Well-designed, planned, narrated and produced audio content has the facility to engage the audience and transport the listener, providing the right cognitive environment for learning or entertainment or whatever goal the podcast seeks to achieve. As the old story goes, “there are better pictures on the radio.” Denis Nowlan, Deputy to the Controller for BBC Radio 4 describes this as

the wonder of radio [and sound] …the conjuring of magical sounds, Prospero-like, out of the silently teeming air. And the sense of joining, instantly, with a vast community of listeners.

(2005)

Of course, this cognitively experienced sense of “being there” is a completely artificial construct, none more so when you consider audio podcasting. The journey the podcaster takes us on is based on nothing in nature; that is, a narrative transmitted as binary data: electronically-mediated zeros and ones.

I will discuss this phenomenon in detail next time, but for now, read on…

Digital audio is actually very similar in concept to motion film, where a rapid series of still photographs make up a “motion picture.” Digital recording reproduces audio signals by taking many still “pictures” – or samples – of an audio waveform and then reconstructing the waveform for playback digitally (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Digital Sampling of Audio Waveform
[Click to Enlarge]

In film, the number of still images (frames) we move through the projector per second improves the smoothness and quality of picture we see. Similarly, the size of the film’s light-sensitive crystals in each frame determines the visual resolution of the image – and we all know movies look better in 70mm as opposed to the 35mm or 16mm film.

In digital audio, an analog signal is typically sampled 16 or 24 times a second – that is, 16 or 24 bits of data. A sample is created by taking a “snapshot” of the amplitude (or strength) of an analog audio signal at a particular moment in time. and converting that amplitude into a binary number.

The number of samples contained in each second of audio is called the sample rate. The greater the number of samples per second, the greater the resolution of the audio signal.

Let’s return to the film analogy: the faster the film rate through the camera, the better the ability of the film to pick up motion. For example, if you crank a film camera too slowly, then motion past a camera is not smooth since the frame rate does not capture enough frames in a given amount of time to stop the motion from appearing to jump or jerk – too much action happens in front of the camera “between frames” for the motion to appear natural.

Time for an example: The resolution of an audio CD is 16 bits and the sample rate is 44.1KHz. This means that the audio is sampled 44,100 times a second and a series of 16 zeros and ones is used to define the amplitude of the waveform at each of those 44,100 points.

This resolution – commonly called “CD Quality” and should be your baseline for recording a podcast. When recording voice-over narration, capture all of your audio at 16 bit, 44.1KHz, in mono using the WAV format in Windows, Au format for Unix-based systems (like Linux), and AIFF for Apple Mac.

More…

__________

References:

Nowlan, D. (2005). Radio: where the pictures are better: Denis Nowlan speaks for the medium which leads you by the ear. [Internet] Available from: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0KZH/is_1_19/ai_n15928065/ Accessed 12 August 2009.

–

Anthony Bates, author of Technology, e-learning and distance education (2005) states that audio (via radio broadcast) has been used in education for over seventy years. Examples of its uses include school broadcasting, informal general education, social action programming, and adult basic education and literacy (p.117).

Since its inception in 1969, the British Open University supplied about one-fifth of its output via radio programming. Typically it such programming centered around:

Discussions of course material or issues covered in printed materials

• Alternative viewpoints to those contained in the printed materials (i.e. guest speakers interpreting a text)
• Source materials for analysis (i.e. children’s speech patterns)
• ‘Performance’ pieces, including poetry readings, dramatizations of literature, musical performances

There are of course drawbacks to delivering content via radio broadcast or via analog tape. Radio broadcasts are wholly dependent on the broadcaster’s schedule, and minority programming is usually relegated to inconvenient “graveyard slots” – the learner has no flexibility around the schedule. Similarly, broadcasted material happens in real-time – the learner has no facility to ‘rewind and play back’ a presentation if they miss a point, unless they tape the program ‘off the air’ (if you’re old enough to remember, you’ll recall that this could be a messy business).

Cassette tapes had their problems too: analog recordings deteriorate with use and over time, tapes cassettes have many moving parts, the actual magnetic tape can break and become degaussed, and if you have a lot of them, they’re bulky to store.

