How effective is learning via audio?
“The idea that voice media is thought of as merely amusement or a pastime, leads the public to overlook any of its other values.” (Goldman, 2018)
Podcasts are mostly used for their nature of being both entertaining and informative (Tobin & Guadagno, 2022). However, as Goldman states in the quote above, there is still a stigma surrounding voice media stating that it’s merely entertaining, which causes people to overlook its other benefits.
The same stigma surrounds audio-learning in general: people are sceptical about whether we can actually learn through audio.
That’s why we’ll look at research regarding this scepticism: can we really learn via audio? And, how effective is it compared to other study-methods?
Knowledge retention
When looking at research, it is undeniable that we can learn via audio. Studies have consistently shown that listening to digital audio significantly increases our knowledge on the topics discussed (Back et al., 2017; Brust et al., 2015; Chin et al., 2017; Lien et al., 2018; Roth et al., 2020). So, we can get rid of the stigma immediately: just because it’s entertaining, does not mean it is not informative.
But, another question still remains: how effective is audio-learning compared to conventional study-methods?
This case is a little more difficult to investigate, since the term ‘audio-learning’ itself is broad. So, when comparing this broad term to the broad concept of ‘conventional study-methods’, things start to get complicated. Not to mention the variability in quality of audio-courses and conventional study materials.
It only makes sense then, that research shows conflicting evidence. Some studies show that audio-learning leads to better knowledge retention than reading textbooks (Back et al., 2017) and attending regular lectures (Brust et al., 2015).
Other studies, however, found that traditional study methods and listening to podcasts both significantly increase knowledge-levels, but that there is no difference between them (Abt & Barry, 2007; Lien et al., 2018; Roth et al. 2020).
So, what can we conclude from this? Well, one thing we can definitely conclude from these articles is that audio-learning has a significant beneficial effect on knowledge. Thus, it is indisputable that we can learn by listening.
It is least as effective as using traditional study resources, but is not sure whether it is actually more effective than traditional methods. As Kelly et al. (2022) concluded in a recent review article, podcasts are ‘non-inferior’ to traditional teaching methods.
Conclusion
In conclusion, research shows we can definitely learn from audio. It is at least as, or maybe even more effective than conventional methods, such as reading textbooks. With this information, it is also important to keep the other properties of audio-learning in mind. In the previous article, it was shown that students favour listening to audio over reading written texts, as they rate it higher in enjoyability, entertainment, and ease of use. In addition, students endorse them as significantly more often as a beneficial use of their time, because of the ability to listen to them while doing something else.
Thus, audio-learning increases fun and time-efficiency, while at the same time maintaining effectiveness in terms of knowledge-retention. Therefore, the incorporation of audio-learning in education and using it for learning in general, would definitely be beneficial.
