Audio-- Chapter 3

Fryer Chapter 3—Audio

            In chapter three of Fryer’s book Playing with Media he discusses the importance and benefits of audio in the classroom.  When I think of technology I typically think of using cell phones, video games, computers, and tablets but not so much only audio.  In the world today it seems to me that people do not want to just listen to something, they want to have visuals and moving objects that they can watch and be entertained by.  Fryer even admits that audio is the most under used form of media.  But, just because it is under used does not mean that it is not useful.  According to Fryer, audio can be beneficial for multiple reasons including: cameras and video recorders can be intimidating, audio recording files are fairly same in size, audio recorders are inexpensive, audio recordings raise fewer privacy issues, and old and new computers have the capability to play audio files. 

            Fryer makes a good point about listening to ourselves through voice recordings.  He says that we become more aware of ourselves when we communicate orally and listen to ourselves speak.   When listening to yourself you will most likely notice things about the way you speak such as if you happen to say “um” a lot of something similar.  We are able to learn from listening to ourselves so that is beneficial to advancing our personal skills.

            Audioboo, cinch, and ipadio.com are all places in which audio recordings can be recorded and used within the classroom for educational purposes.  These resources could be used in the classroom for students to reflect about readings, assignments, or other specific subjects by voicing their thoughts rather than writing them down.

            The point I found most interesting was that when someone has to listen to something without visuals is that they must focus more than they would otherwise.  For example, if the class is being read a story that they do not have copies of they must pay very good attention to follow along with what is happening in the story.  Essentially, audio is important because it forces us to practice our listening skills.

            The podcast that we created in class was a fun activity.  It was not as nerve racking as being on a video because only our voices were recorded and people’s eyes and attention were not focused on our bodies.  Incorporating podcasts and other forms of audio is something I will definitely use in my classroom just to ease student’s nerves when it comes to presenting projects or assignments.  After reading this chapter I felt as though audio is more important than I had previously thought.