Instructional Radio

INSTRUCTIONAL RADIO

Created by USU Students

Description of Instructional Radio 

Instructional radio involves using audio technology to provide educational opportunities for students. This delivery involves a variety of methods such as supplementary, enrichment, direct classroom teaching, adult education, distance education, etc.  Radio programs can be used in a classroom setting or accessed for individual listening.

Instructional Radio’s Emergence in the Development of the Field of Instructional Technology/Learning Sciences

With the advent of radio as a mass communication medium in the 1920s, many universities applied for broadcast licenses.  Instructional radio allowed educators a very economical means of information dissemination and permitted them to reach large numbers of students.  This medium was considered by many to have great potential in educational programming.  By the mid 1930s, many school districts were operating radio stations, often implementing innovative instructional methods. 

A noticeable decline in instructional radio use began with the introduction of television.  From this point to the 1980s, radio was largely overlooked as an educational resource.  Some of the factors contributing to its limited use in the early days included limited amounts of programming and an inadequate regulatory environment.  Later, inhibiting factors included lack of awareness of instructional possibilities, and lack of evidence concerning its effectiveness. 

The internet is breathing new life into instructional radio by simplifying accessibility in the form of podcasts.  These audio recordings can be posted on the internet and downloaded at the listener's convenience.  They can also be syndicated through an RSS feed so listeners can be alerted when new content is available. 

Benefits of Instructional Radio at its Introduction

In the late 1920s, when companies such as NBC began broadcasting radio programs throughout the United States, many educators in many different fields recognized the power of this technology as a means of education.  The main perceived benefits of instructional radio at the time were its versatility, its near universal accessibility, and its ability to bring outside resources into the classroom that otherwise would not have been available.  Educators realized this potential, and quickly capitalized on instructional radio.

One of the first fields of education to utilize radio as a means of education was music.  In 1928, Walter Damrosch, working for NBC, began broadcasting his "Music Appreciation Hour."  This program consisted of a series of radio broadcasts, delivered live to classrooms across the country for one hour a week.  The goal of this program, as stated by Damrosch, "was to supplement rather than supplant local instruction in the appreciation of music, by presenting through the medium of broadcasting a type of program not otherwise available in the average school (Howe, 2003.)"  In these programs, Damrosch would conduct NBC's house orchestra, called the "National Orchestra" in playing famous musical works, mostly composed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Damrosch would also give brief commentaries, commenting on the work itself and teaching students important musical elements highlighted in the piece.  In the later years of this program, instructional manuals were sent out to teachers nationwide so they could supplement these weekly radio programs with additional in class practice and study.  (Howe, 2003.)

The major goal of the Music Appreciation Hour was to take advantage of the outside resources the radio could provide.  Most students at this time did not have the opportunity to see live orchestras play, and in these years without television, CDs, or the internet, the radio allowed these students to listen to music they otherwise would not have heard.  The radio became an extremely beneficial technology in delivering crucial musical instruction to children they would otherwise not have had.

Although in recent years, more advanced technologies have made instructional radio fairly obsolete in America, in other, less technologically developed parts of the world, instructional radio is still being utilized for its cheapness and accessibility.  In the early 2000s, educators in the country of Guyana, in South America, began utilizing a program called "Interactive Radio Instruction" to teach their students mathematics.  This program was developed in the early 1970s by educators at Stanford University, originally to teach students in Nicaragua.  Since then, IRI is believed to have been implemented by as many as 30 countries.  (MacKinnon, 2010.)  A study was conducted in October 2009 to understand the effectiveness of Interactive Radio Instruction in Guyana.  The study concluded that IRI was indeed effective.  273 of 275 respondents reported to using IRI in their classroom instruction.  Some of the reported benefits included IRI's ability to equally reach urban and rural areas, which has long been a problem in Guyana, as it has been in the United States.  Other reported benefits include higher organization of instruction and higher quality of instruction.  Also, IRI is set up with musical interludes and musical incentives to help students complete work.  Respondents reported that the insertion of music made the program much more effective. (MacKinnon, 2010.)

