Developing Instruction with Audio

Developing instruction with audio was quite a fun experience. I truly enjoyed working with audacity and creating amateur, instructional pod-casts. Compared to visual instruction, in my opinion, audio instruction was less laborious and much more pleasant to create.

                Having said that, I do not think that teaching with audio is more efficient than teaching with visual, or text. Whether the visual and text instruction is uni-modal, or combined, both are more efficient at conveying the instructional message for two reasons. The reason text is a more efficient means of instruction is because when developing audio instruction, one has to first type and use text to develop a script, to then read and record from, and in essence is doubling the work to convey the same material. Visual instruction is one of the most efficient ways a person can teach, as the maxim goes a picture is worth one thousand words.”

                The only reason someone might thing to instruct another person differently, is if the learner is handicapped or has special needs. It would be obvious that if one was to be instructing deaf students, then the instructor might consider utilizing visual instruction as their main platform. Conversely, if a practitioner were to instruct blind learners, then the implementer might consider using a good deal of audio instruction.

                Another thing to consider would be the modal strengths and weaknesses that general learner learns best from. It is good practice to have audio instruction, along with visual and textual, at your teaching disposal in order to maximize the probability of striking the right learning nerve in more learners. As previously stated, some learners learn best from text, others from visual and still others from auditory instruction. Presenting more modalities of instruction increases the probability of reaching, and getting instructional buy in from more students. This will lead to a better teaching and learning environment.