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Radio in Education in the Face of COVID-19

The pandemic came to reaffirm radio as a flexible, massive, low-cost, and long-range communication medium for education.

Radio in Education in the Face of COVID-19
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January 8, 2021 By Félix Núñez
Reading time 5 minutes

“There are many places around the world where access to information technologies and the Internet is a luxury.”

Radio is a means of communication that has allowed millions of students to continue their studies. If we thought that the radio had “its days numbered” or that it would soon disappear, the pandemic arrived to reaffirm its place as a flexible, massive, low-cost, and long-range means of communication. To understand this point better, let us leave for a moment the tranquility and comforts of our home to think about people who live in extreme situations, such as living in a remote place, a disaster zone, impoverished or deplorable conditions, or in a civil war, forcefully displaced from one location to another (Suárez, 2020). For many students, taking a class through the radio, the only medium they can access, brings them some peace and hope. There are many places around the world where access to information technologies and the Internet is a luxury. Radio and television have proven to be a good alternative when online learning is impossible (UNESCO, 2020).

More than a century after the radio’s invention as a speaking medium, its permanence has been threatened by other technologies and innovations. First, it was thought that TV with sound and images would be its gravedigger, but it did not have the range and frequencies of the radio or its versatile size and way of producing its energy. Then came the Internet, immediate, breaking the parameters of distance. Nevertheless, the radio is still there, reaching everywhere, climbing hills, crossing the mountains. It is an ICT alternative, and now it can save education in a country and the world.

“Stories, fables, musical lyrics, and current situations can attract a student who is not motivated to continue in an educational system that does not force or pressure him like face-to-face education.”

The pandemic and confinement made evident the technological deficiencies that many countries face during the prolonged closure of schools. This situation puts everyone’s right to an education at risk, especially in countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America (CIRT, 2020). Thanks to radio broadcasts, teachers can instruct their classes and integrate songs, readings, and games. Radio can be handy in delivering theoretical subjects and formal science content theory. What makes it unique? The voice used in the radio broadcast, the special effects, music, silent pauses placed by the teacher’s creativity, the scriptwriter, and the technical operator. Stories, fables, stories, current events, and musical lyrics intrigue students who are not motivated to continue in an educational system that does not oblige or pressure them like face-to-face education in a classroom. A radio turned on can prevent thousands of young people from dropping out of school (Makazaga, 2020).

Below, I share some key characteristics of radio, considering two main aspects: 1) on the one hand, its communicative value and psychological importance brought about by the sensory organs, and 2) the statistics highlighting the absence of the Internet as an information exchange network. Here are some of its advantages:

  • Immediacy: As a medium, the radio can react quickly.

  • Effectiveness: relates to its cost and repetitive listening.

  • Cost: The radio is free. You do not have to pay to listen to it. You do not have to subscribe to a service.

  • Segmentation: Radio reaches the right people, clearly segmented by age, sex, and socioeconomic levels. In the case of teaching, by grades and levels.

  • Penetration: It can be heard everywhere. Radio stations generally reach all areas of a region or country. It arrives when and where other media cannot.

  • Opportunity: It can be heard immediately at the time of its broadcast. If the program is recorded, it can be played repeatedly, depending on the receiver’s interest.

  • Ubiquity: Being a portable medium allows the listener to keep listening while traveling anywhere.

  • Radio is perceived as a friend: It accompanies people anytime, anywhere, creating the feeling that someone is always behind the microphone.

  • Security: A radio program allows the listener to continue listening while performing other tasks safely. For example, it would be extremely dangerous to watch TV while driving a car.

  • It stimulates imagination: Radio makes us reflect, dream, and transport ourselves mentally to other places and situations.

  • It is an ICT alternative: Radio can also be heard online when access is available. It can be recorded or downloaded on a computer, or, let us suppose, a phone, a technology to which today’s young people are so attached. Students could listen several times, and if the institution complements it with written content, it will have the expected impact.

The figures presented by the UNESCO Institute of Statistics and the Working Group of Teachers give strong backing to radio and its advantages when they publicize that “… about 520 million students (50%) who remained outside the classroom due to the pandemic do not have access to the Internet, and 50 million live in regions not served by mobile networks” (UNESCO, 2020).

