CD or no CD?

Most textbooks often include an audio CD. An audio CD is like a two blades knife. Sometimes it creates great effect but other times it might not be so effective.

Here are the advantages and disadvantages of the recorded audio:

Advantages:

--- An audio CD allows students have the opportunity to listen to few different voices and accents instead of only one person.

---Audio CD is portable and ready to use. You don’t have to read through or be trained for the text. It is already there, all you have to do is to hit PLAY!

Disadvantages:

--- The volume and the quality of the recording could be tricky. There were a few times that the recording was simply not loud enough for everyone to hear it clearly or the quality was so bad and distorted. Nowadays everyone uses CD for recording, sometime there are might scratches on the CD and it just won’t play. These technical problems could go on for a full list.

---- Another interesting thing I observed throughout the years is that like all students have to ability to listen and comprehend at the same speed. Some students of mine, they understand the materials completely but it takes them a longer period of time or slower speed to react to it. Therefore using pre-recorded materials might restrict the possibility for your students to learn at their own speed.