The introduction of CD-ROMs in the late 1980’s mitigated most of these issues, and in a sense were the hardware breakthrough that presaged the beginnings of e-learning as we know it today. However, CD-based materials were expensive to produce, many pre-Pentium and PowerPC processors couldn’t handle the multimedia requirements needed to view and listen to the material delivered via this medium (800×600 CRT monitor, anyone?).

It was the emergence of the internet that genuinely facilitated audio and visual media-based learning. But that, my friends, is a tale that’s still being told, so I’m not going to discuss it here.

The Open University today, on iTunes U

All I will say here is that the internet enables access to e-learning content:

• For Anyone. E-Learning resources are available on-demand, via synchronous and asynchronous channels
• Anywhere. Digital content can be distributed just as easily on a home-based PC, a laptop, or (increasingly) via a mobile device. Content can be viewed both online and offline for maximum flexibility.
• At Any Time. You no longer need to rely on an IT department for distribution of large media files; content is easily delivered on demand to facilitate self-paced, OTJ and just-in-time learning.

Now read on…

The purpose of this long pre-amble was to emphasize the importance of understanding your target audience. When you start work on a podcast, you must be aware of not only what is to be said, but also to whom you want to say it. This is not merely a matter of your audience’s intelligence, but also of background, experiences and outlook. It is also powerfully related to the things that the listener would like to do – ranging from learning Spanish for a vacation, to passing their Microsoft Office User Specialist certification.

Podcasts – like blogs – develop a distinctive ‘personality’ according to the characteristics of the source material, the type of audience that material is aimed at, and the individual or team who produce the podcast. So, a Wired News podcast reviewing the latest and greatest computer technologies will sound very different from a podcast about conversational French for beginners.

A study in to the effect of BBC educational broadcasts noted that too many ‘teaching points’ (what we usually call learning objectives) – more than six per 15 minutes of programming were definitely bad for the user’s learning curve. Interestingly, where long, complex sentences with difficult vocabulary and a lot of prepositions did appear to have an adverse effect on intelligibility, the presence of a large number of adverbs and adjectives did not.

The conclusion was drawn that an apparent excess of facts, figures and descriptive terms is no disadvantage, because although they may not be assimilated themselves, they help maintain interest during the learning intervention.

More…
___________

References:

Bates, A. W. (2005). Technology, e-learning and distance education. Oxford: Routledge Falmer

Read more: http://elearningcurve.blogspot.com/2009/07/exploring-podcasting-for-e-learning-and.html#ixzz0MjnglJ8i

–

First a little about podcasting…

A podcast is one in a series of digital media files (usually in either  audio MP3 or video M4V format) that is released periodically and made available for download by means of web syndication.

This syndication aspect of the content delivery is what differentiates podcasts from other ways of accessing files, such as simple download or streaming. Special client software applications called RSS aggregators (also known colloquially as podcatchers) such as Apple  iTunes or Nullsoft Winamp can  automatically identify and retrieve new podcast files in a given series when they are made available, by accessing a centrally-maintained ‘feed’ that lists all files currently associated with that particular series.

New files can be downloaded automatically by the podcatcher and stored locally on the user’s computer or other media device for offline use, enabling the audience to download content that is released episodically without having to manually check that new material has been made available.

According to the Horizon Report (2006) podcasting is

At the leading edge of a wave that will last for the next several years and beyond, personal broadcasting takes advantage of small, easy-to-use devices that people already carry to capture and share personal experiences, information, and events. This trend, which has roots in text-based media (personal websites and blogs), is expanding to include audio and video, as the tools for capturing and sharing those media become smaller and better. From podcasting to video blogging (vlogging), personal broadcasting is an increasingly popular trend that is impacting… audiences.

(p.11)

It’s easy to see why podcasts have value in e-learning. Will Richardson states in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms that the

underlying technology here is digital recording and the idea that it is now very easy to create and publish these recordings… As long as you have a way to make the recording, and as as long as your students have access to the Internet, you can make this work.

