Comments on: Addicted to audio?

By: Making Change » Do we really need narration?

Making Change » Do we really need narration? — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:02:36 +0000

[...] a lot more on this topic at the Learning Circuits blog and in two previous posts on my blog: Addicted to Audio? and Should We Narrate On-Screen [...]

By: Thea

Thea — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:41:54 +0000

I think that recent research has shown that it is desirable to add on-screen text with narration. The narration slows the users down, making them absorb more of the information. The full on-screen text then allows them to re-read after audio has ended, again, to re-inforce the information. Alot of users are visual, and are thrown off with audio’d content alone, especially with e-learning content. Studies have shown they do not retain most of the spoken text. There are also accessibility and usability rules to consider, users that might not have their audio on, and users with a hearing impairment. The best thing for e-learning content, is to have a segmented, user-driven presentation with full text on-screen, but to keep segments short, so users can skip ahead when ready.

By: Finishing My Homework as The Comment Challenge Comes To An End | Mobile Technology in TAFE

Sat, 31 May 2008 15:25:22 +0000

[...] you want to comment on. Dave included his example of following the link from Cammy Bean post to Cathy Moore post ended at Tom Kuhlmann. Dave says “Often three links out will take me to unexpected [...]

By: Anthony Media -Steve Anthony’s Voiceover Blog » An eLearning Trend?

Anthony Media -Steve Anthony’s Voiceover Blog » An eLearning Trend? — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 14:27:50 +0000

[...] an relatively active thread of responses to her blog entry called, “Addicted to Audio,” Cathy Moore writes, “I’m beginning to see an interesting trend here–it seems like [...]

By: Janaiah

Janaiah — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:13:41 +0000

I think we should mix narration and user interactivity while writing storyboards. These two are not antagonistic to each other. They should be mixed proportionately. Also, if we present narration, it is cumbersome to the learner.

By: Dave’s Whiteboard » Blog Archive » Think and do?

Dave’s Whiteboard » Blog Archive » Think and do? — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:48:58 +0000

[...] links out,” I mean following a chain of ideas and references. If Cammy Bean posts a link to Cathy Moore, Cathy’s posted a link to Tom [...]

By: Cathy Moore

Cathy Moore — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:51:16 +0000

Bruce and Chris, thanks for your comments. I’m beginning to see an interesting trend here–it seems like at least some learners want to be able to multitask while they’re going through a course. For example, Janet said, “I would rather hear some presentations and multitask rather than read it myself,” and Bruce found that most of his users didn’t like limited narration “because they couldn’t be doing something else and listening to the presentation.”

I think it would be helpful to distinguish between a presentation and and interaction.

When I “attend” an online conference, I multitask during presentations. When the presenter isn’t covering something I’m really interested in, I wander off to check email or whatever while keeping an ear on the presenter. When he or she gets into something I care about, I go back to the presentation window to see the slide and start paying more attention again.

However, if the online conference presenter asks participants lots of questions and involves us in polls, I’m much less likely to multitask, and the presentation starts to move more toward an interactive workshop.

Similarly, if elearning materials mostly deliver information, they’re more like a presentation that people can tune out until the quiz at the end. If the materials frequently ask thought-provoking questions or challenge the learner to explore something on the screen, the learners are more likely to stick around. So it’s possible that the optimal use of audio and text will be different in these different applications.

By: Bruce Ziebarth

Bruce Ziebarth — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 15:39:08 +0000

I agree that using audio narration helps the learning. I create safety trainings for schools, etc. We have tried course both ways with narration and without.

Our first round was with narration of just the slide. Although many users liked this a few did not. So our second round we tried narration that consisting of only a slide overview such as “this slide covers…”. Most of our users didn’t like that because they couldn’t be doing something else and listening to the presentation.

So now we use narration that covers the slide content and any pertinent additional information. But, does not necessarily read the slide word for word. We have received very good reviews of this approach.

We use Articulate for our trainings and attach a PDF Student Manual that gives the students the slide, any notes or additional comments, a transcript of any questions used during knowledge checks and a glossary. We find users like to have this as a reference document.

By: Chris @ eQuixotic

Chris @ eQuixotic — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:48:16 +0000

Personally, I’m a big fan of narrated eLearning. From my perspective, if you want me to read a bunch of text, just send me a Word document or PDF already! Many of my customers seem to agree – they love our narrated Articulate stuff, they dislike our HTML text-based page-turners created in our LMS.

Being a fast reader, I hate the cumbersome nature of eLearning navigation for a text-only course. Read two paragraphs, click button. Read more two paragraphs, click button. I find myself just clicking the button to blow through the tedious thing as quickly as possible.

Why not split the difference? Provide a text document for the heavy reading, then follow it up with a narrated (and spirited) overview of the material with some learning games?

By: Making Change » Join the conversation!

Making Change » Join the conversation! — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 03:18:07 +0000

[...] Addicted to audio? and Should we narrate on-screen text? 31 comments [...]