In the Kabongo region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, technology is nearly non-existent.  Many adults in that area have never seen a computer or television.  Recently this region has introduced instructional radio as a way to teach adults things they never had a chance to learn as children.  The major benefit of radio in this area is cheapness.  Adults in the Kabongo region can buy a cheap radio, a radio receiver, and batteries, and have everything they need to learn for very little money.  Also, the availability of battery powered radios is important because many inhabitants of this region do not have access to running electricity.  Another great benefit of instructional radio in this region is the ability to broadcast educational programming in the evenings, when adults have finished their work days and are available to take part in the program.  (Nsomwe-a-nfunkwa, 2006.)

On the whole, the accessibility, versatility, and outside resources provided by radio have made it a powerful educational tool.  Many different areas of the world, at different times, have effectively used this tool to enhance educational technology within their region.

Level/Type of Students Instructional Radio Targets

The versatility of radio allows it to target may different levels and types of students, depending on the instruction given.  In the case of NBC's Music Appreciation Hour, different programs were broadcast for students of different ages and abilities.  There were four different broadcasts.  Series A was intended for grades 3 and 4, and explored musical instruments and the human voice.  Series B was intended for grades 5 and 6 and focused on the expressive and imaginative qualities of music.  Series C was intended for grades 7 through 9 and analyzed musical forms. Series D was intended for high schools, colleges and adults, and focused on the history of music and the lives of famous composers.  These different series were broadcast at different times, with separate instructional manuals accompanying each series.  (Howe, 2003.)  In the case of Interactive Radio Instruction in Guyana, the target audience is first, second, and third grade children, with separate programming for each of the three grades.  Although the technology has sometimes been used with older children, it has been found to be most effective in the primary grades, and that is how schools in Guyana are using it. (MacKinnon, 2010.)  In the case of instructional radio in the Kabongo region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, separate programs are used to target different audiences, but the major target audience is adult learners seeking to better their families' lives.  (Nsomwe-a-nfunkwa, 2006.)  Truly, the universal accessibility and versatility of radio allows it to target audiences of any age, any experience, and any skill level.

Major Proponents of Instructional Radio

Among proponents of Instructional Radio are broadcasting networks like the National Educational Radio Network  that distribute program material for school broadcasting.  Institutions such as the National Association of Educational Broadcasters, recommended that “radio should be considered as a means of solving pressing educational problems in a cost-effective way” after conducting an extensive study in the 1970s (NER Instructional Radio Task Force, 1972).

Interactive Radio Instruction, or IRI, is another proponent of radio. It first got its funding for programs in Nicaragua over 40 years ago through USAID andcontinues to be one of the most successful educational radio programs today. IRI's success has given rise to use of educational radio in third world countries across the globe.

Other proponents of Instructional Radio are universities and professors who view it as a valuable teaching tool as well as students who have benefited from this technology. 

Have Benefits of Instructional Radio Materialized?

The benefits of instructional radio have indeed materialized; these benefits have had a significant effect on those in rural locations and with limited funds.  In a review of the literature Richmond and O’Shea state, “Perhaps the largest single benefit for radio education is that it can reach a large population of people in need of educational services. In some cases, projects have the potential to cover as many as 13 million students.” The accessibility of radio is a benefit that continues to be a valid justification for its use. Despite the widespread use of the Internet, there are still places on the planet with limited or no Internet access. Because of this, Instructional Radio has become the most cost efficient and effective means of distributing information to large amounts of people. Radio’s accessibility also relies on its cost effectiveness. That is still true today as well as when Instructional Radio first was implemented. Radio is so cost effective that, “The cost of producing educational material for radio are one tenth the cost of producing material for television, which has much lower coverage and is more expensive to access” (O’Shea & Richmond).

Similarly, radio’s versatility has also continued to be a significant benefit to the medium. For example, Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) provides instruction for students in a classroom but also provides teacher education to supplement that instruction. IRI also uses radio to teach a number of subjects in Zambia, Sudan, Haiti, and India.

Although radio might not have had as profound effect on the students in the United States as was originally anticipated, currently Instructional Radio is providing education for countless people in many countries across the globe.

Will Instructional Radio Come Back In Another Form?