(p.113)

Now that I have started publishing podcasts, I’m obviously going to write a series of articles about developing and delivering content using this learning channel. What’s more, I will discuss podcast authoring using production techniques, based upon my experiences as a radio documentary maker in a ‘previous life’ – I’ll be talking about the craft of writing for audio, as well as the technical aspects of the process.

Now, [drum roll] I want to introduce you to the E-Learning Curve’s Other Podcast. This podcast service is about subjects that interest me other than e-learning. Topics I’ll be covering include aviation, history and music, among others. The first set of podcasts is called Transatlantic: the Flying Boats of Foynes:

July 2009 is the 70th anniversary of the first scheduled trans-Atlantic airplane passenger service. Told against a backdrop of the momentous events of World War Two, this eight-part podcast documentary series by Michael Hanley tells the story of a unique era in world aviation.

Airlines like Pan American Airways (PAA) and the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) with their flying boats like the Short series of planes, and the massive Boeing 314 ‘Clippers’ were welcomed to the seaport of Foynes, in the embrace of the River Shannon estuary on the Western edge of Europe. Come with me now as we fly back in time to the Golden Age of Aviation, a era of adventure, conflict – and the invention of Irish Coffee.

Parts 1 and 2 of the series are now available. You can listen and subscribe to each episode here, or you can access the podcast via iTunes. The next installment, The Glamour of Travel will be released on Tuesday July 28th, 2009.

The more observant among you will have noticed that this podcast channel is called the Other Podcast, which implies that there is a regular E-Learning Curve Podcast, discussing subjects associated with learning and development.

Yes there is. And it’s on it’s way soon. More about this closer to its launch.
___________

References:

The New Media Consortium (2006). 2006 Horizon Report. [Internet] Available from: http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2006_Horizon_Report.pdf Accessed 15 July 2009

Richardson, W. (2006) Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

–

Brandon Hall Research, domain analysts for the e-learning industry and providers of  information about tools, technologies, and best practices related to employee training and enterprise learning have just released a comprehensive new guide called Authoring Tool KnowledgeBase 2009: A Buyer’s Guide to 120+ of the Best E-Learning Content Development Applications.

According to their press release, "the current edition of this online, database-driven KnowledgeBase contains 10-20 page profiles of 122 content development tools" including:

• 65 products to create online courses
• 26 products to create online tests and assessments
• 20 products to create software simulations
• 23 products to help you convert your legacy content to e-learning
• 9 products to create non-software simulations
• 8 products to create instructional games

They also include two online software applications:

• A selection tool that helps you narrow your product search by filtering out the tools that don’t meet your needs
• A comparison tool to help you see how two similar products differ

I recently published an article called What’s on your e-learning bookshelf? In it, I listed my shelf of “go to” e-learning texts. I’ve re-published the picture of my shelf below, so that you can see, right there in the middle, a text called E-learning Tools and Technologies by Horton and Horton.

In the early part of this decade learning and development professionals and educators found this text to be an invaluable reference resource. If you had a requirement to understand a new training modality or learning channel in a hurry (as many of us did in five or six years ago as we faster, better, and more integrated communications networks burgeoned) the Horton and Horton text was a good place to begin to find out about it. However, as we reach the end of the decade, the tools and some of the technologies in text (I have the first edition) is looking decidedly dated; Blogger.com was still owned by Pyra Labs; podcasting is not given a look-in in any shape or form. As far as I could discern through a brief search (on Amazon, Wiley Books Online, and Google Books), the 2003 edition is still in print.

The outcome of this is that while the text is still full of good advice, useful information, and valuable insight into topics associated with e-learning design, development and delivery, many  of the products it highlights are deprecated (Authorware), redundant (GoLive), or changed beyond recognition (most products featured in the text). In my view this is where resources like the Brandon Hall KnowledgeBase come into their own. While, necessarily, the text and the information is not as rich as in the Horton and Horton book (see Figure 1 for a comparison between the layout of the two resources), it’s competitive advantage is that is delivers bang up-to-date, regularly refreshed information, and a easy-to-use selection and comparison utility to choose and compare products.

