School on Air: The New Possibilities for Radio
Theresita Atienza
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Radio is among the original, low-cost, flexible teaching media. It has been found to be an easy to use and effective means for delivering instructional materials to distance learner. However, because it is familiar and not an exotic technology, radio has often been ignored or undervalued by educational decision makers.
Millions of people around the world who cannot read or do not have access to television have a radio set. In developed countries, almost all households have at least a radio. Access has been broadened by live streaming of radio through the Internet. This development ensures that students who are not able to listen in when programs are actually broadcast may download or record them to fit and coincide with their study patterns.
The paper will focus on the convergence of radio with Internet technology and the improved space it enables for distance education. It shall showcase ‘Buhay Manggagawa sa Radio Iskool’ (Workers’ Lives over Radio School), a radio program broadcast over DZUP 1602, the AM radio station of the University of the Philippines in Diliman. The program focuses on labor education of both workers and employers. It has a classroom discourse format where a specified topic is discussed with the host as facilitator and/or content provider. Resource persons/guests are tapped to further enrich the discussion and analysis, and share current practices in the workplace.