USING AUDIOVISUAL TECHNOLOGIES

TELEVISIONS There are lots of ways to watch television and our purpose for viewing has a significant impact on what we take away from the experience. Most TV viewing is for entertainment and relaxation, and that's fine unless we want people to remember what they've seen. Television can be a powerful educational tool, but it we want our students to absorb specific content from what they see, we need to give them a model for viewing that is active and critical. One of television’s most obvious characteristics is its visual aspect. Humans instinctively grasp the power of images to express meaning, as can be seen in the old adage that values a picture at a thousand times the value of a word. “Research in the past two decades has proven what we intuitively know: our brains deal with images differently than print” (Saltrick, Honey & Pasnik, 2004, p.6 ). Enhances student comprehension and discussion Planning out the lessons, Provides greater accommodation of diverse learning styles Time Increases student motivation and enthusiasm Engaging students and making the lesson more interactive. Promotes teacher effectiveness

THE OVERHEAD PROJECTOR Audio visual equipment has been a part of classroom learning for decades. As an integral teaching aid, using audio visual equipment, such as an overhead projector allows teachers to demonstrate and present their materials to a large audience. For those students who are visual learners, or for deaf or hard-of-hearing students, an overhead projector is invaluable. The overhead projector can be used according to Lever-Duffy & McDonald (2011) “along with transparencies” (p.296). These visuals are created and sold in booklets or sets and are sometimes offered as supplements to a textbook. The advantages of using these transparencies are that they are high-quality, ready-to-use visuals designed for overhead projection. A transparency also offers the teacher to maintain eye contact with their students, longevity of visual images, and easy-to-create and easy-to- use options for educators. The challenge of using an overhead projector for instruction is that a bulb might burn out on your projector or it might be blurry or hard to focus.

DIGITAL VIDEO DISC Video discs offer advantages over videotape DVDs can store video that can be directly accessed at any point in the video Frames can be played back as motion video or frame by frame. DVD recorders and playback units are quickly becoming the preferred video equipment for the classroom (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2011, p. 303)

INTERNET VIDEO Internet Broadcast Use streaming video technology that compresses and plays digital video Streaming video requires a player Adobe and Real Player Live Cams Cameras connected to computer which allow access to internet Provides a digitized image for the viewer Internet Meetings Face to Face conversation with people around the world connected to the Internet A new dedicated Internet meeting technology which provides more capabilities to simulate in-person meetings Skype and Microsoft NetMeeting

SUMMARY Audio-visual aids in the classroom can enhance teaching methods and improve student comprehension. “Today's technology offers many choices to the informed educator who wishes to capitalize on a new generation's appetite for multimedia presentations” (Byke, 2010, para.4). Lesson plans that incorporate the use of audio-visual aids should be consistent with curriculum objectives and not applied improperly. Audio-visual technology has an important role to play in the modern classroom, but teachers who rely too much on technology may actually inhibit learning. It's the law of diminishing returns: you can only get so much useful enjoyment and assistance from a machine. The personal relationship between a teacher and a student, in most cases, can ultimately be more valuable and rewarding in a classroom environment.

REFERENCES Byk, J. (2010). The uses of audiovisual aids in teaching. Retrieved from bin/tech/index.pl?read=133 Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald,J.B. (2011). Teaching and learning with technology. Saltrick, S., Honey, M. & Pasnik, S. (2004). Television goes to school: The Impact of video on student learning in formal education. Retrieved from Images retrieved from google.