Figure 1. Side-by-side of the texts: Horton (l), Brandon Hall (r)
[Click to enlarge]

In one sense, this is the threshold between the analog and digital forms of information delivery. Putting my cultural anthropology hat on for a moment, I would characterize this as a liminal state. Liminality has been described as "the place in between" (La Shure, 2009)  infused with ambiguity, openness, and indeterminacy.

For example, as a university lecturer delivering a course on learning technology do I include E-Learning Tools and Technologies on the required reading list, or the more up-to-date Authoring Tool KnowledgeBase? How do I set a question on the information in the latter source as it is in one sense, just a list and description of products and their capabilities, with none of the context provided by the former text? Which is more "academic?" Does this reflect the text’s accuracy? Is the cost ($795 annual subscription) of Brandon Hall membership justifiable for students, or people who just was occasional access to information, as opposed to about $40 for the out-of-date Horton and Horton text. How much is the information worth?

These are  difficult questions to answer satisfactorily.

I have no doubt that over time, e-texts will become integrated into the mainstream of academic, professional, and consumer activity. Online libraries like MyAthens already provide access to a range of electronically-available materials for a nominal fee to the individual user as membership to institutions, universities, and libraries.

E-readers like the Kindle, and e-book software like Lexcycle Stanza (recently purchased by Amazon) are beginning to provide the facility to view electronic versions of printed texts.

Maybe this electronic means of access will become more generalized; I use Stanza on my iPhone and it’s changing my reading habits. Perhaps the current practice of hard- and e-texts being used in concert will become firmly embedded as the most effective method of using the old and the new. As usual, people will do what works for them, and the usual rules for adoption of innovations will apply.

Yet the question remains: How out-of-date is too out-of-date?

I think that my Horton printed text still has great value, especially in the context it provides for e-elearning-related technologies; yet I can’t rely on it to provide current information about specific e-learning authoring applications. With over ten years experience in the learning and development industry, I feel competent to apply my well-developed critical faculties to find out what I need from the range of knowledge and information at my disposal. Could I make my tacit, hard-earned ability to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information available to some-one else? Probably not.

How do you use the resources at your disposal? I’d love to hear your views and about your experiences – let me know.

___________

References:

Brandon Hall Research. (2009). Authoring Tool KnowledgeBase 2009: A Buyer’s Guide to 120+ of the Best E-Learning Content Development Applications. [Internet] Available from: http://www.brandon-hall.com/publications/atkb/atkb.shtml Accessed 29 June 2009

Horton, W., & Horton, K. (2003). E-learning Tools and Technologies: A consumer’s guide for trainers, teachers, educators, and instructional designers. Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

La Shure, C. (2009). Liminality. [Internet] Available from: http://www.liminality.org/about/whatisliminality/ Accessed 29 June 2009

–

According to Morrison et al, there are nine key elements to instructional design:

1. Identify instructional problems, and specify goals for designing an instructional program.
2. Examine learner characteristics that should receive attention during planning.
3. Identify subject content, and analyze task components related to stated goals and purposes.
4. State instructional objectives for the learner.
5. Sequence content within each instructional unit for logical learning.
6. Design instructional strategies so that each learner can master the objectives.
7. Plan the instructional message and delivery.
8. Develop evaluation instruments to assess objectives.
9. Select resources to support instruction and learning activities.

These elements are independent of each other, in that they do not need to be considered in a linear fashion and there is no particular start- and end point. The oval shape of this model (see Figure 1) is constructed to convey the idea that the design and development process is an iterative cycle that needs constant planning, design, development and assessment to ensure effective instruction.

Figure 1. The Morrison-Ross-Kemp Model
[Click to enlarge]

The model is systemic and nonlinear; it encourages designers to work in all areas of ID as appropriate. The use of ovals emphasizes this flexibility visually; the graphical design communicates a continuous non-linear cycle that requires iterative planning, design, development and assessment.  The inner oval (surrounding the core) illustrates that revision/formative evaluation activities can be undertaken at each stage of the development process, something that is not always built into other models, usually because of the constraints of time and money.

