By: Geena Sandhu
Assigned readings are an essential component of university life. Having said that, students should be given the option of purchasing their hefty 400-page McMaster University courseware as a digital copy with an included audio component.
Finding the time to sit down and read five assigned readings in one week is undeniably strenuous. As students, we prioritize completing assignments, papers and tests to the point where readings often become neglected.
This is where the solution of audiobooks comes in. Oftentimes, they are formatted so that one may listen to the text while simultaneously reading it.
We hear about leisure reading audiobooks, however, academia has also developed audiobooks. Many professors at McMaster have made their textbooks accessible online with a convergence feature, that is, the text being read aloud to the listener.
However, the long lines at the campus stores at the beginning of each semester indicate that many professors still prefer old school physical textbooks. Before pushing for more audio textbooks, is listening to a textbook as beneficial for students as reading it?
As a first-year student, when my professor announced the textbook could be accessed physically from the bookstore or online, I was hesitant towards the idea of an audio textbook because it was not something I was familiar with.
Even though the idea did not appeal to me, this semester I was obliged to try audio textbooks as one of my textbooks was only accessible through an online app.
Since then, the process of accessing my audio textbook at any time of the day through my iPhone rather than carrying a copy in my backpack has become exceedingly convenient.
One of the critical differences between reading and listening is that audiobooks are great for multitasking — on the condition that one of the tasks being performed is a menial job that does not hinder one’s mental capacity.
Since audiobooks are easily accessible, the text can be listened to while commuting to school, between classes, running errands, cleaning your room and in innumerable other instances. This is a great way to occupy extra time through doing something productive.
Additionally, scholarly textbooks can include words that may be too technical or advanced for students that are learning a concept for the first time. This may interfere in the process of the student comprehending the message. Consequently, students may become unmotivated to continue reading the required texts.
However, when an audiobook is used, it allows readers to effortlessly decode the message as well as learn the pronunciation of unfamiliar words as the narrator speaks.
McMaster is also a very diverse school where English is not everyone’s first language. The use of an audio textbook would be especially useful for English-language learners as audiobooks not only improve vocabulary and comprehension, but they also increase students’ ability to communicate with others.
Overall, the university should encourage instructors to offer audio textbook options as they benefit a wide range of students. Through audio, students will have an extra one to two hours for other productive activity, and also have a better time understanding the syntax behind a language.
My recommendation for students would be to set the pace of the narrator's voice to a speed that feels comfortable and compatible to your own. Students should also read and listen concurrently so that during a test, the words may appear familiar.
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I fell in love with hip hop around 2013 when I listened to my first rap album, Drake’s Nothing Was the Same. To me, hip hop is an art of storytelling, rooted in struggle and triumph. It has its haters and it is not perfect, but it has also saved and changed countless lives.
In the tradition of the 1970s New York City DJs and MCs that founded the genre, the guardians of modern hip hop are innovative, creative and heartfelt. Anyone can pick up the mic and tell their stories. As fans, we just need to turn up the volume on game-changing artists.
Buddah Abusah is a Hamilton-born and raised creator spreading a message of peace and love. He began writing at the age of 11 and rapping seriously at the age of 16. Haviah Mighty is a Toronto-born, Brampton-raised musician who is also a member of the rap group The Sorority. She began rapping at the age of 12, combining her seven years of singing lessons with her newfound interest in hip hop.
I spoke separately to these two local rappers about their thoughts on hip hop. Both artists spoke about the importance of the genre not only because of the music, but because of the culture.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo7s8IlnRTJ/
Buddah Abusah: My inner city message is letting all artists know that no matter where you're from, [as] long as you put your mind to it, you can be successful in your way. [I want to] show people [that if you] put your mind to it and indulge yourself properly, you can get yourself to that gold, platinum status [that] Canadians are doing more often now. Also… the message I want to give out is that all my music is to peace, love and equality. No matter what goes down, just treat it with peace and love because at the end of the day that's what everybody needs.
Haviah Mighty: I definitely like to pull from the rawest, truest points of my life to try to create the most effective message possible, which is usually the things that are most important to me. The narrative will always change based on the shifting of the energies around us and things that are happening. But I would definitely say… just being a Black female, I am political in nature. The hair that I have, the skin tone that I have, the gender that I am and what I chose to do for a career are to some people very oxymoronic. I think naturally just my look and my delivery and my vibe is a little bit of an empowering, stepping out of your element, believing in your true self kind of message before even opening my mouth. I don't think that's something I can really escape or run from and I'm actually very happy to naturally represents that. I feel that people around me resonate with that.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt8_KYXAXM5/
BA: Best part is the growth. For me I love seeing individuals or an individual put their mind to something and watch it come into fruition. Right now I'm doing that with a couple people/groups. I've worked with some of them in the past and just watching them help the culture of [Hamilton] is the best part because I know this city will get there. Like everybody knows the city is growing. And it'll be interesting seeing Hamilton have their own culture and their own sound like how Toronto has their own sound. Hamilton is far enough where we see Toronto and we want to be like the [greater Toronto area] and be included like the GTA, but we still want our own.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BorVUiiHLRt/
HM: The best part of the hip hop community is the community. I think hip hop is very cultural and the community is very culture-based… [W]ithin hip hop in my experience, you can go to different venues and it's like these are people that you've grown up with because at the cultural level, you guys are so connected. It might be the same for punk music and rock and stuff [but] I'm not as embedded in those communities to know. I think for me it's the beautiful marriage between the sonic vibe of hip hop and then just like the community of hip hop and how different yet similar those two things are.
BA: I'm going to be releasing new material spring, summer time. I've just been working with other artists, doing some production, audio engineering. And other than that, I'm just taking my sweet, sweet time. I'm not trying to [give] you the exact same trap sound that you're always hearing on the radio or that your friends play. I'm here giving you something completely different. I'm giving you good vibes, I'm giving you vibes for strictly hippies… My goal with this is creating an entirety of a sound for the city.
HM: I have an album coming out. I'm hoping that this can really open up some interesting conversations. I'm really hoping that we can see some shifts in female hip hop and what we expect from being a female in hip hop and what we expect from I guess just the gender expectations. I would love to see some of those surpassed with some of the stuff I'm coming out with. But definitely just trying to contribute positively to the hip hop community and that hip hop culture and to tell good, impactful stories that can make some good change.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp-dJixASg6/
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