Contemporary rapid advancements in science and technology have brought about and continue to convey change in all sectors of everyday life. Education as one of the institutions of utmost importance is directly and indirectly affected by these changes and needs to redefine its role to keep pace. Nowadays, information and communications technologies (ICTs), in which audiovisual media technologies are encompassed, are omnipresent in all educational levels and disciplines, including media studies. New approaches in traditional teaching methodologies, which demand many skills and abilities by the educators, are reformulated through utilization of audiovisual media technologies, aiming at administering enriched outcomes that support the objectives that are set, especially in the field of media studies, where audiovisual media technologies are an integral part and even inherent in many of the courses (journalism, radio, television, social media, public relations, communication). The purpose of this paper is to summarize, through a theory and bibliographic review, the various implementations of audiovisual media as the educational techniques and tools that will provide technology-enhanced learning. As this paper is an investigation of the effects of audiovisual media in technology-enhanced learning and teaching methodologies, the contribution to the discipline of media studies is straightforward.

The move to a networked media environment presents a range of challenges for journalistic roles, norms and daily practices. This article employs actor network theory to investigate how different actors negotiate and ultimately shape the manner in which the internet and related digital technologies are embedded in the newsroom. Findings suggest that professional culture – articulated in skills, ideas and practices – acts as a network that weakens the potential impact of technology towards innovation and audience-oriented models of journalism. The results point to the conclusion that the internet and related tools are seen as empowering journalists to do their (traditional) jobs better instead of moving on to the next stage built around a stronger commitment to capitalize on the growing sociotechnical potential.

This paper casts light on cultural heritage storytelling in the context of interactive documentary, a hybrid media genre that employs a full range of multimedia tools to document reality, provide sustainability of the production and successful engagement of the audience. The main research hypotheses are enclosed in the statements: (a) the interactive documentary is considered a valuable tool for the sustainability of cultural heritage and (b) digital approaches to documentary storytelling can provide a sustainable form of viewing during the years. Using the Greek interactive documentary (i-doc) NEW LIFE (2013) as a case study, the users’ engagement is evaluated by analyzing items from a seven-year database of web metrics. Specifically, we explore the adopted ways of the interactive documentary users to engage with the storytelling, the depth to which they were involved along with the most popular sections/traffic sources and finally, the differences between the first launch period and latest years were investigated. We concluded that interactivity affordances of this genre enhance the social dimension of cultural, while the key factors for sustainability are mainly (a) constant promotion with transmedia approach; (b) data-driven evaluation and reform; and (c) a good story that gathers relevant niches, with specific interest to the story.

Audiovisual content is highly employed in modern education curricula. This study aimed to identify students’ perceptions regarding the use of video in the courses they attend. Quantitative research was conducted among students of journalism and communication studies. Four courses were used for this study that employ video-based and video-assisted teaching strategies for active learning. Students used videos in different educational settings for flipped learning, blended learning, and autonomous self-paced learning. Their perceptions were examined through an extended form of the Technology Acceptance Model, encompassing more parameters (such as self-efficacy, perceived enjoyment, satisfaction, attitude, and intention of use) to identify causal relationships. In addition, the roles of technical parameters, such as internet connection, audio quality, and video quality, along with the duration of a video, were explored. The findings reveal students’ positive attitudes towards videos, and all factors were significantly related to the intention of use. In addition, the technical aspects of the video did not constitute a problem in the educational process, most likely due to contemporary quality in internet connections and audiovisual productions along with playback equipment. The duration of the videos was also not presented as an issue as there are flexible ways to embed videos in the learning process. Overall, videos can be used in multiple active learning scenarios to enhance students’ motivation and engagement and provide a joyful, collaborative, and hospitable learning environment. Students are familiar with digital tools and technologies and seem to enjoy audiovisual material in the learning process.

Emotional speech is a separate channel of communication that carries the paralinguistic aspects of spoken language. Affective information knowledge can be crucial for contextual speech recognition, which can also provide elements from the personality and psychological state of the speaker enriching the communication. That kind of data may play an important role as semantic analysis features of web content and would also apply in intelligent affective new media and social interaction domains. A...

Journalism is in a state of perpetual change due to the implementation of technological tools on an everyday basis. In the contemporary news distribution environment, the boundaries between media are no longer distinct, therefore media/journalism educational institutions should adapt curricula according to the needs of each type of medium. The aim of this paper is to present the incorporated technologies in the radio journalism undergraduate course of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and evaluate their necessity according to the students themselves. After the completion of the course, which involves the use of specialized technological tools in audio recording and editing, a survey employing quantitative method based on the technology acceptance model was conducted. The results indicate that the students, despite the difficulties that were encountered due to the initial lack of knowledge on the technology applied, evaluated very highly both their satisfaction with the produced outcome and the usefulness of the procedure. In fact, the major result is that perceived usefulness is a key factor that determines the utilization of specialized technology.