The outer oval includes a typical post-instruction activity (summative evaluation) and also highlights three elements usually absent from other models – namely project planning, project management, and support services. The latter are required both for the project itself while it is in development, and afterwards to support the actual instruction.

We can say that it describes a holistic approach to instructional design that considers all factors in the environment; the starting point and order in which the designer addresses them is not prescribed, though the elements in the model may form a logical design sequence when read anti-clockwise (see Figure 2).

Figure 1. The ADDIE steps applied to the M-R-K Model
(after Morrison, Ross & Kemp 2004, p.29)
[Click to enlarge]

The flexibility of this approach is reinforced by the absence of lines or arrows that would dictate a specific design sequence (see Dick and Carey’s Model) as a comparison. According to Presenera (2002) the Kemp Model is designed to primarily to appeal to (classroom-based) teachers, who may not have specific instructional design experience.

The Morrison-Ross-Kemp model has three characteristics that differentiate it from some other models:

• instruction is considered from the perspective of the learner
• the model takes a general systems or even object-oriented view towards instructional development
• the model emphasizes management of the instructional design process

Using the model

Using this model the instructional designer begins by asking six questions related to the skills or knowledge to be learned: required level of learner readiness; instructional strategies and media that are be most appropriate for the content and the target population; level of learner support required; measurement of achievement; and strategies for formative and summative evaluation.

(Morrison, Ross, and Kemp, 2004, p. 4).

Because of the lack of connectivity between elements and the facility for IDs to start at any place within the model, a designer can examine the entire scope of a project – or just as effectively work on a single learning object or lesson. Using this classroom-oriented model, an individual with little instructional design skill can develop a piece of instruction using few or no additional resources and with minimal front-end analysis. Similarly, there is no requirement to conduct formative and summative evaluation on the final materials (Gustafson and Branch 2002, p.16). A more experienced designer (or one with access to more resources) can also use this model in the design of a complex and widely-distributed learning program.

___________

References:

Gustafson, K. L., & Branch, R. M. (2002). What is instructional design? In R.A. Reiser & J. A. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (pp. 16-25). Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice-Hall.

Kemp, J. E. (1985). The instructional design process. New York: Harper & Row.

Kemp, J. E., Morrison, G. R., & Ross, S. V. (2004). Design effective instruction, (4th Ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons

Prestera, Gus. (2002). Instructional Design Models [Internet]. Available from: http://www.effectperformance.com/sites/prestera/html/M4/L1%20-%20ISD/M4L1P1.htm#kemp Accessed: 3rd June 2009

–

This session will cover:

• Why use audio in e-learning?
• Using non-linear editing tools
• How to record audio
• How to produce audio
• How to integrate audio into commonly-used rapid e-learning applications

 

Here’s the agenda for the full two days of the Lights, Camera, Action: Using Media to Engage the Learner event.

Opening General Session
Thursday, June 4 — 8:30a to 9:45a

•     Selecting Media for Learning: Thinking Inside and Outside the Box
  • Patti Shank, Learning Peaks LLC

Concurrent Session Block 2
Thursday, June 4 — 10:15a to 11:30a

• 201 | Integrating Audio into E-Learning Courseware
  • Michael Hanley, Cúram Software, Ltd.
• 202 | Rich Media on a Poor Budget
  • Jeff Tillett, T-Mobile

Concurrent Session Block 3
Thursday, June 4 — 12:00n to 1:15p

• 301 | Finding, Hiring, and Directing e-Learning Voices
  • Harlan Hogan, E-learningvoices.com
• 302 | Rapid Video and User Generated Video
  • Mark Chrisman, T-Mobile

Concurrent Session Block 4
Friday, June 5 — 8:30a to 9:45a

401 | Creating Interactive Learning Experiences With Video in Flash

John Crider, Intuit, Inc

402 | Storytorials: An Instructional Strategy for e-Learning

Kevin Cassel, James Kinnamon & Pete Safran, SAI Global

Concurrent Session Block 5
Friday, June 5 — 10:15a to 11:30a

• 501 | Sometimes a Video Isn’t Just a Video
  • Stephen Haskin, S  Media
• 502 | Immersive Simulations that use Voice Technologies
  • Paul Howe, Allen Interactions

Closing General Session
Friday, June 5 — 12:00n to 1:15p

• Cool Tools: Spice Up Your Training with Web 2.0 – Legally
  • Michelle Lentz, Write Technology

If you’re participating, I hope to see you there (metaphorically speaking), and best of luck to all presenters as well as the backroom team of organizers and moderators who have worked so hard to make this event happen.

