AUDIO MEDIA

RATIH WIJAYANTI
1507042024

INTRODUCTION

Audio media can make several unique contributions to the teaching-learning process : self study for non readers, realistic foreign language practice, stories to stimulate the imagination, and music for physical activity, to name a few. Casettes, records, and CDs are abundantly available in every curricular area and are easy to use. To use audio media effectively requires an understanding of the hearing-listening processes and thoughtful selection of materials based on your objectives.

You can prepare your own audio materials, and so can your students. These recordings can take the form of oral reports, accompaniments to learning center activities, communication skills practice, and the like. By following some basic guidelines you can improve the quality of such recordings.

One of the example of audio media is radio. Radio can help us to get some informations and entertainments. Valerie Geller’s bookreminds you why you wanted to listen to the radio when you were growing up. Radio was fun. The air personalities were relevant and kept you entertained. Geller, a radio consultant for news, talk and personality radio stations, originally wrote Creating Powerful Radio as a workshop supplement. She bases her radio philosophy on three simple principles: ‘‘Tell the truth. Make it matter. Never be boring’’ (Brenda, 2008).

On a general note, most media have the capacity to diffuse information, to show colour, motion, systematic representation, simultaneous picture and sound. In Gbodi (2004) Davies (1974) noted that, all media to varying degree help in perception, understanding, transfer of training, provision of reinforcement or knowledge of results and retention (Gambari and Adamu, 2008).

Sound and Hearing

Sound is produced by vibrations that set into motion radiating waves of compression and rarefaction propa- gated through a range of media such as gases, liquids, and solids. Hearing occurs when these vibrations are received and processed by the ear and sent to the brain by the auditory nerve. Sound begins when an object vibrates and sets into motion molecules in the air closest to it. These molecules pass on their energy to adjacent molecules, starting a reaction—a sound wave—which is much like the waves that result when a stone is dropped into a pool. The transfer of momentum from one displaced molecule to the next propagates the original vibrations longitudinally from the vibrating object to the hearer. What makes this energy transfer possible is a medium with the property of elasticity—whether gas, liquid, or solid (Alten, 2014 : 6).

The Hearing and Listening Process

Hearing and listening are not the same thing, although they are, of course, interrelated. At the risk of oversimplification, we might say that hearing is a physiological process, whereas listening is a psychological process.

Physiologically, hearing is a process in which sound waves entering the outer ear are transmitted to the eardrum, converted into mechanical vibrations in the middle ear, and changed in the inner ear into electrical impulses that travel to the brain.

The psychological process of listening begins with someone’s awareness of and attention to sounds or speech patterns (receiving), proceeds through identification and recognition of specific auditory signals (decoding), and ends in comprehension (destination) (Heinich, 1996 : 176).

Advantages and Disadvantages using Audio Media in Teaching and Learning

Advantages

1. Classroom audio overcomes ambient noise levels and distributes the teacher’s voice at the same amplified level throughout the classroom. Every child hears the teachers at the same level no matter where the child is seated. 
2. Reduce a child’s sensitivity to distractionsWhen a teacher’s voice is amplified 5 to 15 decibels above ambient noise, articulation and speech intelligibility are enhaced. 
3. Teachers using classroom audio report less need for repeating of instructions, and fewer reminders are needed (http://www.lightspeed-tek.com/learn/whitepapers/benefits-of-classroom-audio/#sthash.H6mdRkwl.dpuf).

Disadvantages

1. Students will not learn how to read as effectively (as they listen instead of practice to read stories, poem, etc. 
2. Difficult to teachers to control device(s) use in class (affects classroom management and especially time management). 
3. Teachers have to grow eyes in the back of their heads and when mobile devices are used in class, the need for continual monitoring and regulation increases. 
4. Inability to know how to extract information from text successfully (https://prezi.com/m/2q2piohefvso/advantage-and disadvantage-using-audio-in-teaching-and- learn/).

The Example of Common Audio Format

The following five examples of audio media. There are some advantages and limitations from those audio media (Heinich, 1996 : 180).

1. Cassette Audiotape
Advantages :

• Very portable (small and light)
• Durable
• Easy to use (no threading)
• Can prevent accidental erasing
• Requires little storage space

Limitations :

• Tape sometimes sticks or tangles 
• Noise and hiss
• Poor fidelity with inexpensive players
• Broken tapes not easy to repair
• Difficult to edit

2. Micro casettes
Advantages :
Very compact portable

Limitations :

• Not compatible with other cassettes 
• Poor fidelity

3. Phonograph Record (Disc Recording)
Advantages :

• Excellent frequency response 
• Compability of records and phonographs
• Selection easily cued
• Wide variety of selections
• Inexpensive

Limitations :

• Impractical to prepare locally
• Easily scratched
• Can warp
• Required much storage space

4. Compact Disc
Advantages :

• Very durable
• High fidelity
• No background noise
• Random search

Limitations :

• Impractical to prepare locally
• Expensive 
• Initial expense of equipment

5. Audio Card
Advantages :

• Sound with visual
• Student can record response and compare with original
• Designed for individual use
• Participation; involvement

Limitations :

• Most cards hold
• Less than 15 seconds
• Time-consuming to prepare

          
After looking the above examples of common audio format above, there are five kinds of audio media.
You can look at the map below :

CONCLUSION
Audio media has some advantages for teaching-learning process. There are some audio medias which useful, such as : cassettes, micro cassettes, phonograph record, CD's, and audio card. Each of audio media has the advantages and limitations.

The use of audio media are limited only by the imagination of teachers and students. Audio media can be used in all phases of instruction from introduction of a topic to evaluation of student learning.

References :

Alten, Stanley R. 2014. Audio in media 10^th ed. Boston : Wadsworth, cengage learning.

Jaskulske, Brenda K. (2008) 'Valerie Geller, Creating Powerful Radio. Burlington, MA: Focal Press, 2007', Journal of Radio & Audio Media, 15:1, 120 – 121.

Gambari, A. I. and Z. E. Adamu. 2008. Impact of Videotape Instructional Package on Achievement 
             and Retention in Primary Science among Primary Pupils in Niger State, Nigeria.

             Journal of Science, Education and Technology.Vol. 1,No.2. ISSN 1596-9770.                                                                                      

Heinich, R., M. Molenda, and J.D. Russell. 1996. Instructional media and technologies for learning 5^th ed. New Jersey: Von Hoffman Press,Inc.

Https://prezi.com/m/2q2piohefvso/advantage-and disadvantage-using-audio-in-teaching-and-learn/ retrieved on Desember 3^rd 2016.

Http://www.lightspeed-tek.com/learn/whitepapers/benefits-of-classroom-audio/#sthash.H6mdRkwl.dpuf retrieved on Desember 3^rd 2016.