Audacity

Richard E. Mayer, the author of Multimedia Learning, suggests we use narration in multimedia productions because it increases learning when animation is also used.

Audacity is an open source tool to use for recording narration. It offers:

• Record live audio.
• Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs.
• Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files.
• Cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together.
• Change the speed or pitch of a recording.
• And more! See the complete list of features.

In the past, I have used Captivate but the quality is not quite there with Captivate. Audacity provides a easy approach to recording, editing and exporting audio into multimedia presentations.

Skpe

Isn't life about conversations? We converse, we learn... We converse, we grow... We converse, we connect.

I can image the delight people enjoyed when they first used the telephone. Hearing the voice of a loved one far away likely made them feel immediately connected. I feel like I was able to part take in that same feeling of delight just last night when my mother, who lives in California, and I used Skype for free last night. We chatted about our day, plans for Christmas, work....everything we normally talk about except I could see her. My daughter was amazed to see her "Grammy." We even got the chance to see my mom's dog, Chaco, taking a snooze!

Web video conferencing uses technology as a way to converse and connect to the community. I learned that my mom really benefited from seeing me and my daughter as she lives alone in California.

There's really potential for using products like Skype in education, the workplace and personal lives! At work, it would be cool if a learner could use Skype to call me instead of a phone. We could discuss the problem and find a solution f2f in a convenient and efficient way. If this happens, maybe people would begin to see technology as problem solver!

Scenario Based Instruction

I am thinking about the importance of including scenario-based instruction in eLearning content. 

I read on the CITT site, they suggest using "scenario-based practice every 3-6 screens." 

Scenario-based instructions gives the student the change to apply the information in a meaningful way. For example, the content is about medical procedures to employ based on a patient's condition. A scenario can be presented to the learner about a patient with particular symptoms. The learner can choose the best option in which to employ, then based off their selection, feedback is provided. 

Scenario-based instructions are excellent options to provide learner-centered, active and authentic content. A main challenge is of course, coming up with the scenario and utilizing the right kind of authoring tools to develop the scenario.  

Instruction Package

What does it mean to deliver a powerful instructional message for online learning to our learners? 

Should we have animation, if so what kind? Does audio make the presentation better? How do we include images that enhance learning? Do we need to include a print component? 

Lots of questions....

Animation can enhance learning, and it can also be a distraction. We want to catch our audience's attention without distracting them from important instructional intent. Using animation to draw the learner to important aspects of the training is helpful as long as it doesn't confuse or take the learn off topic.

Choosing the right music can be a challenge since everyone seems to have a preference.  Sound should compliment the instruction and come in the form of narration, sound clips that supplement the learning topic...one might want to stay away from background music!

Images can speak a thousand words, but words too can compliment an image: they can be used together. Use images that add to the instructional message, don't use images a fillers. Allowing the audience to breath and enjoy whitespace can create a stage for learning, not seem empty and void. 

We would like it if we could remember everything we are suppose to learn, but our magnificent brains don't work that way, they have a tendency to forget. Providing a printable handout that reviews "key" points to help retention and provide just-in-time training.

Lots of stuff to think about...sometimes theses questions answer themselves as long as we can answer the most important question: who are our learners?