–

With that in mind, there are several valuable techniques used to analyze the objectives the ID has develop. I will cover three approaches today.

Now read on…

Hierarchical analysis
These are diagrams or tables showing the dependency relationships between the objectives, so that it becomes clear which objectives must be learned before others are attempted. 

The hierarchical approach is used to analyze goals that are identified as being intellectual or psychomotor skills. It’s purpose is to identify the foundational knowledge or rules that need to be taught/learned before the subsequent steps are taught.Subordinate skills are analyzed and then those skills are further analyzed. Hierarchical analysis is a top down model (see Figure 1), where each lower step supports the skills required by the steps above it.

Figure 1 Hierarchical Table

The IS should ask the following questions:

• What does the learner need to know in order to accomplish this step?
• What mistake might a learner make in completing this step?

Grouping or clustering
Sometimes objectives are too small to cover one at a time. In this case, they may be grouped into higher units, whether called “lessons”, “topics” or “modules”. As an aside this leads to one of the great ongoing debates in learning: what constitutes a learning object / lesson / section / module? As you will know if you design learning and development programs for a range of training institutions, corporations, and public organizations, each of them uses a terminology when delineating the same (or similar) discrete units of learning content. But I digress.

When clustering is indicated, a useful guideline may be to distinguish between enabling and terminal objectives.  An enabling objective usually forms part of a subset of objectives that collectively enable the learner to demonstrate a terminal objective, which can be described as the key behaviors, skills, or performances a learner has acquired and can undertake at the end of a course. For example, if the objective involves changing an bicycle wheel, then enabling objectives for this would be using a spanner, unhooking the chain, preparing the patch, and so on. Table 1 is an extract from a time management course:

Table 1 Clustered Objectives

DIF analysis
In a DIF analysis, the objective (or groups of objectives) are analyzed in terms of difficulty, importance and frequency.

• Difficulty: the simpler the skill to be taught the better. All skills are not equal so for each we need a measure of complexity. One common measure is Bloom’s Taxonomy  which rates skill complexity from 1 (knowledge) through to 6 (evaluation).
• Importance:  No matter how often a skill is used, or how difficult it is, we have to ask how important that skill is to performance. A taught skill may not be used very often by the learner but it could be crucial to that learner’s job. Conversely, other skills may require constant use and re-use but may be less important in overall competency terms.
• Frequency: this simply measures how often an objective will be performed.

All three categories above can be rated on a scale of 1 – 5 from easy to hard, infrequent to frequent, less to more important and so on.  Table 2 shows how a completed DIF analysis might look.

Table 2 Sample DIF analysis

Prerequisites Identification
These describe what learners must be able to do before they start the course.  These are often defined in terms of skills, knowledge and attitude (SKAs). When you subtract the student’s previously-learned SKAs  from the list of objectives, the remaining SKAs are the objectives that will need to be covered in the learning program.

More…

–

In the meantime, the eLearning Guild have just published an informative primer called Making a Demonstration Video for E-Learning Use.

The article in Learning Solutions e-Magazine discusses a favorite of mine: straight-forward ‘How-to’ video demonstrations. The authors, Steve Haskin and Tim Martin describe this learning modality:

“How-to” instruction is an important training modality; in fact, “learning how to do things” is the cornerstone of being human. Our lives are spent learning how to do things, and this doesn’t stop simply because we “learn” in the workplace or even when we slip the “e-” in front of learning.

