• Example: Telling and showing. It is
more effective than only telling or
only showing
Guidelines for Designing
Audiovisuals
• Use simplified drawings
• Visual should be made to scale
• Use colours and dramatic pictures
with humour
• Information given should match the
pace of learning
• Use titles and questions liberally
• Make selective use of audio effects
Guidelines for Designing
Audiovisuals…
• Text on computer screen should be
legible from a distance of a two
meters
• Use bold face type letters
• Design learner friendly interactive
multimedia systems
Objectives of using
Audiovisual Aids
• To increase the effectiveness of the
teaching
• to hold the attention span of the learner
for the duration of instruction
• to save time
• to use all the relevant information
available from different sources
• to make learning experiences last longer
How to go about using
Audiovisual Aids
In order to employ the audiovisual aids user
should be aware of:
• different audio, visual and audio-visual
teaching aids
• criteria of selection of the aids
• methods of preparing aids
• using suitable aid at appropriate time.
TYPES OF AUDIOVISUAL
TEACHING AIDS
•
One of the methods of classification
of the available aids is based on
projection and use of electronics
gadgets.
• Audio visual teaching aids can be
categorised into:
1. non projected
2. projected
3. electronic
TYPES OF AUDIOVISUAL
TEACHING AIDS…
NON PROJECTED
• Books
• Journals
• Instructional manuals
• Hand outs
• Programmed texts
• Chalk and other boards
• Charts
• Cut-outs
• Models etc
TYPES OF AUDIOVISUAL
TEACHING AIDS…
PROJECTED
• OHP
• Slides
• Film Strips
• Films etc.
ELECTRONIC
• Video
• CCTV
• Computers
• Internet
• Audio
• Radio etc.
Filmstrips
• Filmstrips consist of a series of pictures
in close step sequence.
• Each frame, be it a photograph or a
drawing or a ‘matchstick’ sketch, coloured,
or black and white, may be used for oral
work in the same way in the same way as a
wall picture may be used.
• Each frame may be held on the screen as
long as is needed, and the teacher can
choose which frames to use in this way.
Filmstrips…
• A sequence of frames can describe a
sequence of events, and therefore
give the opportunity to use different
tenses (e.g. in teaching language).
Films
• Sound film can work in combination with television
and computers.
• There are silent and talking films
• Films can be used in teaching languages such
English as a foreign language, documentary and
feature films which would be helpful in oral work.
• Films like still pictures, can stimulate the
imagination and give the pupils something fresh to
talk about
• They broaden the visible contexts in which a
subject is used (e.g. language).
• Moving pictures are more vivid then still picture
Films…
• A good film will bear several showings, and
the pupils can be directed to look and
listen for particular things. They can even
hear the sound-track without seeing the
picture
• Both silent and talking films can be used
to show the beginning or end of an episode
or story, the rest of which the teacher
can discuss with the pupils before they
write about it
Types of films used in
teaching
Two types of film are used in teaching:
1. Documentaries for enriching the
background of history, geography,
science and other lessons
2. Teaching films proper. These actually
give a series of lessons. Teachers should
study the film themselves before
showing it to the class, so that they can
guide students in their observation of it.
Principles to follow to
ensure proper use of films
and film-strips
• Aids should be used with specific purpose in mind
i.e. the content of the media should be directly
congruent with lesson objectives
• Films should be short because attention
decreases with the length of the film
• Pictures on film-strips should be shown and with
explanation. It is best not to use too many
pictures in one lesson.
• When using these aids, the greatest care is
needed to ensure that the children observe
accurately.
Difficulties about using
films and filmstrips
• Apparatus is costly and requires
electricity
• There must be some darkening of the
classroom when using filmstrips.
• A projector is necessary and enough
money to buy a few strips.
Radio
• The radio is the cheapest of the audio
media used in schools and therefore tends
to be widely used in schools (Farrant,
1980; Castle, 1956).
• Radio is especially useful in the teaching of
subjects like history, geography, civics,
health-education and languages (Castle,
1956).
Radio…
• The coming of inexpensive transistor
radios, able to operate for many hours
from torch batteries, transformed
educational broadcasting in Africa.
• Instead of large and costly receivers
needing a source of electrical mains supply,
schools found themselves able to use sets
were convenient to carry from place to
place and very cheap to run.
