6 Free Audio Editors for Your E-Learning Courses

Even though many elearning applications have their own audio tools, I usually don’t use them. I may for quick projects, but generally, I like to keep my audio production separate from my elearning course production. It provides more control over the audio files and dedicated audio editing software tends to have more features.

Here’s a list of some free audio editors that are more than sufficient for what you may need for most of your elearning course production. And the price is right.

Of course, working with audio isn’t necessarily as easy as plugging in a microphone and recording narration. So I included links to the free software’s learning community to help you if you have detailed questions.

Audacity is probably the most popular of the free audio editors. It’s open source with lots of users so that means there’s a lot of help available online. You can do quick basic recording or use the more advanced features for better audio editing.

The interface for this is familiar and pretty easy to use to get started. As they say, it’s “easy to use, fast and functional audio editor. It is the ideal software for people who need to edit and analyze audio files without complications.”

 

There’s a free and pro version. This is a nice application and probably a bit more sophisticated than what most of us are used to using. However, once you learn to use it you’ll have a lot you can do.

This is an online tool. The start page is a bit different than you might expect. To create a recording you click “new document.” This opens up an easy to use recording window. It is online and you can save to Google Drive.

I do like the ability to download and edit audio from Soundcloud.

I just took a quick look at the free audio editor so I can’t speak to how easy it is to use. However, I know that there are a few blog readers who use it. Here’s how Wavosaur describes the tool: “a cool free sound editor, audio editor, wav editor software for editing, processing and recording sounds, wav and mp3 files. The program has no installer and doesn’t write in the registry. Use it as a free mp3 editor, for mastering, sound design.”

This is another application I haven’t used yet, but was told about at a recent conference. It does bit perfect editing which apparently is important if you don’t want a corrupted dither; and who wants that?

There are a lot more free audio editors out there, but these are the ones I’ve personally used hear the most about from blog readers. And they’re not tied to non-commercial or freemium business models. That means you’re free to use them for the courses you produce at work.

Do you use a different free audio editor than the ones listed above? Feel free to share in the comments below.

*image via commons.wikimedia.org

Vancouver & Toronto Workshops: We’re planning a couple of workshops in Toronto & Vancouver. If you’re interested, let us know. Click here for more details. January 28-29 (London, UK). I’ll be at Learning Technologies, swing by the Articulate booth #42 to say “Hi.” January 30 (London, UK). Doing a couple of seminars on building interactive elearning. Click here to register. February 10 & 11 (Omaha, NE). Sign up for one day or both:
Day 1: How to Build Interactive E-Learning 
Day 2: Use Articulate Storyline to Build Interactive E-Learning March 10 & 11 (Phoenix, AZ). Registration page coming soon.
Day 1: How to Build Interactive E-Learning with Articulate Storyline
Day 2: Articulate Storyline Brainteasers March 25-27 (Orlando, FL). Learning Solutions. Swing by the Articulate booth to say “Hello.”April 15 & 16 (Chicago, IL). Details coming soon. May 17-20 (Orlando, FL). ATD International Conference & Expo. Swing by the Articulate booth to say “Hello.” June 3 & 4 (San Francisco, CA). Registration page coming soon.
Day 1: Learn to Create Your Own E-Learning Assets
Day 2: Use Storyline to Build Interactive E-LearningOther locations include: Philadelphia, Portland, Atlanta, Vancouver, and Toronto.

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Language courses

 

General and Professional French Courses
The next session will take place from 5 May to 11 July 2014.
These courses are open to all persons working on the CERN site, and to their spouses.
For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our Web pages: http://hr-training.web.cern.ch/hr-training/ or contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (kerstin.fuhrmeister@cern.ch).

Oral Expression
This course is aimed for students with a good knowledge of French who want to enhance their speaking skills.
Speaking activities will include discussions, meeting simulations, role-plays etc.
Suitable candidates should contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (70896) in order to arrange an appointment for a test.
The next session will take place from 5 May to 11 July 2014.

Writing professional documents in French
These courses are designed for non-French speakers with a very good standard of spoken French.
Suitable candidates should contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (70896) in order to arrange an appointment for a test.
The next session will take place from 5 May to 11 July 2014.

 

View the original article here

Management and Communication courses – Places available

  Please note that there are some places available on the following management and communication courses starting in September or October.

For more information on the course, click on the course title, which will take you to the training catalogue. You can then sign up on line. 