(p.2)

In this context then, tasks and activities can be elucidated using a number of video based approaches including:

• Sequenced still images
• Video
• 3-D animation

Video photography is basically light captured on a medium like film, video tape, or DVD. However, lighting a subject properly is something of a black art and if done poorly will undermine the learners’ ability to interact with the subject matter. The article’s authors discuss the basics of lighting in reasonably good detail, including key-, fill-, and back lighting, as well as color temperature, and new lighting technologies like fluorescent and LED light types.

They go on to describe the importance of a good tripod, and what you should look for in a video camera. I would agree with their assertion that HD cameras “are complete overkill” (p.7) and in fact that good old reliable MiniDV digital tape is still the best video media choice for e-learning practitioners – your content is captured as uncompressed DV-AVI video (so it can be edited and rendered in either NTSC or PAL as well as in various compressed formats), and MiniDV is a great archive format.

The authors conclude by discussing the pros and cons of various video codecs, their benefits and disadvantages.

Video can seem technical, overly-involved, and even intimidating to the novice videographer: I suggest that you have a look at the article if you want a good introduction to video for e-learning and if you want to know your blondes from your redheads. (They’re types of light: I wasn’t being rude!)

______________

References:

Haskin, S., Martin, T. (2009) Making a Demonstration Video for E-Learning Use. Learning Solutions e-Magazine [Internet] Available from: http://www.elearningguild.com/articles/abstracts/index.cfm?id=302&action=viewonly Accessed 30 March 2009

–

How do you insert markers and how do you synchronize with captivate slides?

So over the next few days I’m going to outline the process of using markers in audio files, and how these markers can be used to simplify the process of synchronizing audio narration with visual content in presentations created not only in Captivate, but also in Presenter too.

Now read on…

In this post, I am going to focus on using audio markers in Sony Sound Forge, a professional sound-editing program or non-linear editor (NLE). The Sound Forge audio editing suite is the most powerful in a range of audio editing programs owned by Sony and originally developed by Sonic Foundry. I have been using Sound Forge in one form or another since the late 1990’s and in my view, it is the most flexible and adaptable tool in the audio editing market space (see Figure 1). Sound Forge includes a diverse and powerful set of digital audio signal processing tools, as well as many effects for manipulating audio.

Many e-learning professionals use other NLEs (including the open source program Audacity) to create and produce their audio. I would recommend any of the tools I mention in this article as acceptable for audio content creation.

Figure 1. Sound Forge waveform editor UI (click to enlarge)

Sound Forge software allows you to edit, record, encode, and master nearly all forms of digital audio including WAV, AIFF, and MP3. According to the Sound Forge website, the application has tools for:

• Sound Design and Mastering
• Stereo and Multichannel Recording
• Audio Editing and Workflow
• Powerful Effects Processing
• Audio-for-Video
• Dolby Digital AC-3 export

I’m not going to discuss the fundamentals of audio editing here, but we can say that to a great extent, audio editors are like ‘word processors for sound.’ All the good ones, including Steinberg WaveLab, Audacity and Adobe Audition employ the same user paradigm, and as a result the features of one are pretty much replicated in all the others. 

In audio editing, the purpose of a marker is to highlight a specific moment or event on the timeline so that you can return to it later. You may want to highlight a extraneous noise like a cough or click for deletion, or mark two points in a selection to copy or remove it. In audio narration, markers are typically used to set the transition between two sentences, slides or  onscreen event (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Sound Forge marker (click to enlarge)

Using Sound Forge

Some basics…

Opening a File

Sound Forge can edit WAV, MP3, AIFF and a range of other file types. To open a file, just click FILE-> OPEN. The file will open in either mono or stereo, depending on the specific file format.

Controlling Playback

Open a sound file. Use all of the buttons highlighted in Figure 1 (don’t forget to zoom in and out).

Selecting Sounds

Its easy to select a particular sound area. Just click and drag over it. If selecting a stereo sound, drag between the left and right channel to get them both (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Click and drag to select audio – stereo instance (click to enlarge)  

You Try:

1. Practice selecting areas of the wave.
2. Adjust the selection by dragging at the point where the selection ends.
3. Play the selection.
4. Copy and paste the selection to the end of the sound
5. Delete sections by selecting them and hitting delete on your keyboard.

