Audiobooks: Reading Practices and Educational Technologies

Abstract

Digital technologies have made it possible to create and replicate educational content in various forms: text, video, and audio. The post-PC generation actively uses audio content. There is a tendency to demand audiobooks as a format of educational resources. The purpose of the article is to identify and describe educational technologies and reading practices related to audiobooks. The novelty of the research is the analysis of student practices of audio reading. Methods: The first stage includes a desk study of audio reading as an educational technology, its capabilities and limitations, the representation of audiobooks in universities’ electronic libraries and the use of audiobooks in the educational process, educational technologies and practices of working with audiobooks. The second stage includes an empirical study of students ‘practices of accessing and using electronic libraries in the process of educational (1), leisure (2) activities, readers’ preferences for the reading format (traditional, audio reading) (3). Research results: With the development of digital technologies, electronic libraries have become a popular educational resource. The e-libraries extend the representation of the audio books. The possibilities and limitations of audio reading remain debatable. Audio reading as a resourcesaving technology (carefulness to vision, time optimization) has a number of advantages and at the same time requires the development of listening skills and critical perception of audio text.