Radio…
• The radio is only good as the programmes
it receives.
• For this reason, the special broadcasting
units are responsible in most countries for
to produce programmes for schools,
colleges and universities which tend to
meet the needs of the pupils and students.
Radio…
•
Such programmes can provide:
1. Direct teaching - aimed at teaching
lessons for a specific syllabus
2. Core material - aimed at stimulating
further study on a theme
3. Enrichment broadcasts - aimed at
supplying additional learning material, not
necessarily linked to any syllabus
How to make the most of
Educational Broadcasting
• Get advance details of the programmes to be
broadcast
• Select the programmes that have positive value
for your pupils
• Judge how to make the best use of each
programme you have selected, whether live,
recorded in full or in part, etc.
• Make whatever administrative preparations are
necessary to obtain the equipment and
accommodation needed for the lesson.
How to make the most of
Educational Broadcasting…
• Prepare the pupils before the broadcast in
accordance with any suggestions contained
in the printed teachers’ notes
• Plan timing and physical arrangements so
that the pupils receive the programme
clearly
• Carry out whatever follow-up is necessary
to derive full benefit from the programme
New Technologies
• “Textbooks may be used less frequently,
as new media and technology, such as
videos, videodiscs, videocassette
recorders, and computers, enter the
classroom.” (Moore, 1992:57).
• The new forms of technology enable
teachers to expand the classroom in which
learning place and greatly enrich student
learning experiences (Newman, 1992).
New Technologies…
• The new media and technology
provide a more direct approach to
instruction.
• New technologies like video and
computers have rapidly become key
instructional technologies used in
both formal and informal education.
Examples of new
Technologies
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Motion pictures
Videos
Television
Videodiscs
Interactive video technology
Computers
Motion pictures and
Videos
• Motion pictures and videos allow teachers to
communicate by using the two most direct
channels for learning: sight and sound.
• Both depict motion; promote the building of a
common base for experiencing and understanding
the world in general; and impact the emotions.
• Both are flexible media in that they enable stepby-step demonstrations and observations to be
shown and repeated in critical sequences.
Motion pictures and
Videos…
• Both allow observation of items and events that
are too dangerous or too difficult to view because
of time, distance and size limitations.
• Both may be used to present problem-solving
situations, promote critical thinking, and depict
historical events.
• Both may serve as springboards for further
study, research, and learning.
• They can provide teachers with an avenue for
enriching and supplementing instruction.
Motion pictures
• They offer several specific advantages over
video.
• Certain special techniques are better suited for
motion picture technology than for videotechniques such as animation, long-range
photograpy as well as slow motion photography
and slow-motion projection.
• Films are available from a wider range of sources
and in a greater number of subjects and titles
than videos.
Motion pictures…
• Due to the increasing popularity of video
instruction brought about by the
availability of more efficient, inexpensive
video equipment and the rising costs of
motion pictures and associated equipment,
this imbalance is changing.
• Some observers suggest that video will
replace motion pictures-except for largescreen projection purposes (Bullough,
1988).
Limitations of motion
pictures
• Motion pictures do not adapt to flexible pacing of
the material presented.
• Some may present material too slowly for some
students and too fast for others.
• They may also present incorrect information,
promote misconceptions, and distort reality,
leading to possible misinterpretations of intended
messages.
• In some cases they may also contain unacceptable
material.
Videos
• They can be produced economically and
easily on a local-school basis.
• Only a limited amount of equipment is
necessary, and it is generally user-friendly
and becoming more portable.
• Videotapes come in cassette format and
are fairly inexpensive.
• They are reusable and easily duplicated.
Videos…
• Video is immediate. It allows quick
recording of information and, if
desired, immediate feedback.
• As such, recorded information can be
easily and quickly transmitted live to
special audiences or delayed and used
later.
Videos…
• Stop-action and slow-motion capabilities make
video particularly valuable when teaching such
topics as the circulatory or digestive system, the
passage of a bill through congress, or the
trajectory of a missile.
• Easy production and flexibility can benefit
students as well by inviting them to get involved in
their learning. For example, students may be
permitted to prepare programmes dealing with
careers and community problems, record guest
speakers, make class videos, or record field trips.
