Radio broadcasting as a distance learning device?
Radio, an
old, simple, daily and very effective technology that keeps the link with the
communities (parents and students) and the school. It is a medium that is
widely used to disseminate knowledge.
Generally, when we think about the design of a distance learning device, we
tend to look at what is newly invented as a support tool for the device instead
of thinking about the public for whom the teaching is designed. The essential
question to ask in distance learning design situations is how to make the
training accessible at a distance?
In this
sense, the technology to be used to support the training should be that of
appropriation and not of invention. If in one context digital platforms, social
networks or LMS seem to be appropriate in other contexts, it is important to
turn to older and better adapted alternatives such as podcasts, radio
broadcasting or educational TV. Appropriation technologies are those that allow
us to conceive of continuity in learning and not to understand technological
invention.
Edgerton (2006, 2008) suggests making the difference between innovation and
usage to understand the situation. The maximum use of a technology is often
reached years after its invention. Consider the case of bicycles versus buses
or subways in a large majority of formerly industrial societies. The postal
service, which is very widespread, as opposed to the use of e-mail (Edgerton
2008).
This is
also to think about the difference between use and utility. When there is an
exaggerated emphasis on the revolutionary effects of new computer and digital
inventions without leaving room for alternative solutions, this has the effect
of paralyzing initiatives. In these contexts, individuals develop the feeling
of being unable to align themselves with innovations, with modernity. They
prefer to lock themselves into the routine they have mastered instead of
innovating alternative ways adapted to their realities. But it is precisely in
order for innovation to endure that alternative processes must be
favored.
Today, let's talk about Educational Radio in distance learning.
Community
radio is supported by the community/local actors with the same local and
cultural interests. It allows the dissemination of knowledge within the framework
of distance learning.
Setting up a distance education system through community radio can be very
beneficial in difficult and precarious contexts. It is an accessible, low-cost
technology (it can be battery-operated, hand-cranked, or solar-powered)
Radios are also used in conflict areas where children are in hiding but can continue to learn by listening to the radio.
The
voice/sound... are very important elements in the implementation of a radio
broadcast learning device. It's not the same as creating content to broadcast
on TikTok or WhatsApp...or even on Youtube. It is not possible to draw visual
attention to a particular point of the course. You will have to look for other
learning strategies. Scripts should be prepared with this in mind.
Courses are
developed by teachers and aligned to national curricula but must also take into
account the particular context. Context needs to be seen in terms of
environment, cultures, resources, language, vectors, practices etc.
It is necessary to be trained in distance learning engineering: to use other
media (recompose training sequences, voice, tools, etc.) according to the
medium that exists. The importance in a distance learning situation is to know
how to personalize the relationship despite the distance. How to create
the link?