Week 7 Reflection

A Pep Talk From Captain America

This week we got to play around with audio editing software.  I was given a choice between Garage Band, Adobe Sound Booth, and Audacity for my audio software.  I have a Mac and an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, but in the end I chose Audacity because it was platform agnostic.  I have to say, creating this audio file opened up a new world for me!

The audio file itself was a mashup of an old Captain America speech I loved where he quoted Mark Twain while giving an inspirational pep-talk to Spider-Man.  I've always been a comic geek, and as an Army veteran, Captain America has always been one of the purest examples of a superhero to me. I had some military-style drumbeats playing in the background as I read his speech.  It was a blast to throw together.

It was pure coincidence, but I was recently forwarded a TED Talks podcast and listened to it on the way to work a few days earlier this week.  I was amazed at how the presentation jumped from the interviewer talking to the guest, to the actual live presentation of the speaker, to the music and sound effects used whenever the presenter told a story.  It was so different from the normal geeky technology podcasts I listen to every morning!  That immediately got me thinking.

Audio-only instruction can be a great benefit for teaching and learning.  In my line of work, it's very hard to get advisors who are always on the road working with their clients to set an hour aside to attend a class.  This is the kind of just-in-time learning that makes it possible to reach a large section of learners regardless of their individual schedules.  If the audio is presented in an engaging and entertaining manner, the material will be easier to absorb.  Potential issues with the use of audio can include equipment and time limitations.  The equipment limitations apply to both educator and learner.  The educator needs mics and a room to record in, as well as a computer with the software he/she needs to build the audio with.  The learner needs to be able to play the audio.  That means they need to have an mp3 or dvd player to listen to the recording.  The time limitation refers to the additional amount of time needed to build the recording.  In addition to sitting with the speakers in a room for an hour, I'll now need to spend another hour or two throwing everything together, and this doesn't even include the time I'll spend setting up the equipment.  

The most helpful aspect of using audio-only instruction is that it's accessible almost anywhere.  If you have a smartphone, you probably have access to the podcast.  You can stream a podcast live or you can download it for listening later, and because it's a recording, you can listen any time you're free.  The big difference between using audio versus using images or text in my instruction, as I've done the last couple of weeks, is that it's extra important to make the audio engaging, since there are no other elements to catch the listener's attention.  That means breaking the audio up into manageable chunks and pacing it appropriately.

Despite these potential issues, however, I really think I've got a great idea on my hands.  Just this Friday I had my 2016 training calendar brainstorming session with my boss and I pitched the idea of using podcasts to reach out to our advisors on the road.  We could pre-record the classes, many in an interview/discussion type of format, use music to separate different sections, and maybe even have an "advertisement" or two inviting the listener to view our LMS for more available classes.  He loved it!  We're going to pilot the idea with one of our business lines, but if it works, we'll start presenting it to our other teams.  Very exciting!