Limitations of Videos
• In fact, all limitations cited earlier for motion
pictures may also apply to video programmes.
• Video may present other specific problems:
• Students come to school as users of television,
with its rapid-paced, canned, generalentertainment format. Teachers may not be able
to hold student’s attentions very long. Even when
video programmes are produced by professionals,
their level of complexity and interest may not
match that of the programming to which students
are accustomed.
Limitations of Videos…
• Since video is generally viewed in small-screen
format, many students not be able to see what is
presented very well.
• Even when large projection capabilities exist, they
are expensive, and too often the video images
tend to become poorer in quality when enlarged or
viewed at an angle.
• Some educators also maintain that the
capabilities for providing feedback to students
are lacking with video, especially with respect to
instructional television programming.
Television
• Television programming is an
immediate, widely available, and
frequently used instructional tool.
• It is sometimes considered the most
pervasive medium in our society.
• Today, television has become a
common medium for instruction.
Television…
• A distinction is usually made between educational
and instructional television.
• Educational television is designed to inform or
educate in general.
• Instructional television for specific classroom
instruction and objectives.
• Instructional television is selected by the teacher
to meet course or program objectives.
• Broadcast and closed-circuit programming may
serve either purpose.
Principles of using
Television in a classroom
• As motion pictures and videos, television should
be used with specific lesson objectives in mind.
• You should make certain that the content of
media presentations is appropriate for your
intent.
• You should preview all programs before they are
viewed by students.
• Before viewing, students should be alerted to
what they should look for, a technique that
enhances the likelihood that they will be attentive
to media presentations in a meaningful way.
Videodisc
• A videodisc is a compact disc (CD) on
which a tremendous quantity of visual
information is stored.
• For example, one videodisc can store up to
54,000 separate frames of still imeages,
up to 50 hours of digitized stereo music,
or 330 minutes of motion images with
sound (Heinrich, Molenda, and Russell,
1989).
Advantages of Videodiscs
• Videodisc technology permits random access and
retrieval of any one piece of information.
• Material can be stored in full-colour, full-motion
format or as still visuals with sound.
• Videodiscs can be used for distributing almost any
set of instructional materials.
• Their small size permits easy storage and
minimizes mailing costs.
Limitations of Videodisc
Technology
• Videodisc player are expensive and most do not
permit local school recording.
• Copies of programmes must be made at remote
sites, and they tend to be rather expensive.
• Such limitations may discourage widespread use
of videodisc technology in most public schools;
• Concentrated efforts are needed to lower the
cost of the technology and make it more widely
available (Moore, 1998).
Interactive Video
Technology
• Computer system components and video system
components may be linked to form an interactive
video system, thus tapping the benefits of both
system and creating an excellent instructional
tool with tremendous potential.
• Interactive video technology is comprised of
either a simple video playback unit consisting of a
monitor and a VCR (for running tapes) or a video
monitor and a videodisc player with a computer
equipped with a CD-ROM drive offers a more
sophisticated interactive unit with greater
storage capacity.
Interactive Video
Technology…
• The user can individually access,
sequence, and pace both sound and
images.
• Such a multimedia learning
environment can be a powerful
practical method for individualizing
and personalizing instruction.
Advantages of Interactive
Video Technology
• In effect, interactive video systems allow
learners to become more involved in their
learning.
• Students “interact” with the unit by
manipulating, as desired, such controls as
PLAY, FREEZE/PAUSE, FORWARD, OR
REVERSE.
• Students use the computer to control
access to the verbal and visual information
on the disc.
Advantages of Interactive
Video Technology…
• The videodisc provides the video
portion of interaction video.
• The images can be presented in slow
motion, fast motion, or frame by
frame (as in filmstrip or slide
display).
Computers
• Computers can be a powerful tool in a teacher’s
repertoire (Siegel, Good, and Moore, 1996).
• Their popularity and educational value has had an
irreversible impact on schools.
• With their word processing and record-keeping
capabilities, quick and easy spreadsheets, and
high-quality graphics programmes, computers have
established their effectiveness as management
and instructional tools.
Computers…
• Software has gradually improved in quality and
variety and is now available for all subject areas
and grade levels.
• Current software presents whole units and
courses of instruction.
• The new software permits a variety of student
responses, with branching to appropriate levels of
instruction based on the correctness of students’
responses.
