This article is about audiovisual learning and audio-visual aids that greatly assist this type of learning. We will talk about what audio-visual aids are, why they are essential, and their benefits to modern education. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
The learning industry adapted to various needs of learners a long time ago. Each learner is an individual with a specific type of information consumption that suits him best. There are several types of learning styles:
- Visual/verbal style. This style stands for the information presented in video and text format.
- Visual/nonverbal style. Learners that prefer this style better consume learning material in visual format only (video, pictures, and so on).
- Auditory/verbal. Students are more engaged in consuming learning material in audio format with constant discussions and so on.
What Audiovisual Learning Actually Is?
First of all, let’s start with the basics and define what audiovisual learning and audio-visual aids stand for.
This form of learning involves learning content that uses sound (auditory stimuli) and vision (visual stimuli). This content is called audio-visual materials or aids and includes materials such as:
- PowerPoint presentations that complement the standard lecture
- Video clips with voiceover, moving or stationary footage
- Interactive whiteboard
- Video conferencing
- Television
- Computer graphics
- Projected images that complement the educator’s speech
- Graphs, spreadsheets, charts, and other written materials that complement and expand the discussed topic
- Audio materials
- Physical objects and 3D models
The main goal of the audio-visual form of education is to improve the learning and teaching process by enhancing the understanding of the material, its memorization, delivery, and overall retention.
How Instructional Designers Use Audiovisual Materials in Teaching?
So we learned that audiovisual materials are mainly used to improve the learning process. However, the learning process itself consists of specific attributes that leverage the use of audio-visual aids. We will now look at the two primary ways instructional designers and educators can use these tools to benefit learning.
Instruction
Audio-visual aids are an excellent tool for providing the student with instruction. Whereas some 20-30 years ago, skills were taught only in special classes by word of mouth, now access to instructions for different skills, skill sets, and procedures is easier than ever before. It is enough for a student to subscribe to a series of video courses to master programming, visual design, scriptwriting, or any other skill he wishes. All training is simplified until you click the Play button in the online video player.
Audiovisual aids allow specific instructions to be given to people who would otherwise not access such resources. For example, a remote 3D artist can learn about working with software through a series of step-by-step online videos created by an experienced artist, which is more accessible than looking for full-time courses and attending lectures. In addition, audiovisual learning allows the instructor to build the perfect pacing as all training takes the student step by step towards the final goal.
Education
Audiovisual aids are great for creating effective teaching and enhancing an existing teaching process. For example, educators can create virtual online classrooms using video conferencing where educational material (be it written, static images, or video) will be supplemented by the educator’s comments.
In addition, audio-visual aids can complement face-to-face classes, making educational material more visual and easier to digest. These aids can be in the form of an interactive whiteboard. The teacher can select supporting visual material corresponding to the sound instruction. Projectors and written or graphic presentations can also be used as reference points. This helps guide the lecture and also highlights key points for students to focus on.
The Importance of Use of Audiovisual Materials in Education
Now is the time for statistics since nothing better than numbers can express why it is worth using audiovisual materials in teaching. To begin with, 65% of students are visual learners, and as a result, teachers need to implement audiovisual presentation tools to make the learning material easier to assimilate. More precisely, 75% of students and teachers confirm that audio-visual aids help clarify content under research.
In addition, audio-visual aids are an integral part of interactive learning, which is more important today than ever since today, the average student’s attention span has decreased 25%. Therefore, it is difficult for educators to keep students’ attention during a lecture. The primary tool that corrects the situation is interactive learning, which increases student engagement by 60%. In addition, 70% of students and teachers note the positive impact of audio-visual aids on overall motivation to learn.
Teachers and instructional designers also benefit from audio-visual aids as 82% of teachers report these learning improvement tools significantly reducing lesson preparation time.
As you can see, statistics are on the side of audiovisual learning. In our humble opinion, there is no single reason you shouldn’t still integrate audiovisual aids into your educational process.
Advantages of Audiovisual Learning
So, it’s time to talk about the main strengths of audiovisual learning, which make this form of learning one of the trending areas.
Advantage #1. Stimulating Imagination
The audiovisual learning style greatly enhances the imagination (in terms of elementary grades) and is also an excellent vehicle for communicating ideas and concepts. This format of presentation of the material leads students to thought. It allows them to comprehend the material presented in their head, putting forward their theories and consolidating the material in the process of their discussion.
Advantage #2. Facilitate Understanding of the Material
This advantage is at the same time one of the main reasons why audiovisual learning and instructional designers. For example, learning a foreign language becomes more accessible when you complement the theoretical material with audio and visual information. The use of audiovisual aids in education help to concretize abstract ideas, thereby simplifying their assimilation.
Advantage #3. Encourage Students to Take Action and Learn
Audiovisual learning style evokes more emotion in students and thus encourages them to take action or learn. However, it also depends on how the editor chooses audiovisual aids to motivate students to productive intellectual activity. Let’s go back to the example with foreign languages. The teacher can offer students to restore the sequence of blocks of a small comic strip in a foreign language, thereby encouraging students to take action that will positively affect their knowledge.
Wrapping Up
So, we covered everything related to audiovisual learning and the use of audiovisual aids in teaching. This way of teaching complements the existing learning process and is an excellent way to improve the student experience, increase engagement and make it easier to assimilate the material. That is why you should not hesitate to integrate audiovisual learning into your learning process.
