TEACHING AIDS

INTRODUCTION

Any device which supports, supplements or reinforces the teaching method adopted by a
certain teacher to effectively communicate certain items of information to student is known
as teaching aids.

The concept of teaching aids is not new and can be traced back to the 16th century when a
Dutch humanist, theologian and writer Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) advocated that
children should learn through aid of pictures or other visuals and discouraged memorization
as a technique of learning. Similarly, John Amos Comenius (1592-1670), Jean Jacques
Rousseau (1712-1778) and John Pestalozzi (1756-1827) also made pioneering efforts on
popularization of the use of visual and play material in teaching and learning process.

The successful use of pictures and other visual aids in US armed forces, during World War II
(1939-1945) served instrumental in proving the effectiveness of Instructional Aids. Thereby,
exponential growth in the use of teaching aids in the field of education has been widespread
worldwide in educational establishment such as school, colleges and universities.

In India the Kothari Commission (1964-1966), reflected its emphasis on the need to supply
teaching aids to all the school for improvement of quality of teaching which is a great
educational revolution leading to drawing out the best in the learner.

IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING AIDS

If use effectively, teaching aids are information carrier and can promote and encourage
learning in teaching learning activity.

Some of the important values of proper use of teaching aids are enumerated below:

1. It helps to reduce verbalism and provides clear concepts through engagement of

different senses and thus helps to bring accuracy in learning.
2. It motivates the students to work with more interest and zeal besides being helpful in
attracting the attention as well as sustaining the interest of the student in the classroom.
Thereby, it enlivens the classroom interaction.

3. Teaching aids provides variety of experience that fix up new learning in the minds of
students.

4. A good deal of energy and time of both the teachers and students can be saved on
account of the use of teaching aids.

5. Teaching aids provide a great scope of freedom for children to move about, laugh and
comment upon that will stir the imagination, thinking process and reasoning power of the
students, and call for creativity, and inventiveness and other higher mental activities on the
part of the students and thus help in the development of higher faculties among the students.

6. It enables the teacher to follow the maxims of teaching like simple to complex,
known to unknown, concrete to abstract etc.

7. The use of teaching aids provides a touch of reality to the learning situations.

8. It helps in meeting the needs of different types of students.

9. It provides reinforcements to learners.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING TEACHING AIDS

Teaching aids prove effective only when they suit the teaching objectives and unique
characteristics of the special group of learners. Following criteria may be kept in view while
selecting teaching aids:

1. The aids should be integrated with learning. It should be an integral part of the
educative process and appropriate to the curriculum of the class. It should not be merely
recreational but should accomplish some significant end and coordination with day-to-day
lesson.

2. It should be according to the age, intelligence and experience of the students. It should
neither be too simple nor too complex. It should suit their physical, psychological,
intellectual, emotional and economical background of the learner.

3. The language should be familiar and comprehensible to the pupils.

4. It should be truthful, accurate and realistic and should be a substitute for reality.

5. It should be motivational and highly informative. The aids used should attract and
capture the attention of pupils.
6. It should be available where and when required.

7. It should have desirable utility and should be according to local conditions and needs.
The aid selected should satisfy the purpose with which it is used.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TEACHING METHOD AND TEACHING AIDS

Teaching method is the style of presentation of content in classrooms. It is just a way of

teaching. While teaching aids is any device which supports, supplements or reinforces the
teaching method adopted by a certain teacher to effectively communicate certain items of
information to student.

CLASSIFICATION OF TEACHING AIDS

Teaching aids can be broadly classified as:

Audio aids: Any aids that can be heard but not seen are called audio aids.

1. Language Laboratories, Radio, Sound Distribution system set, Tape and Disco
recording.

Visual aids: Any instructional aids that can be seen but not heard are called visual aids.

Graphic Aids: Cartoons, Charts, Comics, Diagrams, Flash Cards, Graphs, Maps,
Photographs, Pictures, Posters.

2. Display Board: Bulletin, Flannel Board, Magnetic Board, Peg Board.

3. Three-Dimensional Aids: Models, Globe, Diorama, Specimens.

4. Chalk board.

5. Silent Films, Slide Projector.

Audio visual aids: Those instructional aids which can be heard as well as seen and which
initiate or stimulate and reinforce learning are called audio-visual aids.

1. Television, printed material with recorded sound.

2. Sound film strips, overhead projector and films.

Activity Aids: Those aids in which students learn by engaging in some useful activities.
These aids facilitate learning through sight and sound as well as through doing.
It includes field trip, demonstration, experiment and dramatization.

The teaching aids are further classified as projected and non-projected teaching aids;

Projected teaching aids include; Silent Films, Slide Projector, Sound film strips, Overhead
projector, Films.

Non-projected teaching aids includes the remaining teaching aids.

ADVANTAGES FOR EFFECTIVE USE OF TEACHING AIDS ARE

1. It reinforces what we are saying.

2. It ensures that our point is understood.

3. It signals what is important or essential.

4. It enables students to visualize or experience something that is impractical to see or do

in real life.

5. It engage students other senses in the learning process.

6. It facilitate different learning style.

SUGGESTIONS FOR EFFECTIVE USE OF TEACHING AIDS

1. The teacher should be well-skilled in the use of aid. Aid should be actually taught and
not merely displayed. It should not substitute but supplement the teacher work.

2. While using the aid active participation of students should be sought. There should be
adequate preparation on the part of pupils. They should be told what they should look for.
The pupils should ask questions, answer questions, comment and discuss.

3. The aid should be properly protected and preserved for nothing discourages or mars
the interest of the students more than a spoiled picture, broken model or a cracked slide.

4. The teaching aid should be located conveniently so that it is easily available when
need arises. The teacher should keep the aid at such a place as is easily accessible and find no
difficulty in getting it when he requires it.

5. The aid should be evaluated at regular intervals in order to know their use and effect
on learning.
CONCLUSION

Teaching aid is therefore an important tool used by a skilled teacher to cause a meaningful
learning in the student by engaging the learner to actively participate in the educative process.
However, improper and unplanned use of teaching aids can have negative effect on the
learning outcome. So, the teachers need to be well-versed with the broad classification of
teaching aids and should be very judicious in selecting the most appropriate teaching aids to
be used for imparting a particular lesson such that teaching aids will render great help in
enabling the teachers to achieve the instructional objectives.