The Benefits of Audio Books
Wednesday, October 26, 2016 by Cyber Acoustics
Audiobooks provide a tremendous opportunity for learning and exposure when it comes to students. Not only do audiobooks allow many students who have early difficulty developing reading skills to gain access to abilities that might otherwise evade them, but audiobooks can actually do a lot to enhance the reading experience and is a less intensive outlet for absorbing narrative.
But these tools are not strictly about improving reading skills in children. In fact, listening to audiobooks and podcasts has been shown to have some pretty impressive real-life results for students, such as:
Students are found to be able to read the same text more comprehensively upon revisiting the material.
Students’ listening and comprehension skills are shown to improve when they regularly absorb story through orally-delivered means.
Listening to text being read aloud has certain advantages in lessening the distractibility factor for students who struggle to focus.
Students gain a deeper understanding of the nuances of the English language (syntax, pronunciation, emphasis, etc.) when they hear the words read aloud.
Audiobooks make important literature and educational texts available to students working to overcome disabilities such as blindness and impaired vision.
Listening to audiobooks and/or podcasts stimulate children to become interested in original texts and transcripts of what they listen to, thereby leading them to practice more traditional reading.
Technology today makes it possible for students to access materials which, in a traditional paperback or hard cover book format, may not have been available to the students’ home or classroom. In fact, there are many resources available to parents and educators alike which offer totally free versions of audiobooks and informative podcasts. While there are abundant audiobooks covering classic literature and contemporary academic text, podcasts can give students insight into the modern world culture and the state of popular fiction and non-fiction.
These resources can provide vital utilities for those instructors who struggle to stimulate interest in their students around reading, writing, and listening comprehension. Many students who become interested in audio storytelling materials develop an interest in storytelling themselves, which then allows them an opportunity to experiment with and practice their writing abilities. Often, it is exposure to enthusiastic performances of written materials which exposes students to their own interest in the same subjects.
Here are some of those resources that provide free audiobooks:
MeeGenius: MeeGenius is one of the top apps for children’s books available through the Apple store, and it allows students to have access to hundreds of books including content from Sesame Street, Dr. Seuss, and more. For children up to 8 years old, the app allows children to curate their own digital library of e-books with access to read-along word highlights, engaging illustrations for enhanced visual stimulation, and narration options featuring performances that bring the stories to life.
Storynory: With classic fairy tales like the ones brought to life by Hans Christian Andersen, The Brothers Grimm and Aesop, these downloadable audiobooks can introduce students to such weighty concepts as morality and law, or simply expose them to the classic storytelling mechanisms we have in place such as opera and rhyming limerick. The site is easy to use and students can follow along with written transcriptions to practice reading while they listen.
Storyline Online: Storyline Online embraces the age-old idea (which is heavily supported by modern statistics) that children benefit from taking part in storytelling sessions like a circle read-around. Supported by donations, the site recruits celebrity performers and young children themselves to read stories in short videos that students can watch for free on the site. It’s very simple and straightforward, and children have the opportunity to hear their favorite stories read by familiar popular figures.
Children’s Storybooks: With materials for young children, older children, and young adults, this site is host to books and stories that have both interactive visual components as well as audio files attached. While not all stories are accompanied by audio versions, the site does also feature games, quizzes, and interactive online coloring books and pages. Students can navigate books with audio one page at a time, giving them the opportunity to try reading each page before they hear it read out loud.
There are abundant audio resources available to teachers and students online. The question is, which ones are right for you and your young learners? Whether your students are struggling with reading comprehension, or they simply want to advance their already-established skills, these are definitely resources worth considering!