The document discusses the role of radio in education. It provides details on how radio has been used as an educational tool since the 1930s by bringing educational content into classrooms through descriptions, narrations and dramatizations. Radio is described as a cheap medium that provides wide coverage, making it accessible for schools even in remote areas. The document outlines the stages of effectively utilizing educational radio programs, including preparing students, listening activities, post-listening discussions, and follow-up assignments. However, it is noted that radio is limited by only engaging the sense of hearing and lacking visual elements. Major educational radio projects in India are also summarized.

1. The technological development led to the information outbreak as well as in
adopting new methods and strategies to preserve information, transfer information
and to retrieve information from any location at any time. Information boom led to
the assimilation of data at our fingertips.
Education technology paved the way for integrating technology for educative
purpose and in devising new models or approaches in learning. Based on the
nature of media used it is categories into three, print media: the oldest form of
media. It include any type of printed material such as book, newspapers,
magazines, journals and newsletters. Electronic media: Information made
entertaining possible through television, radio, movies and more. Digital media:
Fast and efficient form of mass media. It encompasses all type of social media
such as blogs, forums, web portals etc.

2. Radio has been playing a vital role in the field of communication since its
origin. 1930s marked the use of radio in educative process. After the growth of the
print, as an instrument for the dissemination of idea, message, information and
knowledge, the spoken word appeared with fresh tonal values as the vehicle of
communication.
Role of Radio in Education
Radio amalgamates sound and it has got immense potentiality. It has the power to
stimulate values, to stir imagination and to increase knowledge and understanding.
Radio extends the area of acquaintance, the child gains knowledge only when he or
she interacts with the surroundings. It helps to widen the area of his or her
acquaintance. Radio brings world into the classroom through the means of description,
narration, and dramatization so on, with the help of original voice and natural sounds.
“Radio has the ability to transport listeners around the world, backward or forward
in time’’- Forsythe.
It brings the people of rare contribution; it helps the learners to get familiar
with the eminent personalities who has given immense contribution to the society.
Normally, it is not possible from part of the students to hear the voice of such
people. It may be a great experience to the students. It places events of current
nature, national and international events are portrayed to the pupil. This help the
pupil to update their information regarding national and international events. Radio
carries fresh information earlier than the same is found in the newspapers or
magazines.

3. It helps in inculcating values:
Radio works with only voice and sound, it helps the students to improve their
creativity and imagination. It helps the slow learners and the pupils having poor
sight: The pupil listen to the teachers in classroom and they supplement the
learning, by going through books. Radio broadcasting is a boon for the learners
who have defective eye sight and those who are slow in learning.
It refreshes the knowledge of teachers:
A broadcast programmes carries more content than what is found in the text books.
Various subject areas come into the fold of content. This helps the teacher to
refreshhis/her content knowledge in any subject/particular subject. Well suited for
subjects such as language and music: Radio is suited for teaching music and arts.
For Shukla ‘radio specifically can provide opportunities for developing listening
comprehension as well as improvement of vocabulary, pronunciation and
formalities of speech’.
What makes radio popular?
Wide Coverage:
Radio covers wide geographical area. Even schools in remote places can access
the broadcast. It can extend education to a greater student population at one time.
Cheap medium and low maintenance: In comparison with other technologies, radio
is regarded as the cheapest medium now a days. Even the schools with rural setting
or minimal setting can have a radio with difficulty. Another plus point in favour of
radio is that it can be repaired easily and the spare parts do not cost much more.

4. Maintenance of radio is easily available within an institutional radius. In absence
of power supply, radio can be operated in battery.
Infrastructure and experience:
Radio has got the well-developed infrastructure for production of programmes
as well as transmission of it. Authorised personnel and their experience is sought
in this regard.
Utilisation of Educational Radio Programmes
Radio concerns with one sense organ i.e. ear. Educational broadcast help the
students to develop their mental ability. The canvas of imagination is so vast that
the listener can paint it with variety, life and colour. For the effective use of radio
programmes, some of the criteriaare needed to be fulfilled; such as physical
condition for broadcast, organisation of the class, preparing students for the
broadcast, listening activity, post listening activity and follow up activity.
Stages
1) Physical Condition for Broadcast
Before entering into a radio broadcasting session, a teacher must check his or
her physical condition of the classroom as well as the devices used, and the
facilitator should make sure that all the boxes are checked. The room should have
a good lighting, advantages of ventilation and should be free from outside noise.
Immense noise can hamper listening and broadcasting.