• Overall instruction is made more appealing and
enhanced through the use of graphics and sound.
Computers…
•
•
1.
The selection, evaluation, and purchase
of classroom software should be based
on how well the program sustains student
interest and, more important, how well it
addresses intended goals and objectives.
More specifically, a teacher should focus
on three things:
How well the software appeals to
students and act as a motivator,
Computers…
2. How well the software helps students
master intended skills and concepts, and
3. How well the software encourages and
develops higher-level thinking.
• Computers can greatly expand the types
of instruction received by students,
improve on current teaching modes, and
free teachers to increase their personal
attention to students (Solomon, 1992).
Computers…
• Positive experiences can come from
meaningful interactions with computers as
students learn concepts concurrently with
the application of those concepts, for
example, when computer training exercises
are integrated into computer programmes
that actually call for students to use
spreadsheets while using the training
programmes in business education classes.
Computers…
• Computers and computer labs have become
less expensive and more versatile, and if
schools know their potential and have the
proper software, the capabilities are
limitless.
• Moore (1998) emphasises that, interest in
adapting computers to serve as
instructional tools needs to be nourished.
Advantages of using
Computers
• Computers characteristically offer many
advantages as management and instructional tools.
• Their success has flourished with the increase in
availability at less cost.
• Computers permit the use of flexible, practical,
and effective self-contained units of instruction.
• They allow vast amounts of data and information
to be quickly stored and used for reference,
manipulation, and problem-solving.
Advantages of using
Computers…
• They provided several sources of output,
including by screen, printout, and signals
passing over wires to remote places.
• They may used to control other
instructional tools, such as slides,
filmstrips, motion pictures, and video
programmes.
• Generally, computers represent good
motivational tools.
Advantages of using
Computers…
• They encourage students to become
actively involved in the learning process.
• They make fewer errors than teachers and
do not get irritated, tired, distracted, or
impatient.
• Computers have become so sophisticated
that they can mimic human instructors in
response to students.
Advantages of using
Computers…
• They also benefit students by helping them
develop a sense of accomplishment, and in so doing
improve their self-confidence.
• Also, computers and computers software are
available to serve the unique needs of students
from diverse backgrounds, including the advanced,
the below average, the learning disabled, those
from low-income families, and those with limited
English skills.
Advantages of using
Computers…
• They can be used by both teachers and
students for word processing, record
keeping, and desktop publishing.
• As such they permit teachers and
students to produce, save, retrieve, edit,
and print both text and visuals for term
papers, letters, pamphlets, newsletters,
brochures, grade reports, or books.
Instructional Role of
Computers
•
The instructional role computers have
assumed in the classroom has taken two
forms:
1. Computer-managed instruction (CMI)
2. Computer-assisted instruction (CAI),
which is sometimes referred to as
computer-based instruction.
Computer-Managed
Instruction (CMI)
• The primary purpose of CMI is to
help the instructor and the student
in the management of records.
• Specifically, teachers use it for
handling student records, diagnosing
and prescribing materials, monitoring
progress, and testing.
Computer-Managed
Instruction (CMI)…
• The computer can be used to store
information about students and about
relevant instructional materials.
• Students can take tests on the computers
can diagnose the learning needs of
students and prescribe optimal sequences
of instruction for them.
Computer-Managed
Instruction (CMI)…
• Some computer-managed instruction packages will
include instructional objectives, instructional
activities, corresponding test items, and
instructional support.
• In such systems, computers often are used for
testing students’ competency mastery; for
recording each student’s mastery progress; for
diagnosing weaknesses, recommending remedial
work if necessary, and indicating when the
student is ready to move on to the next step; and
for providing needed additional practice.
Computer-Managed
Instruction (CMI)…
• Teachers who have become proficient with the
appropriate CMI software can manage instruction
with these computers and maintain sophisticated
records on students.
• As teachers develop lessons and test items for
the units they teach, they can be programmed
into the computer for random selection when the
time comes for use.
• Teachers will find work processing useful in
producing course outline, handouts, and tests.
Computer-Managed
Instruction (CMI)…
• Teachers will find the use of
database information systems in
collecting and recording information
and spreadsheet information
extremely useful in recording grades
and calculating end-of-term grades.