CourseNext sessionDurationLanguageAvailability15 September
9 October
7 November 

View the original article here

Personal Development and Communication courses

  Please find below the list of courses in the field of Personal Development and Communication which are scheduled before the end of July.

In addition, the following courses are scheduled in French:

For more details about a course and to register, please go to the Training Catalogue.

If you need a course which is not in the catalogue, please contact your supervisor, your Departmental Training Officer or HR-LD at Communication.Training@cern.ch.

 

View the original article here

Technical management courses (before July)

  Please find below the courses in the field of technical management scheduled before July and which have places available.

For more details about a course and to register, please go to the Training Catalogue.

If you need a course which is not in the catalogue, please contact your supervisor, your Departmental Training Officer or HR-LD at Technical.Management.Training@cern.ch.

 

View the original article here

Language courses

 

General and Professional French Courses
The next session will take place from 5 May to 11 July 2014.
These courses are open to all persons working on the CERN site, and to their spouses.
For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our Web pages: http://hr-training.web.cern.ch/hr-training/ or contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (kerstin.fuhrmeister@cern.ch).

Oral Expression
This course is aimed for students with a good knowledge of French who want to enhance their speaking skills.
Speaking activities will include discussions, meeting simulations, role-plays etc.
Suitable candidates should contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (70896) in order to arrange an appointment for a test.
The next session will take place from 5 May to 11 July 2014.

Writing professional documents in French
These courses are designed for non-French speakers with a very good standard of spoken French.
Suitable candidates should contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (70896) in order to arrange an appointment for a test.
The next session will take place from 5 May to 11 July 2014.

 

View the original article here

Technical management courses (before July)

  Please find below the courses in the field of technical management scheduled before July and which have places available.

For more details about a course and to register, please go to the Training Catalogue.

If you need a course which is not in the catalogue, please contact your supervisor, your Departmental Training Officer or HR-LD at Technical.Management.Training@cern.ch.

 

View the original article here

Language courses

 

General and Professional French Courses
The next session will take place from 5 May to 11 July 2014.
These courses are open to all persons working on the CERN site, and to their spouses.
For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our Web pages: http://hr-training.web.cern.ch/hr-training/ or contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (kerstin.fuhrmeister@cern.ch).

Oral Expression
This course is aimed for students with a good knowledge of French who want to enhance their speaking skills.
Speaking activities will include discussions, meeting simulations, role-plays etc.
Suitable candidates should contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (70896) in order to arrange an appointment for a test.
The next session will take place from 5 May to 11 July 2014.

Writing professional documents in French
These courses are designed for non-French speakers with a very good standard of spoken French.
Suitable candidates should contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (70896) in order to arrange an appointment for a test.
The next session will take place from 5 May to 11 July 2014.

 

View the original article here

Management and communication courses – Places available

  Please note that there are some places available on the following management and communication courses starting in September or October.

For more information on the course, click on the course title, which will take you to the training catalogue. You can then sign up on line. 

CourseNext sessionDurationLanguageAvailability15 September
9 October
7 November 

View the original article here

Language courses

 

General and Professional French Courses
The next session will take place from 5 May to 11 July 2014.
These courses are open to all persons working on the CERN site, and to their spouses.
For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our Web pages: http://hr-training.web.cern.ch/hr-training/ or contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (kerstin.fuhrmeister@cern.ch).

Oral Expression
This course is aimed for students with a good knowledge of French who want to enhance their speaking skills.
Speaking activities will include discussions, meeting simulations, role-plays etc.
Suitable candidates should contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (70896) in order to arrange an appointment for a test.
The next session will take place from 5 May to 11 July 2014.

Writing professional documents in French
These courses are designed for non-French speakers with a very good standard of spoken French.
Suitable candidates should contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (70896) in order to arrange an appointment for a test.
The next session will take place from 5 May to 11 July 2014.

 

View the original article here

Personal Development and Communication courses

  Please find below the list of courses in the field of Personal Development and Communication which are scheduled before the end of July.

In addition, the following courses are scheduled in French:

For more details about a course and to register, please go to the Training Catalogue.

If you need a course which is not in the catalogue, please contact your supervisor, your Departmental Training Officer or HR-LD at Communication.Training@cern.ch.

 

View the original article here

Management and communication courses – Places available

  Please note that there are some places available on the following management and communication courses starting in September or October.

For more information on the course, click on the course title, which will take you to the training catalogue. You can then sign up on line. 

