Audio’s Effectiveness in the E-Learning Environment

1. Audio’s Effectiveness in the E-Learning Environment WIKI PART 2

2. Audio in the E-Learning Environment • Presenting words in audio coupled with graphics, rather than on-screen text, results in significant learning gains

3. The Cognitive Theory of Learning • People have separate information processing channels for visual/pictorial processing and auditory/verbal processing • Graphics and text process in the same channel and must compete for some limited visual attention • Presenting verbal explanations limits the load on the visual channel

4. Why Include Audio? • When presented with text that is explaining attached graphics creates an overload on the visual/pictorial channel • The channel has to process both the text and the graphics • An overload on the visual channel can be avoided by replacing the text with an audio narration • E-Learning courses should avoid overloading when possible

5. Why? Continued… • Audio narrations give the learner the opportunity to view the graphic and listen to the explanation simultaneously using two different channels in the brain • This prevents an overloading of both channels • According to studies taken by Clark & Mayer (2008) when words were spoken explaining graphics rather than printed explanations only, students performed at a much higher rate

6. Audio is Effective The Modality Effect • People learn more deeply from multimedia lessons when words explaining concurrent graphics are presented as speech rather than as on-screen text • For example this colony development graphic should be presented as speech instead of text only

7. Audio is Most Effective When… • The material being presented is complex and moving at a fast rate • Only when using text and graphics together

8. References Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2008). E-Learning and the science of instruction: Proven guidelines for consumer and designer of multimedia learning. (2nd ed.) San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.