Computer-Assisted
Instruction (CAI)
• It usually serves one individual student at
a time, as part of the instructional
activity.
• The major strength of CAI is that it is
interactive: information, questions, and
other stimuli flow from computers to
students, but then the students can
provide input that shapes the next
computer output.
Computer-Assisted
Instruction (CAI)…
• With CAI, acquisition of information and
development of skills is accomplished
through the use of a computer system and
a computer software programme.
• Programmes may be designed to fit
individual needs at any desired ability
level, pace, or degree of complexity.
Four types of ComputerAssisted Instruction
(CAI)…
1. Drill-and-practice programmes
•
Aare the lowest level of computer use.
•
They lead students through a series of
examples to increase dexterity and fluency in a
skill.
•
They contain repeated exercises with the
purpose of learning and mastering concepts and
skills or committing material to memory.
•
The drill-and-practice is used predominantly for
math drills, foreign language drill, vocabulary
building etc.
Types of ComputerAssisted Instruction
(CAI)…
2. Tutorial programmes
•
Are designed to emulate a human tutor: the
computer acts as the teacher.
•
The computer initially presents new information;
depending on student responses, it may present
additional or supplemental information.
•
The initial presentation and follow-up responses to
the student may take the form of written
explanation and descriptions, questions and
problems, or graphics and visual illustrations.
•
Tutorials are generally more sophisticated than
drill-and-practice programmes.
Types of ComputerAssisted Instruction
(CAI)…
3. Simulation programmes
•
They call on the students to role-play and model
reality.
•
Essentially, students confront real-life
situations i.e. they make decisions while
emulating or interacting with “real life” or
“close-to-life” situation and processes in order
to learn from their responses.
•
Simulations are especially helpful and thought
provoking when they as k students to make
decisions concerning situations or processes
involving risks or dangers.
Simulation programmes…
• Students can now conduct
experiments; experience past
events, current happenings, or
future possibilities; and consider
what-if problems through
simulations.
Types of ComputerAssisted Instruction
(CAI)…
4. Gaming programmes
•
They engage students in activities where they
must follow specific rules that differ from
those of real life in order to reach a specific
goal.
•
Attaining the goal usually entails competitiongroup against the group, as in volleyball;
individual against individual or machine, as in the
chess; or individual against a standard, as in
bowling.
•
To be challenging, goals should have a roughly
50% probability of success.
Limitations of using
Computers
• Computers are still expensive (it is suggested that
money used to buy hardware, software, and
maintenance would be better spent for more
teachers).
• They suppress creativity
• They limit social interaction
• They emphasize narrow facts at the expense of
broad generalizations.
• They limit the imagination.
• They dehumanize instruction.
Limitations of using
Computers…
• Computers leads to limited range of objectives
being taught by computers.
• Most CAI cannot effectively teach affective,
motor, or interpersonal skills.
• Even in the cognitive domain, current programmes
tend to teach at the lower levels of knowledge
and understanding.
• Copyright problems, the poor quality of some
software programmes, and incompatibility among
software programmes also can limit their
effectiveness.
Limitations of using
Computers…
• Some teachers fear using computers
because they are too complex to
understand.
• Logistical environment concerns may limit
the use of computers. For example, having
to deal with issues like placement of the
computers, supervision of users,
maintenance, and acquisition of supplies
may cause some teachers not to bother
using computers as instructional tools.
Limitations of using
Computers…
• Chapman, Garret and Mahlck (2004) argue that
computer-based instruction can involuntarily
embarrass teachers:
• When students know more about computer
operation than their teachers
• When the imported lessons raise questions the
classroom teacher is unable to answer, or
• When lessons adopted from the elsewhere employ
instructional strategies that weaken teachercentred approaches that may be favoured by the
classroom teacher
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Castle, E. (1956). Principles of Education for Teachers in
Africa. Oxford University Press: Nairobi.
Lee W. and Helen Coppen.(1970). Simple Audio-Visual Aids
to Foreign-Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Moore, K. (1998). Classroom Teaching Skills. Boston:
McGrawHill.
Farrant, J. (1980). Principles and Practice of Education.
Essex: Longman Group.
Chapman, D. and Lars O. Mahlck. (eds).(2004). Adapting
Technology for School improvement. Paris: International
Institute for Educational Planning. UNESCO.