CourseNext sessionDurationLanguageAvailability15 September
9 October
7 November 

View the original article here

Technical management courses (before July)

  Please find below the courses in the field of technical management scheduled before July and which have places available.

For more details about a course and to register, please go to the Training Catalogue.

If you need a course which is not in the catalogue, please contact your supervisor, your Departmental Training Officer or HR-LD at Technical.Management.Training@cern.ch.

 

View the original article here

Language courses

 

General and Professional French Courses
The next session will take place from 5 May to 11 July 2014.
These courses are open to all persons working on the CERN site, and to their spouses.
For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our Web pages: http://hr-training.web.cern.ch/hr-training/ or contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (kerstin.fuhrmeister@cern.ch).

Oral Expression
This course is aimed for students with a good knowledge of French who want to enhance their speaking skills.
Speaking activities will include discussions, meeting simulations, role-plays etc.
Suitable candidates should contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (70896) in order to arrange an appointment for a test.
The next session will take place from 5 May to 11 July 2014.

Writing professional documents in French
These courses are designed for non-French speakers with a very good standard of spoken French.
Suitable candidates should contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (70896) in order to arrange an appointment for a test.
The next session will take place from 5 May to 11 July 2014.

 

View the original article here

Personal Development and Communication courses

  Please find below the list of courses in the field of Personal Development and Communication which are scheduled before the end of July.

In addition, the following courses are scheduled in French:

For more details about a course and to register, please go to the Training Catalogue.

If you need a course which is not in the catalogue, please contact your supervisor, your Departmental Training Officer or HR-LD at Communication.Training@cern.ch.

 

View the original article here

Management and communication courses – Places available

  Please note that there are some places available on the following management and communication courses starting in September or October.

For more information on the course, click on the course title, which will take you to the training catalogue. You can then sign up on line. 

CourseNext sessionDurationLanguageAvailability15 September
9 October
7 November 

View the original article here

Want to Build Better Courses? Then Do This.

I facilitate a lot of elearning workshops and from my experience most of the people who attend are just getting started. Generally the transition to elearning happens like this. They’re good at explaining things and go from explainer to trainer. Then somewhere in the process the organization says that they’re switching to online learning.

Now the trainer has to make another transition as she goes from creating and facilitating workshops to building elearning courses. And as we know, building an online training course is different than creating a facilitated live session.

So the challenge is: How do I learn and get better at building online training especially when working with limited resources?

If you’re just getting started, don’t worry about being perfect. The first online course I ever built was a mess (as I look back on it today). I was teaching people who had never been online how to navigate this new thing called the “World Wide Web.” What should have been a fun course full of discovery was a long-winded, information-heavy course. I made learning about the Internet about as fun as doing taxes.

But that’s OK. I received some good feedback and the next course was a little bit better. And with each one that followed I tried something new. Over time I learned to build better elearning. You only know what you know. Do the best you can, and then learn from it to get better at what you do.

Essential point: You’ve got to start somewhere. Do something with the expectation that the next time you’ll incorporate what you learned to build it a bit better.

If you want to be good at something, you have to practice. Building courses is a job and we usually only commit to the job what’s required to get our paychecks. That means we work from 9 to 5 and at the end of the day, we’re done. The challenge is that during the 9 to 5 we only work on projects and have little time to practice.

Great athletes start with natural athletic skills. But what makes them great is that they start with their skills and practice, practice, practice to build on where they’re currently at. If they didn’t they’d never be exceptional.

If you want to be good at your craft, you have to practice doing more than building the same type of course over and over again. Build practice activities into your routine as part of your on-the-job development. Tell your boos it’s cheaper than going to school.

Essential point: Take time to practice building something new. Practice new instructional ideas and production techniques you can add to your next course.

This part is a bit harder, but pays off big time. Start a blog or portfolio. The goal isn’t to become a recognized blogger with lots of subscribers (although that could be a goal). Instead it’s your public learning journal and a means to reflect on and share what you’re learning.

This will let you solicit feedback and get ideas to help build better courses. It also helps the person like you who wants to learn more. If we want better elearning, we need fewer blogs from thought leaders who throw out big picture ideas and more from practitioners who share practical tips and tricks.

Essential point: Writing about your learning experience will help you and those like you to become better developers. It’ll also add your voice to the community at large.

Every week, David Anderson posts a simple elearning challenge. The idea is to promote exactly what I referenced above—practice doing something new to help build your skills.

It’s all about fleshing out some ideas, sharing them, and getting feedback. Most people develop simple prototypes but some put in a bit more polish. It doesn’t matter what you do, just do something to push your boundaries a bit. That’s the key.

