"Audio | Video | or Podcast Technology: Pros and Cons for Adult Learners."

Want to engage your students?  Try integrating audio technology into you current curriculum.

Audio Technology

Audio technology is an easy way to personalize instruction via audio tracks.  Specifically, one can create an audio recording for a variety purposes: To provide academic feedback, offer informative critiques, send instructional messages, and conduct a “lecturette” on course content material (Oomen-Early, Bold, & Gallien, 2011, p. 55). There are a variety of tools one can use to create audio tracks with differing delivery platforms. For example, if you have a PC or Mac computer, the Microsoft Office Windows software comes with a built-in sound recording device for creating audio files.  Many mobile devices such as SMART/cell phones, video cameras, and MP3 players have audio recording features.  Lastly, new emerging audio technologies such as SMART pens (Walsh, 2010) and watches (Shanklin, 2013) have taken audio technology to a higher level.

Audio Technology
Pro	Con
Access ·         Available on varying devices and platforms: Computers; mobile technologies; innovative emerging technologies; web 2.0 tool: Audacity – free open source; and Adobe Acrobat Pro (Barseghian, 2013; Oomen-Early, Bold, & Gallien, 2011).	Connectivity ·         Some individuals living in rural areas do not have access to computers, the internet or mobile technologies; thus, audio capabilities and functionalities are not feasible (Curling-Hope, 2013).
User – friendly ·         Low learning curve (Pinder, 2012). https://youtu.be/rF11--7iN40
Promotes Presence ·         Teaching ·         Social (Oomen-Early, Bold & Gallien, 2011).
Closing the digital divide ·         More low-income consumers have increasing access to SMART | cell phone technologies (Hall, 2013; Spencer, 2012).	Cost ·         This can be a factor depending on the device one chooses to use.  Some of the emerging SMART devices are expensive and might be out of the economic price range for some consumers (Kelly, 2013). https://youtu.be/XPMwNG1HRDg

Best,
~Aja

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References

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Barseghian, T. (2013, March 13). For low-income kids access to devices could be the equalizer). Retrieved from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/03/for-low-income-kids-access-to-devices-could-be-the-equalizer/

Curling-Hope, M. (2013, September 30). Cost of communication worsens digital divide. Retrieved from http://www.thenewage.co.za/108281-1007-53-Cost_of_communication_worsens_digital_divide

Hall, B.S. (2013, May 17). Smartphones have bridged the digital divide. Retrieved from http://readwrite.com/2013/05/17/smartphones-have-bridged-the-digital-divide

Kelly, S. (2013, September 6). T-mobile confirms galaxy gear smart watch will cost $299.00. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2013/09/06/galaxy-gear-price/

Oomen-Early, J., Bold, M., & Gallien, T. (2011). Using online asynchronous audio communication in higher education. In K. King & T. Cox (Eds.), The professor's guide to taming technology: Leveraging digital media, web 2.0, and more for learning (pp. 33-65). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.

Pinder, D. (2012, August 16). A recipe for success: Recording clear audio for your e-learning courses. Retrieved from http://elearninguncovered.com/2012/08/a-recipe-for-success-recording-clear-audio-for-your-e-learning-courses/

Shanklin, W. (2013, October 4). Review: Samsung galaxy gear smartwatch. Retrieved from http://www.gizmag.com/samsung-galaxy-gear-review/29288/http://www.gizmag.com/samsung-galaxy-gear-review/29288/

Spencer, J. (2012, October 18). Smart phones decrease the digital divide. Retrieved from http://www.360-edu.com/commentary/smart-phones-decrease-the-digital-divide.htm

Walsh, K. 2010). What the heck is a smartpen? Retrieved from http://www.emergingedtech.com/2010/11/what-the-heck-is-a-smartpen/

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Images

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(n.d.). Audio icon. [Web Graphic]. Retrieved from http://oneyearbibleonline.com/audio/images/audio_icon.jpg