Using Text and Hypertext to Instruct

In teaching and learning, I must say, that upon completing project 1, I had really taken audio and visual aids for granted.  Trying to instruct solely using text and hypertext is a lot harder that what I initially thought it was going to be. In my teaching and learning experiences there have almost always been visual and audio aids present to supplement the text. In fact, in recent years it seems as though text is used only as a supplemental to visual and audio aids for instructional purposes. In some cases, no text is even used when instructing a process. After completing project 1 I understand why it is so difficult to instruct using text only and why some companies use less text and primarily use audio and visuals to teach a process.

Just the other day I was assembling a wagon I got from my son and the instructions were primarily in picture format. The only text used was the numbering of the steps. The rest of the instruction were just pictures of the assembly process. When I bought my first IPad, I was surprised to see that there was no instructional manual. Every other piece of electronic hardware I had bought previous to that came with a lengthy and cumbersome instructional manual I dreaded to get into. The IPad was one of the easiest things I learned to use and the instructions almost always were audio/visual. Text was used as a supplemental instructional tool.

While completing project 1 I had a better understanding as to why teaching and learning was easier with visual and audio aids—efficiency. “A picture is worth a thousand words” is a maxim that best captures why it is better to use visual aids when instructing. While delineating the process of driving from a standstill position, I wrote 8 pages of text trying to explain the process. I had to use a lot of adjectives and be as descriptive as possible, so that the learner understand exactly what I am trying to say. I even had to supplement the text with vocabulary and other text, to ensure that the learner understands some of the nomenclature in disc golf. Vocabulary is of utmost importance when teaching primarily with text. If the learner doesn’t understand one word, that could throw off the whole process.

I recall having my fiancé read my first draft of the instructional steps; she did well up until she came across the words disc golf speed, bevel, pivot and perpendicular. She could not get past that and would get stuck. However if I showed her what those words meant by using my body, she could easily see what I meant. What I am trying to say is that teaching with text is more difficult and less efficient than when teaching with visual and audio aids. You have to be very descriptive and anticipate vocabulary and translational problems. It seems like the best and most efficient way to teach and learn is by using text as a supplemental to visual/audio aids and not as a primary form of teaching. It is easier to show pictures and have people follow them. On top of this pictures are universal. Everyone, no matter what language they speak, or think in can easily follow visuals. Text is limited in descriptive power and language and dialect parameters.