Audiovisual Aids Used in Teaching

Types of Audiovisual Aids Used in Teaching

Audiovisual aids strengthen an instructor's verbal presentation while helping his students capture a specific message. Audiovisual aids keep an audience's attention throughout a presentation and help them remember particular information. If instructors use simple, efficient aids, they will enhance their teaching.

1. Training Aids

   • Usually instructors will use training aids, for instance, instructional videos, to help students understand a particular subject or idea. DVDs or videotapes cover an assortment of topics, allowing the teacher to select premade material to enhance his subject. Training aids can be played on an MP3 player, laptop, TV or CD player.

   Presentation Slides

   • Teachers create their own presentation slides to add personality to lessons. They can use graphics, music, photos and charts as needed for each component of a topic. Computer programs that create slides include Microsoft PowerPoint, Goggle Presentation, Adobe Publisher and Apple Keynote.

   Digital Projectors

   • Digital projectors allow instructors to display 3-D images large enough for the audience to view and to demonstrate material or simulate assembly of components for a particular project.

   Audio Recordings

   • Instructors who want to include a speech or lecture from an authoritarian source use audio recordings to supplement class discussions.

   Multimedia

   • Multimedia combines elements from a variety of audiovisual aids, allowing a teacher to use his own materials with others'. Multimedia may use websites, slide shows, computer-based training courses and TV in one teaching session. Multimedia offers an arrangement of communication tools for an audience that may include several learning styles.

     Types of Audiovisual Aids

     Audiovisual aids are very effective tools to use in presentations. With the use of audiovisual aids, the presenter can engage more of the audience's senses and involve them more easily in the content of a presentation. Audiovisual aids help make a presentation more effective, more understandable and more memorable.

     1. White Boards and Flip Charts

        • Large white boards and flip charts allow the presenter to create visual images during the presentation. Input from the audience can also be recorded. The advantage of flip charts is when one page is full, another page can be used to continue. With white boards, once the board is full, it must be erased to create a new space.

        Overhead Transparencies and Handouts

        • Overhead transparencies can be created in advance and used to project visual forms of information that supports a presentation. They can also be written on during the presentation. Hard copy handouts of the same information can be given to participants to take home with them.

        Slides

        • Slides can be in the form of physical slides displayed on the wall or a screen with a slide projector or, more commonly, via Powerpoint software. Slides can be created to show graphs, charts, figures, and key points as well as pictures and other images.

        Sound Recording and Video

        • Cassette tapes, CDs, videos and DVDs are all technology mediums that provide both sound and vision to enhance a presentation. Most facilities have computer access with CD and DVD portals but older versions of sound technology such as cassette tapes and videos can also be used.

        Physical Objects, Props and Models

        • Physical objects can be brought into the presentation to demonstrate a topic. For example, if the presentation is about traditional clothing in Korea, an actual Korean dress can be shown to the audience. Props can be used to create a particular environment. If the topic is recycling, for example, different examples of the kinds of plastic that can be recycled can be displayed. Models also serve as excellent three-dimensional aids, such as in a presentation for a proposed building.

          Ways Through Which Audiovisual Materials Can Be Applied in the Library

          
          

          
          

          The use of audiovisual technology in the library is an invaluable form of information for students and other users. Not all information is available in print, and because news and information are always changing, there's no guarantee that print materials will provide the most up-to-date and relevant information. However, libraries need an effective way of implementing audiovisual technology and resources so that they are useful and convenient to users.

          1. Computer Lab

             • Many libraries today have their own computer room where students can engage in audiovisual programs. Many training and educational software programs are available and can be helpful in effectively combining learning and fun activities to help keep children engaged and interested when learning. Setting apart a separate room, not just a barrier, is a good way to ensure that kids can use computerized technology without disturbing other library patrons. A separate room will contain electronic noises that might distract reading patrons. If that's not an option, a corner of the library could be used for the media center.

             Check Out Kiosk

             • Just like books, audiovisual materials can be provided for students to check out. Audiovisual resources may include audio books on tape and CD, educational DVDs, or software programs that students are able to take out on loan from the library. It's important for libraries to provide these materials so that they can be borrowed, by applying the same scan stickers to these devices as are used on books and magazines. Any printing, scanning and copying equipment should also be strategically placed in the audiovisual section.

             Cameras & Projectors

             • Cameras are essential for students taking courses in photography, broadcast journalism and for many other courses and programs. The use of digital photo and video cameras can enhance school projects and aid in student's knowledge of technology. In addition, many libraries lend out projectors, microphones, audio recorders, tripods and lighting kits, in addition to cameras. This gives students many opportunities when presenting presentations in the classroom. In effect, the use of cameras and other recording and presentation equipment improves and stimulates students' knowledge through technology.

             Research Equipment

             • Another consideration is the use of more traditional audio and visual equipment, such as microfiche, which is used to scan through old newspapers, and audio equipment that enables users to listen to recordings and radio clips. This type of environment is typically found in library basements, or segregated to an area that is stricter in containing sound and activity than a multimedia center. This environment should provide headphones for users in order to contain sound.

               Media Center Bulletin Board Ideas

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                 Although they may be considered "low-tech," bulletin boards can highlight important issues and high-tech themes in a media center. They can easily convey messages about the computers themselves and about issues that often arise in a media classroom. Bulletin boards can also highlight new technologies or strategies being implemented in the classroom.

               Informative Bulletin Board 

                         Media center instructors often need an informative bulletin board in their room to explain important issues such as the rules for Internet use or which computer programs the students are allowed to use. You can use bright colors to cover the bulletin board and contrasting colors for any instructions. If you need to give complex directions, such as how to log on to the computer or use a certain piece of software, print a page with the instructions on brightly colored paper and staple it up along with a larger sign that points students to the information. Most bulletin boards are large enough to be able to put three or four printed pages of instructions. Printing them on different colored paper will help each one stand out from the others.

               
               

               Accomplishment Bulletin Board

               • Accomplishment bulletin boards are especially helpful in elementary school settings or in a class that doesn't change students frequently. Write students' names on different shapes of cut-out construction paper. On a rotating basis, highlight different students' work on the bulletin board. Show examples of what they've been working on, including any printouts or computer screen shots. You could use printed code for a program, or a word document highlighting how a student utilized the tools in the program to properly edit and correct their work.

               Idea of the Month Bulletin Board

               • This type of bulletin board focuses on an issue that may not be covered all the time. In a regular classroom setting, teachers might highlight something such as "Black History Month," but for a media center, you could have "Mac Month," where you use the bulletin board to explain the history, development and features of Mac products. Use colorful letters along with text and graphics showing basic facts, such as when the company was incorporated and what the first Apple computers looked like.