Essential point: The weekly challenges are happening now and an easy way to get into the habit of trying new things. That saves time trying to come up with different ideas and helps establish a routine of practice.

There are a few who take the challenge one step forward by including a write up of what they did. What I like about these posts is that the participants are at various levels of experience. Some are just getting started and some have quite a wealth of experience. Not only do they share some nice examples, they also often share good production tips and some even share their source files.

Create a Comic Book Inspired Course via Paul Anders

Gamify Your E-Learning via Jackie Van Nice

Typography Challenge: Create a Design Tip Poster via Gemma Henderson

Create a Drag & Drop Interaction via Dan Sweigert

Use Characters in Online Courses via Montse Anderson

Makeover a Quiz Results Slide via Jeff Kortenbosch

Build an Interactive Screenshot via Allison Nederveld

Build an Interactive Screenshot via Michael Hinze

Odds are you’re building the same course over and over again. That won’t do. Want to build better courses? If so, commit the time to learn something new and apply what you learn.

What do you do to improve your skills? Share your thoughts here.

May 20 & 21: Fargo, ND (ASTD). Sign up for one or both days here.
Day 1: PowerPoint for E-Learning
Day 2: Build Interactive E-Learning with Articulate Storyline

June 11 & 12: Lincoln (ASTD). Sign up for one or both days here.
Day 1: PowerPoint’s No Longer a Slideshow Freak
Day 2: Getting Started with Articulate Studio ‘13.

October: Dallas (ASTD). Details coming.

More to follow.

Post written by Tom Kuhlmann

View the original article here

Why are some public universities charging more for online courses?

Overheads constitute almost 50% of campus-based operational costs

Haynie, D. (2103) U.S. News Data: Online Education Isn’t Always Cheap, August 28

What

This report caught my eye: A 2013 survey conducted by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the Learning House, which will be published this October and involved 400 public universities, concluded that :

more than 60 percent charged the same tuition for face-to-face courses as they charged for online courses. Thirty-six percent of the schools charged more for online tuition.

This was also backed up by a USNews survey of 300 public universities. 

The average per credit, in-state cost for an online bachelor’s program is $277, compared with $243 per credit at brick-and-mortar schools.

I’m also aware that some Canadian institutions also have a premium fee or an additional charge for the online version of a face-to-face credit course.

Why

According to Susan Aldridge, a senior fellow at AASCU:

The courses cost more to develop, take more time to develop and take more time for the faculty to teach. In order for students to succeed in these online courses, 24/7 technical support, reference librarians, writing labs, automated degree plans and tutoring need to be available.

And Ray Schroeder adds:

schools often have to train their faculty to teach effectively on online platforms – an expensive, ongoing endeavor

Really?

Online learning costs more than classroom teaching? Not in my experience. Once again, it depends: on how you cost programs, on how you design your online courses, and how you deliver your face-to-face classes.

John Ebersole, president of Excelsior College, believes that online education is cheaper for colleges to provide because they don’t have to invest in creating or maintaining facilities. Those savings, he said, should outweigh the cost of any initial investment in technology.

If my online students aren’t going to take advantage of the cafeteria, going to the student union, participating in the extracurricular activities and we don’t have the building costs, why isn’t it cheaper?

In other words, the overheads are lower for online teaching than they are for classroom teaching – and since overheads constitute almost 50% of operational costs on a campus-based university, this is a significant factor.

And Ray says:

Most faculty members come prepared to teach face-to-face. They need substantial training and support in order to teach effectively. It’s not a one-time training.

Sorry, Ray, the first part of your statement is the problem. Many faculty do NOT come properly prepared to teach face-to-face. In fact what we are doing is expecting a lower standard for face-to-face teaching by not preparing them properly, while having to do it for online instructors.

In essence, online learning changes the cost structure of teaching. It does need more start-up investment and so there is a cost of change. If you have small online class numbers, it probably will cost more to go online. However, if you have too many students to accommodate on campus, going online will reduce your costs per student and there are some economies of scale as online enrollments increase. This is why it’s important for institutions to track the costs not only of going online, but the real cost of their campus-based classes, including overheads and faculty development (or lack of it).

Lastly, even if online learning is more expensive for the institution (which it needn’t be) there is an equity issue here. Why should students pay more for the same end-product just because it is packaged differently?

What do you think?

Does your institution charge more for online credit courses? If so, why?

View the original article here