Audio that Enhances Learning
Tuesday, 1 December 2009, Tom Kuhlmann of Articulate (VP of Community) published a blog post on effective uses of audio in e-learning courses. His post is about using background audio, or ambient sounds, and he included this great example from the New York Times:
Click here to view the New York Times demo.
But, his post made me think of something beyond background audio, and I remembered a March 2009 client course where the client and I created a “scene” to model effective posture, words/phrases, and tone of voice. Take a look:
The setup is somewhat similar to the NYT demo, but we didn’t use background audio. Honestly, that never occurred to me, and after reading Tom’s post and seeing the NYT demo, I’d like to add targeted, effective background audio (ambient sounds) to scenes in e-learning courses.
One example I can think of is a course on business etiquette and customer service for back-office staff in a very busy environment.
Hmmm. I can hear the phones ringing off the hook even now!
You may also be interested in this blog post:
Voice-Over Audio Narration for e-Learning
Please share your thoughts in the Comments section of this post. If you’re not a spammer, I’ll approve you!
Tags: Add new tag, Articulate, e-Learning, instructional_design, voice_overs
Hi Jenise. Congratulations on what appears to be a well-done course. I really like your use of still images to reinforce the learning objectives–which, in this snippet, appears to be rooted in modeling proper dialog and role play. It’s a good reminder that we don’t always have to bite on video as the preferred roleplay medium. (Which, admittedly, would have been my disadvantage.)
As for your question about background audio, I don’t feel like I lost anything from the learning objective by not having the background audio. Indeed, if I were the client, I would probably appreciate not having expended time and budget on such embellishment in this case. (Unless, of course, it was a fixed bid! In which case, have at it!)
That said, I agree there are some training programs for which background audio would complement the learning objectives. The examples you point out are perfect–where it would be important to teach the learner about dynamics of a busy environment, for example. Other examples that come to mind: call-centers, loading docks, airport zones, traffic enforcement, etc.
Great examples. Thanks for sharing.
Great insights, Mel! I do like video in e-learning where appropriate and effective for learner outcomes. But, as you say, sometime the Budget dictates design. Well-placed still photos and ambient sounds can set the stage for branching challenge scenarios, assessments, or transitions to a new topic.
We are so fortunate to do what we do!