Although instructional radio is still used in many parts of the world today, there are a few existing technologies that would be considered another form of instructional radio.  The following includes a brief description of each and how to access these technologies.

iTunesU

iTunesU is a program that began in 2007 as a supplement to the iTunes store. iTunesU is a way for universities to manage audio, video and PDF files for their students as well as the world. This service is free to both universities as well as people interested in accessing the information. Although some universities limit access to their material, there are a large number of institutions that provide audio files of lectures and other supporting material in a myriad of subjects. There are currently more than 800 universities that use this tool and over half of those universities provide public access to their material.  The universities that participate in iTunesU are from across the globe including those from the United States, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. Some of the more prestigious schools that participate in ITunesU are: Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, and UC Berkeley. iTunesU currently supports over 350,000 files on countless subjects (iTunesU n.d.). Lectures are accessed the same way podcasts are, simply subscribing to a class through the iTunes application will download new material to your computer as soon as it is available.  The iTunesU program acts much in the same way that instructional radio has in the past, free quality educational content that can reach a much greater number of people than possible previously.  iTunesU can be accessed through the iTunes application (this is a free application) or you can find more information here Links to an external site.

 Podcasts

A Podcast, also referred to as a Webcast or a Netcast, is a “digital audio or video file that is episodic; downloadable; program-driven, mainly with a host and/or theme; and convenient, usually via an automated feed with computer software” (Gil de  Zuniga & Vraga).  Although there were a number of Podcasts between 1994 and 2004, they became more popular near the end of 2004. Podcasts can be created and listened to by anyone on the Internet. Although this differs significantly from the more regulated Instructional Radio of the past, Podcasts have many of the same capabilities and benefits that instructional radio does. Through Podcasts, a large number of people can be reached with little to no cost to the creator. Similar to instructional radio, for the most part Podcasts are free. In contrast, not all Podcasts were created to be educational. Although many are educational, a significant portion of Podcasts are created purely for entertainment value.  Podcasts can be retrieved through a number of mediums, many are available as a free download from websites, they can also be accessed through media players such as iTunes or Zune.

 

Sources

Gil de Zúñiga, H., Veenstra, A., Vraga, E., and Shah, D. (2010) 'Digital Democracy: Reimagining Pathways to Political Participation', Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 7: 1, 36 - 51

Howe, Sondra Wieland.  (2003). The NBC Music Appreciation Hour: Radio Broadcasts of Walter Damrosch, 1928-1942.  Journal of Research in Music Education. (51:1) 64-77.

Hunt, T. C., Carper, J. C., & Lasley II, T. J. (2011). Encyclopedia of educational reform and dissent. (Vol. 1). Sage Publications, Inc. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=b1UGM0CHOGAC&pg=PR28&lpg=PR28&dq=encyclopedia+of+educational+reform+and+dissent&source=bl&ots=EuxYmq9T1A&sig=wF7vVh2ZrBRj2Qzx0nZMxAbViMo&hl=en&ei=E3C8TvClLIeiiQLE87SwAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&sqi=2&ved=0CEgQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false

Mackinnon, Gregory and Mackinnon, Paula.  (2010.)  Technology Integration in the Schools of Guyana:  A Case Study.  Computers in the Schools. (3:4)  221-246

Molenda, M. (n.d.). Historical foundations. Manuscript submitted for publication, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. Retrieved from http://www.aect.org/edtech/edition3/ER5849x_cool.fm.pdf

NER Instructional Radio Task Force. (1972). Radio's role in instruction. Washington, D.C.: Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov:80/PDFS/ED069/56.pdf

Nsomwe-a-nfunkwa, Banza.  (2006.)  Distance Education and the Well-Being of the Rural Poor: Case Study of the Kabongo Region in Democratic Republic of Congo.  Distance Learning. (3:3)  39-50.

O’Shea, P.  & Richmond, S. Radio education a review of the literature. In WorldAgInfo. Retrieved from www.worldaginfo.org/files/Radio%20Education.pd

Suppes, P., & Searle, B. (1976). Survey of the instructional use of radio, televison and computers in the united states. Journal of the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers, 15, 712-720. Retrieved from http://suppes-corpus.stanford.edu/article.html?id=167

(2011). iTunesU. Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/education/itunes-u/whats-on.html