In my last two articles, I delved into different aspects of using video in e-learning. In this one I want to take a step back and talk about how we use audio.
Don’t use it if you don’t mean it
There's a widespread belief that e-learning is better with audio - that courses are improved by having a narrator read whatever is on-screen at any given point. Why anyone believes this is a mystery to me, but it seems to be based on the misconception that we learn better when more than one of our senses is activated.
"Personally, I get when bored someone tells me in a slow voice what I can already read for myself!"
Personally, I get when bored someone tells me in a slow voice what I can already read for myself! I'm sure that most of us read much faster than narrators narrate, and that a voice actually gets in the way of our learning because when we're bored, our minds drift off and we disengage. Good e-learning engages us because we participate through interaction - a voiceover undermines that engagement all too easily. Of course, there are situations where this kind of voiceover is appropriate: to deal with accessibility issues for example. But unless that’s the case - don’t do it!
If you do mean it...
So how should we use the human voice in e-learning? The answer is: discretely. By that I mean don't double up. If you use a voice to deliver content, don't deliver that content in text at the same time. Take the text off the screen. Use pictures, diagrams, bullet points, dancers or acrobats to reinforce your message, but let the narrator take care of the content. Then learners will actually want to know what the narrator is saying, and your course won't be cluttered with redundant on-screen text. Used this way, audio really does have the potential to make an e-learning course more effective.
"If you use a voice to deliver content, don't deliver that content in text at the same time. Take the text off the screen."
Rapid audio
One of the challenges of using audio is that it takes away some of the benefits you gain from rapid e-learning. Once you have been to the studio and recorded your audio, changing the content isn't so easy. You have to go back to the studio with the same narrator for every change you want to make.
The trick for minimising the issue of post-publishing audio changes is to control your voice scripts and manage your sound files. In Mohive you can create a voice script for each and every bit of audio you need. This not only tells the narrator what to say, it also references exactly where each of the final sound files need to go. This is particularly handy if you need to localise your courses, as the voice script can be translated in the same way that any Mohive course is translated. Then you simply export the new voice script, send it for recording in the new language, and slot the sound files into the localised version.
"The trick for minimising the issue of post-publishing audio changes is to control your voice scripts and manage your sound files."
DIY audio
But can you get rid of the need for a studio? The problem with recording sound outside a studio is no longer the lack of 'pro' equipment. At the Mohive office we use a reasonably priced product called the Røde Podcaster, a USB microphone that gives us near studio quality sound from a quiet meeting room. And for audio editing we use Audacity, which has all the functionality you could need and carries a price tag of zero. The trick is finding that quiet room...
But 'colleague noise reduction' strategies and techniques for consistent recording quality are subjects for another time. For now, if audio can benefit your course, hit Record and enjoy your venture into the audioscape.