Using voice online.

One of the supposed drawbacks of online and web-based delivery has been that it disadvantages people with literacy difficulties, or those who simply don’t enjoy text based environments.

Considerable progress is being made in using voice/ audio online.  George Siemens tips for the future suggested  VIOP would be the key technology in 2004 ( www.elearnspace.org). This brief article explores some examples of how voice / audio can be used to enhance online delivery of courses and to collaborate more efficiently and comfortably using online.

The first example is Compu.ed online audio conference room this facility is run by a member of the AFLC Geoffrey Kaye and enables large and small audio conferencing online.

The online audio conferencing facility which requires no special equipment or software.   It can be run using simple 56K dialup modem and is therefore available to anyone with an Internet connection. There are no set up costs or commitment.

It is ideal for language learning (LOTE and ESL). It is particularly useful for rural and remote schools, TAFEs or community education centres as it allows students to communicate using voice, text and document sharing with peers from more technologically rich  institutions. 

Check out the facility at www.compued.com.au/conference
Password: ( your name)@guest

Target audience is ‘everyone and anyone’, but rural and remote users in particular benefit from this system.  Compu.ed specialises in reading, literacy and language resources for school children so this virtual classroom is a natural extension of their services.

It is also a quite secure system which has broad appeal. It is also worth considering for dispersed project teams or conference calls as an alternative to conventional teleconferencing with file sharing and interactive whiteboard available. You do need to have a set of headphones and a microphone, and it can be a comfortable cost effective way of group communication.

For more information about the costs associated with the system or for a demonstration contact Geoffrey Kaye.

Email: gkaye@compued.com.au
Phone: (08)9322 5617
Address: 22/1260 Hay St, West Perth WA 6005

Another example is a product  called audiograph from New Zealand software developers.

This product enables teachers to create a voice over presentation. It is an example of a product that builds on the strengths of conventional teaching methods such as lecture format. Using this tool a lecturer can create their own audio to accompany lecture notes quite simply and easily. The suppliers suggest 10 minutes- I’d say a better quality product might take considerably longer than that.

AudioGraph - publishes web multimedia for eLearning quickly and easily. AudioGraph Professional version will also generate fully interactive presentations, including quizzes. Any presentation is a sequence of:

2-D vector graphics using simple drawing tools, recorded sound, images, text and handwriting, animations using images or vector graphics

links for interaction, personalisation and quizzes. This give an individual teacher considerable control over developing their own multimedia learning objects.

 It offers:

• one-click publish to the web with small footprint web sites modem-speed downloads
  plays as it downloads

You will need to download the audiograph plug  in to view the demonstrations at the site.

Alistair Moffat,( Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering,

The University of Melbourne) said that he finds Audiograph easy to use and  creates quick and straight forward presentations so that students can view them time after time. He also commented that it enables the department to support diversity, not just for student learning preferences but also for diverse groups of teachers- showcasing women in engineering for example.

Some  more audiograph examples can be found at http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/171/audiograph/  and Alistair can be contacted by email alistair@cs.mu.oz.au

Also, watch out for Michael Coghlan’s final report on his flexible learning leader investigations into using voice. So far it seems that he’s found that  the potential for voice is largely untapped by organized courseware developers but that there is  vibrant voice online community.

You can find to more and connect with Michael through the community of voice online enthusiasts at http://home.learningtimes.net/learningtimes or the FLL site http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/leaders/fl_leaders/fll03/michael_coghlan.htm

There are a range of other sites  and products- what ones have you used and found valuable?