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Week 8 - Activity 2 - Blog Reflection

This week’s project moved from image and text instruction to audio-only instruction.  I was dreading this part of the project because there isn’t anything I dislike more than the sound of my own voice.  Some people have the right voice for audio narration, I’m not one of those people.  Also, I am a bit self-conscious because I have a bit of an accent and it is very noticeable with certain words.

What is different about developing instruction with audio?
Is difficult to explain the difference between developing instruction with audio versus developing instruction with text or image.  The process and the applications used are totally different.  I needed to learn to use Audition, as I was new to this software and the process was long and tedious.  Between taking breaks from the Audition tutorials, I worked on my script.  Once I felt comfortable enough in the program, I was able to get started with the recordings fairly fast.  I did have to re-record my audio files several times as there was too much static, or didn’t pronounce a word correctly, or I accidentally skipped a word.  I had to go back and forth between the recordings and the script, making changes as I went along.  I also had to be mindful of the load, pace and depth of the content so not to overload the learner (Koumi, 2003).

Is creating content with audio more efficient?
It can be more efficient if you are already familiar with the audio/sound application and you are good at working on a decent script.  Also, having prior knowledge about where to place the equipment, such as the microphone, and overall knowledge about audio recordings helps.  The good think about recording audio is if a mistake is made, one could record over the mistake fairly easy.  Also, once you have the script ready, things can be completed fast.  Although one does have to make time for editing the audio files.

Do you think about how you instruct someone differently? Are there limitations? Benefits? If so, what are they?
There is a difference in how the instruction (script) is worded.  With text instructions, the language is different, fewer words are needed.  For example, “step 1, place pot on stove” works but for audio instructions the steps have to be more detail.  The content needs to be more conversational, for example, “step 1, place the pot on the stove.”  Using ‘the’ to emphasis the importance of certain words.  I also used verbal cues at the beginning of each audio recording.  One limitation that audio has is that some concepts can be difficult to explain with audio-only (Barron, 2004).

References

Barron, A. E. (2004). Auditory instruction. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (2nd ed.) (pp. 949–978). Mahwah, N. J.: Erlbaum.

Koumi, J. (2003). Synergy between audio commentary and visuals in multimedia packages. Journal of Educational Media, 28, 19-34.

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