5. 2) Organisation of the class.
The teacher is required to test the functionality of the radio set and other
speakers before it is utilised in the class and it should be audible to all. For
maximum output teacher should organise the seating arrangement of the pupils.
This will help the learners to hear well.
3) Listening Activity
Teacher is a co learner in this radio broadcasting session. Pin drop silence
should be maintained for better hearing. Teacher should supplement the broadcast
topic and other related notes which are prepared from authentic materials. In this
listening activity, reaction from the part of students is given more importance.
After the session a review is submitted by the teacher, to the concerned programme
maker, which in turns provide the option for upgrading the broadcast programme.
4) Post listening Activity
Post listening activity includes megaphoning the doubts. Teacher should ask
questions from the broadcast topic to ensure that they are well versed in it. Further,
the topics are dealt through healthy discussion, where they question each other and
the teacher itself. If there is any deficiency in broadcast programme, the teacher
should supplement it.
5) Follow Up Activity.
It is the last stage of listening broadcast. Teacher may motivate the students for
further data collectionin this regard. Follow up activities are given to the students

6. such as assignments, writing poems and dialogue etceteraregarding the topic. A
log book is maintained by the teacher, which helps him or her in taking down and
updating feedback regularly.
Does Radio serves its purpose??
Radio is known for its huge popularity. It fulfils its aim up to an extent. One of
the major positive aspect of radio is wide reception. It reaches the remote area of a
country too. Also the technology used in radio made it even more receptive among
the masses. It is highly economical, reasonably cheap, convenient and easy to
transport. The repairing cost is significantly cheap, compared to other devices.
The broadcasting session can be used as complete teaching course, and can be
integrated into face to face teaching. Radio is widely used, in conjunction with
distance education.
Though it facilitates teaching and other aspects related to teaching it fails to
achieve some of its established goals and aim. Prolonged listening to broadcast
sessions may incur monotony in learners. There is no spontaneous feedback.
Radio solely relies on hearing and sound. It does not provide visual help,
which in turn generates limitation on the variety of subjects taught (science
subjects, which needs demonstration). Sometimes the tutors are found to be
reluctant in adopting radio broadcast. Outside interruptions such as noises,
technical deformities at the broadcasting centre and receiving centre, may hamper
the broadcast.

7. Indian Beginning
June 1923 marked the first radio broadcast in India. It was done on an
experimental basis by tying up with a private company named Indian Broadcasting
Company limited. In 1947, after Independence AIR was established. Today AIR
network has 198 broadcasting centres, including 74 local radio stations. It airs
2000 programme hours every day in 24 language and 146 dialects and AIR covers
98 percentage of the population.
Major Educational Radio Projects in India
1) School Broadcast Project.
It was initiated in 1937, and the focus was laid upon school students residing in
Delhi, Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. The programmes they aired were not
content and curriculum oriented. As the time passed AIR tried to make, its
radio broadcasts more curriculum oriented, but it failed due to the lack of
common curriculum.
2) Adult education& Community Development Programme
Commenced in 1956, the main beneficiaries 144 villages in Poona were its
beneficiaries. The model of this project was successfully designed and tried out in
Canada with the help of UNESCO. UNESCO funded this programme and renamed
it as Radio Forums Project. Topics focusing on rural and agricultural programmes
were aired. It became a huge success.

8. 3) Language Learning Programme
Started during 1979-80. The project was initiated jointly by AIR and Education
Government of Rajasthan. It was established with an aim to teach Hindi in Jaipur
and Ajmer districts. For this 500 primary schools were inculcated in this
programme. It became a huge success, and the project was reinitiated in
Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh.
4) University Broadcast Project
The project was laid on 1965, with an aim to expand higher education among
different strata of society. For their achievement of the goal, the broadcasting
content was divided into two; general- which included the topics of public interest
and enrichment- programmes supported correspondence education. It was
broadcasted through AIR. The content for broadcasting was prepared, edited and
scrutinized by School of Correspondence studies, University of Delhi, Central
institute of English and Foreign languages, in collaboration with IGNOU, AIR
stations of Mumbai, Hyderabad and Shillong, broadcast was started in 1992. The
target groups were open and conventional university students. Shillong started this
but discontinued later on. Presently the broadcast is done from AIR Mumbai and
Hyderabad.
6) Gyan Vani (2001)
The most popular and wide known education broadcasting programme in India. It
focuses on open and conventional university students. It is based on a

9. decentralised concept of extending mass media for education and empowerment.
Programmes and content for broadcasting are contributed by IGNOU, NCERT,
UGC, IIT etc. It deals with the topic such as women empowerment, consumer
rights, human rights, science etc.
Conclusion
The popularity, availability and low cost of radio made it convenient and practical
medium for use in programmes in learning at a distance and is mostly used in
combination with other media, such as print medium followed by face to face
teaching.
Educational programmes or educational broadcast programmes indicate that radio
can be an effective medium in reaching out, quality education and training to the
needy ones.