Radio broadcasting as a distance learning device? 

Radio, an old, simple, daily and very effective technology that keeps the link with the communities (parents and students) and the school. It is a medium that is widely used to disseminate knowledge. 
Generally, when we think about the design of a distance learning device, we tend to look at what is newly invented as a support tool for the device instead of thinking about the public for whom the teaching is designed. The essential question to ask in distance learning design situations is how to make the training accessible at a distance? 

In this sense, the technology to be used to support the training should be that of appropriation and not of invention. If in one context digital platforms, social networks or LMS seem to be appropriate in other contexts, it is important to turn to older and better adapted alternatives such as podcasts, radio broadcasting or educational TV. Appropriation technologies are those that allow us to conceive of continuity in learning and not to understand technological invention. 

Edgerton (2006, 2008) suggests making the difference between innovation and usage to understand the situation. The maximum use of a technology is often reached years after its invention. Consider the case of bicycles versus buses or subways in a large majority of formerly industrial societies. The postal service, which is very widespread, as opposed to the use of e-mail (Edgerton 2008).

This is also to think about the difference between use and utility. When there is an exaggerated emphasis on the revolutionary effects of new computer and digital inventions without leaving room for alternative solutions, this has the effect of paralyzing initiatives. In these contexts, individuals develop the feeling of being unable to align themselves with innovations, with modernity. They prefer to lock themselves into the routine they have mastered instead of innovating alternative ways adapted to their realities. But it is precisely in order for innovation to endure that alternative processes must be favored. 

Today, let's talk about Educational Radio in distance learning.

Community radio is supported by the community/local actors with the same local and cultural interests. It allows the dissemination of knowledge within the framework of distance learning.
Setting up a distance education system through community radio can be very beneficial in difficult and precarious contexts. It is an accessible, low-cost technology (it can be battery-operated, hand-cranked, or solar-powered)

How to think about radio broadcasting in the context of distance education?

Some radios have set up listening clubs and children used to meet in dedicated spaces (church, temples, town hall etc.) to attend classes. 
Radios are also used in conflict areas where children are in hiding but can continue to learn by listening to the radio. 

The voice/sound... are very important elements in the implementation of a radio broadcast learning device. It's not the same as creating content to broadcast on TikTok or WhatsApp...or even on Youtube. It is not possible to draw visual attention to a particular point of the course. You will have to look for other learning strategies.  Scripts should be prepared with this in mind.

Courses are developed by teachers and aligned to national curricula but must also take into account the particular context. Context needs to be seen in terms of environment, cultures, resources, language, vectors, practices etc.  
It is necessary to be trained in distance learning engineering: to use other media (recompose training sequences, voice, tools, etc.) according to the medium that exists. The importance in a distance learning situation is to know how to personalize the relationship despite the distance. How to create the link?