You can also select in smaller segments (right down to the single bit level) by holding SHIFT on your keyboard and using the LEFT or RIGHT arrow keys. The more you zoom in to the waveform, the higher the level of precision you can achieve.

 

Markers

Markers enable you to choose edit points and to help you to accurately events in the waveform timeline. To add a marker:

1. Click a point in the waveform.
2. Select SPECIAL >> INSERT MARKER from the menu, or press the M key

If you have many markers in your audio file, it’s useful to name them. It’s typical for audio narration for e-learning presentations to have many slides or events, and by extension quite a number of markers. I suggest that you name the markers for the slide or event that the following narration describes. To name a marker, right-click  its handle and select EDIT… (see Figure 4). Enter some appropriate text in the dialog box – here, I have called the marker "Course Outline."

Figure 4. The Edit Marker dialog box (click to enlarge) 

Marker Navigation

You can automatically navigate from marker to marker by pressing CTRL + LEFT ARROW to go back, or CTRL + RIGHT ARROW to move forward through the timeline.You can select the waveform between markers by pressing SHIFT + CTRL + LEFT / RIGHT arrow.

You Try:

Using your sound editor of choice, try out the activities described in today’s blog post. Click the link to download a fully functional 30-day trial version of Sound Forge.

 

Saving Markers

Markers are automatically included when you save your audio file. Some professional audio editors also enable you to save the markers as metadata in a separate file called an Edit Decision List (EDL) which is useful when you’re creating video presentations, but that as they say, is another story…

Next: Using markers with Adobe Presenter.
Soon: Using markers with Adobe Captivate.

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Technorati Tags: Adding Markers,Adobe Captivate,Elearning,E-Learning,Audio,Narration,Content,Captivate,Adobe Presenter,Sound Forge

As you’ll know if you’re a regular reader of the E-Learning Curve Blog, I use a range of content authoring tools to create elearning courseware. Primus inter pares is Camtasia by TechSmith. About two weeks ago, I downloaded and installed the trial version of Camtasia 6, which is a little unusual for me; in the past I have just bought the upgrade as soon as it was released.

This time it was a different: I heard discomfiting rumors over the Net that the functionality profile had changed, specifically that FLV had been replaced with MPEG4 as the asynchronous video streaming format in v6 of the product. As someone who relies on Adobe Connect to deliver much of my content to learners this was not good news, as Connect’s support for MPEG4 isn’t great. With this bit of news in mind, I decided to download the Cam6 trial to evaluate the latest version of the product.

As part of the evaluation experience, TechSmith’s Adam Stevenson contacted me (and a lot of other users no doubt) to ask me to contribute my experiences using the trial version of the product. Info is collected on a daily basis using a simple Google Docs form, and it enables TechSmith to capture users’ experiences with the trial including rants, raves and anything else you want to tell them. I think this is a very positive (and obvious and sensible) way for software development companies to be in connected to their current and potential customer base. In my view, their approach enables the development of a virtuous cycle between user and software provider which has the potential to benefit both parties – and ultimately learners, who should be the focus of our activities.

In the past, my experience has led me to be cynical of “we care a lot” exercises by organizations – sometimes I get the feeling that my well-considered comments end up filed in the circular file – you know, the one marked Trash, or worse in electronic limbo at the bottom of someone’s To Do list, never To Be Done.

So what’s different this time?

Check out this post by TechSmith’s Betsy Weber on the removal of FLV:

We’ve been listening to your feedback on our Forums, through our product feedback form, Twitter, Facebook, and via email. And, one of the things we heard after releasing Camtasia Studio v6 was that you wanted us to put back in support for the FLV video file format.

Well, I’m happy to report that we plan to release an update to Camtasia Studio as soon as possible and we will put back the FLV option. Our goal is to have Camtasia Studio v6.0.2 available to you by March. There will still be support for MPEG-4 in Camtasia Studio as well.

I think that, my friends is what we call a win-win situation.

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