Audio-Visual Primary Sources
Course
Benefits & Challenges [7:06]
I have found that, while students are very comfortable with watching video or listening to audio, analyzing that audio-visual source is an unfamiliar task.
Other challenges to analyzing audio-visual primary sources in the classroom, revolved around a commitment to time and access to technology. Unlike a letter, photograph, map, or other format typical of primary sources, audio-visual sources require not only time to watch or listen, but time to watch and listen again and again. Film is made up of a succession of connected moments. Think of each as potentially needing the same amount of time as a student would need to analyze an individual photo. And the time needed for analysis of the film has a potential to add up. In a similar way, audio may tell a story containing connected points that need their own individual attention during analysis
Another hurdle is access to technology—desktop, laptop, or mobile devices may be needed along with internet access, a projector and speakers or headphones. There's much more to think about regarding structures than printing off a class set of copies of a letter. So, why would anyone begin to think about using audio-visual primary sources in the classroom?
There are several benefits that are worth mentioning. The first, is that there is the potential for students to have a more immersive experience with the audio-visual primary source, than with the print primary source. If we look back to our film example from earlier, there's not only more to draw the student in, but more information as a whole in the film compared to the images. Included in that, is the movement inherent in the film that not only brings the students into the moment, but provides a different type of information to analyze compared to photos.
With audio primary sources, listening can be thought of as being akin to being there. Students can close their eyes and place themselves in a moment, in the now, when listening to audio even more than film and video there can be an immersion in the source. The movement of film, though also creates an interactivity with the source that photos do not provide. The amount of interaction students can have with the audio-visual source depends on how they're able to access it. But the potential is there for them to control their relationship with the primary source.
While there are possibilities to do this with still images as well, we'll see that the interaction that can happen with film is greater than with still images. Also, audio-visual primary sources allow students to look at connected moments and interactions between people and places. This can't be seen in a single moment captured in a still photo. And while students might be able to speculate what happened before or after the moment photo was taken, the film shows it, and recorded audio can describe it, allowing the student to move beyond that thinking to potentially more interconnected observations and reflections and deeper questions.
Lastly, students can make a deeper emotional connection to the topic through audio-visual primary sources. In our earlier audio example, it was easier for students to tell the audio clip was meant to be humorous compared to the text in the music sheet. While the benefits of immersiveness, interactivity, connected moments, and emotional connection within outweigh the challenges, we can look to strategies for students analyzing primary source film and audio and structures that can be put in place to make that analysis a better experience.
Much of the structure that can be put in place revolves around technology and time, two hurdles we spoke about earlier. You'll need to take stock of how students can access the primary source. If they will be searching film or audio clips on their own, they will likely need an internet connection as well as a desktop, laptop, or mobile device. Are there enough devices for each student to use on their own or will students work in pairs or small groups? If searching for audio or film with audio, how will students listen, headphones, listening groups spread out across room or rooms, as a whole class? Will students have time to not only search and find initial results, but also to examine those results thoroughly, viewing and listening in their entirety or part to several results and reading bibliographic data to make decisions about which source or sources they will choose to fully analyze? If the audiovisual primary source is pre-selected, will students be interacting with it as a whole class, in pairs or groups or individually? Again, access to device plays a role here, but how you want them to interact with the source also becomes a factor.
If students have their own device, they will have control over what part of the film they're watching or audio they're listening to at a given moment. This gives them the autonomy to focus their attention on one part of the film. But there are drawbacks. Analysis of a primary source benefits from collaboration. In a one-to-one environment, where and when will your students have an opportunity to collaborate with each other? When thinking about time, you'll want to know how long it will take to view or listen to a primary source initially, but keep in mind that students will want to revisit the source or at least part of it during analysis, likely multiple times. If viewing or listening as a whole class, since students will not have the independence to choose a portion of the source to focus their attention on, the entire source will likely have to be played again. Different analysis approaches also take different amounts of time, possibly causing you to choose one over another.
These factors of technology and time are often determined for me. Maybe I can schedule the computer lab in my building, if not, a limited number of tablets or laptops may be available. So I see some flexibility with my technology. My time with students is on a set schedule, so that is much more fixed for me as a librarian, causing me to make certain decisions about how my students will interact with a particular audio-visual primary source in a given amount of time. Whatever the constraints are with regard to technology and time, if you're seeing benefits to students interacting with an audio-visual primary source, there are ways to make it happen. Don't avoid these formats, you may regret it. Instead, plan for the hurdles, pay close attention to the successful attempts and missteps to overcome them, and adjust the next time your students work with primary source film or audio.
Additional Resources
Primary Sources Used in This Workshop
Teaching with AV Sources.
About the Author
MLA Citation
Bober, Tom. "Audio-Visual Primary Sources. Benefits & Challenges [7:06]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, January 2018, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2123890?learningModuleId=2123886&topicCenterId=2158571.
https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2123890?learningModuleId=2123886&topicCenterId=2158571
Entry ID: 2123890