Audio-visual aids in the classroom can enhance teaching methods and improve student comprehension. Today's technology offers many choices to the informed educator who wishes to capitalize on a new generation's appetite for multimedia presentations. Lesson plans that incorporate the use of audio-visual aids should be consistent with curriculum objectives and not segued improperly.

Auditory Learners and Aids
Auditory learners focus more on the spoken word rather than the written one. Taped recordings of lectures or movies are helpful to auditory learners because they pick up on speech nuances such as tone and pitch. Computers with speech-recognition devices will also help auditory learners to process and retain information better than just reading from a textbook. Students with hearing disabilities will also benefit from teachers who use microphones while lecturing.

Visual Learners and Aids
Slide projectors have given way to PowerPoint presentations in the modern classroom, but the concept is the same. Visual learners understand meaning through graphic portrayals such as charts, illustrations and diagrams. Teachers that take the time to compose or find visual supplements to accompany their lectures help to greatly augment learning potential. The old adage that "a picture is worth a thousand words" still rings true, especially in today's image-submerged society.

Movie Clips
Incorporating a YouTube moment or any other instructional video clip into a lesson plan can greatly increase understanding as well as enjoyment during the learning process. If an interactive white board with Internet capabilities is not available, many video clips from the web can be downloaded and embedded in a PowerPoint presentation for classroom purposes. Be sure to prepare students before watching the clip by telling them what to expect or what to look for and then following up with discussion questions that tie in to the lesson plan.

Special Education Students
Students with special needs often require information to be presented to them in several different formats before they can adequately understand a concept or process information. Playing a book on tape while simultaneously reading together in class is a good way to reinforce material. Videos that deal with the targeted subject matter can be shown afterwards to further augment learning.

Don't Overdo It
Audio-visual technology has an important role to play in the modern classroom, but teachers who rely too much on technology may actually inhibit learning. It's the law of diminishing returns: you can only get so much useful enjoyment and assistance from a machine. The personal relationship between teacher and student is ultimately more valuable and rewarding in a brick and mortar classroom environment. This is not to say that there aren't some students who are quite capable of learning by themselves through interactive technology, but if that were true in all cases, then schools wouldn't need teachers, would they?