EFFECTIVITY OF AUDIOBOOK AS INNOVATIVE LEARNING MEDIA IN OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATION

Abstract

There are many obstacles in open and distance learning. One of them is the limited media that can be used for flexible learning for individuals who do it, especially for those with disabilities. Earlier media such as e-books, learning videos, and classroom tutorials were not flexible for open and distance education students who study while working as well as those with disabilities (blind). Open and distance education students are generally constrained by allocating their time between work and study, so they need teaching materials that can be learned while doing something. This is what drives the emergence of audiobook media. This study aimed to see the effectiveness of audiobooks as an innovative learning medium in open and distance learning organized by the Universitas Terbuka. A descriptive quantitative design was used to identify the description of the effectiveness  of the audiobook on the 145 respondents involved in the audiobook trial. The results show that the evaluation instrument used to measure the effectiveness of the audiobook has achieved good reliability with a coefficient of 0.952 (r > 0.7). Descriptive analysis of the dimensions of audiobook effectiveness shows that the majority of respondents are at a satisfactory level with this audiobook, both in terms of appearance or media features, media utilization, and the material or content provided. Meanwhile, the correlation results for each aspect are at a significant level, so it can be interpreted that the better the appearance, utilization, and content, the higher the respondents' satisfaction with the existence of the audiobook. In general, the results of this study conclude that audiobooks are considered an innovative learning media from the results of respondents' assessments and become an alternative media for developing open and distance learning outcomes.