Add to this the data from countries with social crises and acute poverty where the absence of electricity for more than 12 hours a day further aggravates the picture. “The rationing of power has been constant for years in almost the entire country. However, this year, it has been more prevalent in Caracas, a metropolis of 5 million inhabitants, which until now had been privileged and preserved from the massive power reductions” (Diario El Tiempo, 2019). The electricity crisis is not due to lack of maintenance, “cyberattacks,” or natural phenomena. It results from the rampant poverty immersing many people, putting electrical service out of reach due to its high rates.

In many countries, the radio spectrum stations have a mandatory educational or cultural broadcast requirement. Whether by legal commitments or quality of education, schools or colleges can obtain one or several hours in the morning to transmit theoretical subjects with content written by a good scriptwriter. These are offered on sale on the programming grid in the morning hours at a low price. Radio’s impact on Colombian literacy is an excellent example of its usefulness as a technological tool in distance education.

In the face of this severe crisis, educational institutions can also establish agreements with radio or local stations and even “create an internet station.” I suggest you check the article “How to create an online radio without spending money” (in Spanish). It details the necessary hardware and software, equipment, and basic features of the studio or local station. Formerly, the radio station was a complete building. Later, it could be contained in a small room. With the development of technological tools, a broadcast unit can be built at home with a computer or even with a technologically sufficient phone, with the pre-production, production, and post-production work done by the teacher. Some free tools that will facilitate the audio producer’s work and the pre, pro, and post-production of excellent educational and teaching topics are Soundcloud, RadioDJ, extreme, Radio.co, Shoutcast, Live, 365, RadioKing, StreamGuys, spreaker, sounslate, Poke wavepad, radionomy, and audioboo.

I invite you to share strategies and experiences that allow us to continue our students’ educational training in the Observatory of Educational Innovation to improve education together and mutual support in this time of the pandemic.

About the author

Félix Núñez holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Learning Resources and Educational Technology. He is a radio scriptwriter and producer. He is a Professor of Media in the advertising and marketing discipline in Táchira, Venezuela.

References

BLOG UDLAP (2020). Ante la pandemia la radio se revalida como medio de compañía y como medio de información. Retrieved from http://blog.udlap.mx/blog/2020/10/ante-pandemia-la-radio-se-revalida-como-medio-de-compania-como-medio-de-informacion/

CIRT Radio y Televisión Mexicanas (2020). WHATSAPP, TELE Y RADIO: LOS MÁS USADOS PARA EDUCAR DURANTE LA PANDEMIA. Retrieved from https://cirt.mx/whatsapp-tele-y-radio-los-mas-usados-para-educar-durante-la-pandemia/

Diario El Tiempo (2019). Continuará racionamiento eléctrico en Venezuela, advierte Maduro. Retrieved from http://www.diarioeltiempo.com.ve/noticias/continuara-racionamiento-electrico-en-venezuela-advierte-maduro

Funes, A. (2019). Cómo crear una radio online sin gastarse dinero. Retrieved from https://www.elespanol.com/como/crear-radio-online-sin-gastarse-dinero/376962562_0.html

Makazaga, I. (2020). La radio, aliada contra la pandemia en África. Retrieved from https://elpais.com/planeta-futuro/2020-11-09/la-radio-aliada-contra-la-pandemia-en-africa.html

Suárez, J. A. (2020). Los retos de educar en pandemia: clases por internet, radio y televisión. France24. Retrieved from https://www.france24.com/es/am%C3%A9rica-latina/20200912-los-mas-vulnerables-educacion-pandemia-clases-internet-radio-television

UNESCO (2020). El aprendizaje por conducto de la radio y la televisión en tiempos del COVID-19. Retrieved from https://es.unesco.org/news/aprendizaje-conducto-radio-y-television-tiempos-del-covid-19

Unicef (2020). La educación durante el COVID-19: Marco de planificación de contingencia, reducción de riesgos, preparación y respuesta. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/lac/media/11176/file

Edited by Rubí Román (rubi.roman@tec.mx) – Observatory of Educational Innovation.

Translation by Daniel Wetta.

Félix Núñez

This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0