Equipped for the 21st Century?: audio-visual resource standards and product demands from geography departments in the UK

Mass consumption of image-capture and image-(re)presentation technologies a ffords opportunities for improved teaching and learning in disciplines whic h utilise audio-visual data. This paper reports on a survey of geography de partments in the UK in which baseline data were collected on the availabili ty, rise a,ld opinion on the role of audio visual resources (AVRs) in teach ing and learning. AVRs are regarded positively and, on the whole, hardware is readily available. However, the provision of soft,are is uneven and ther e is considerable variation in the strategic commitment toward, and managem ent of AVRs. Furthermore, larger departments and those whose research was r ated more favourably in the last Research Assessment Exercise were found to be better,resourced There are signs of an emerging resource gap with regar d to more specialised AVR equipment. The findings are used to propose audio -visual resource standards and to identify audio-visual products for which there is market demand. There is demand for audio-visual products that supp ort fieldwork activity and it is recommended that further investment is req uired bl digital camcorders and PC-OHP projection units.