Audiovisual Education

Audiovisual Education

INTRODUCTION

Audiovisual Education, planning, preparation, and use of devices and materials that involve sight, sound, or both for educational purposes. Among the devices used are still and motion pictures, filmstrips, television, transparencies, audiotapes, records, teaching machines, computers, and videodiscs. The growth of audiovisual education has reflected developments in both technology and learning theory.

  II. HISTORY

Audiovisual education emerged as a discipline in the 1920s, when film technology was developing rapidly. A visual instruction movement arose, which encouraged the use of visual materials to make abstract ideas more concrete to students. As sound technology improved, the movement became known as audiovisual instruction.

Educators at that time viewed audiovisuals only as aids to teachers. Not until World War II, when the armed services used audiovisual materials to train large numbers of persons in short periods of time, did the potential of these devices as primary sources of instruction become apparent.

In the 1950s and '60s, developments in communications theory and systems concepts led to studies of the educational process, its elements, and their interrelationships. Among these elements are the teacher, the teaching methods, the information conveyed, the materials used, the student, and the student's responses. As a result of these studies, the field of audiovisuals shifted its emphasis from devices and materials to the examination of the teaching-learning process. The field was now known as audiovisual communications and educational technology, and audiovisual materials were viewed as an integral part of the educational system.

  III. ADVANTAGES

Studies in the psychology of learning suggest that the use of audiovisuals in education has several advantages. All learning is based on perception, the process by which the senses gain information from the environment. The higher processes of memory and concept formation cannot occur without prior perception. Persons can attend to only a limited amount of information at a time; their selection and perception of information is influenced by past experiences. Researchers have found that, other conditions being equal, more learning occurs when information is received simultaneously in two modalities (vision and hearing, for example) rather than in a single modality. Furthermore, learning is enhanced when material is organized and that organization is evident to the student.

These findings suggest the value of audiovisuals in the educational process. They can facilitate perception of the most important features, can be carefully organized, and can require the student to use more than one modality.

  IV. PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION

The American psychologist B. F. Skinner was influenced by these advantages when he developed his teaching machines in the 1950s. Skinner's concept of programmed instruction emphasized the need for a total educational plan. The process involved identifying objectives; arranging subject matter into logical sequences; preparing and testing instructional programs; and then implementing, testing, and revising them. Skinner shifted the emphasis in education away from the teacher's presentation of information and toward the learner's behaviour and, especially, reinforcement of that behaviour. His teaching machines provided programmed instruction, which allowed students to proceed through lessons by small steps, at their own pace, following an orderly sequence, and receiving immediate reinforcement for every correct response. Skinner's work emphasized the role of audiovisuals in facilitating individualized learning.

  V. IMPACT ON EDUCATION

The and other countries have begun to take advantage of the ability of audiovisual devices to transcend geographical barriers. Audiovisual devices can expose students to experiences beyond the classroom, and they can disseminate instruction across large areas, making education accessible to more people. In the , communication satellites distribute educational programming to all public television stations; some programs are broadcast and others may be viewed on closed-circuit systems. has also experimented with satellites to broadcast educational materials. In , the Open University provides a college education by using radio, television, and regional learning centers. Other nations that have used audiovisual devices to transmit educational materials over large distances are , , and .

As the technology improves, educational capabilities increase correspondingly. The emergence of inexpensive computer technology and mass storage media, including optical videodiscs and compact disks, has given instructional technologists better tools with which to work. Compact disks (the CD-ROM and CD-I) are used to store large amounts of data, such as encyclopaedias or motion pictures. At new interactive delivery stations with computers and CD-ROM, CD-I, or videodiscs, a student who is interested in a particular topic can first scan an electronic encyclopaedia, then view a film on the subject or look at related topics at the touch of a button. These learning stations combine the advantages of reference materials, still pictures, motion pictures, television, and computer-aided instruction. With even newer technologies now being developed, such learning stations will eventually be commonplace in homes for both entertainment and educational purposes.