Using Audio

Illustrate audio use online

Imagine how much more engaging lessons can be if sound is included. E.g., narration can be added to any web page. You could even include music within your lessons if you find it useful. (E.g., here's an embedded MIDI). But before you think about adding audio to your lessons, you need to consider a few things to determine whether the instructional value will be worth the investment of time and bandwidth.

Some compression is usually required

Sound files are considerably larger than comparable text files. Compression formats such as MP3 have finally made it possible to add narration & sound to any web page. MP3 is a good choice since it's widely supported. WAV's will play in any Windows environment, but they tend to be at least 10 times larger in file size. Here's an example of using an embedded WAV for demonstrating the pronunciation of a new term.

"How can I do this?" you say. Well, if you are so brave as to make it this far in this course, maybe you don't mind cutting and pasting a bit of HTML...

This snippet would tell your student's browser to call up its associated plug-in program and play it when PLAY is pressed. You can fiddle with these parameters for different effects.

Now, if this is too much gibberish for you, here's another method to try: Just make a "Link to File" using Blackboard. Assuming your students' computers and browsers are set up to handle sound files (in this case, WAV format), then this simple method usually works.

Here's what your link to file will look like (and how it will behave) in BlackBoard: Link to File. Click on the link to see if your computer is set up to play WAV files. If you prefer using HTML, here's the markup to use: <a href="sounds/isosceles11-8.wav">Link to File</a>.

The plug-in problem

Even though MP3 is now widely used on the Internet, you may still want to be cautious with its use. Audio files require helper or plug-in programs to play in your students' browsers. If your students' computers are not set up properly to handle audio, then of course your lessons will be without sound. There are many situations where a computer may not play sound properly. E.g., some students may not even have speakers, or if they do, they may not be plugged in correctly. Some students' audio mixers may be set to mute the speakers. The list goes on....

Another use of plug-ins currently exists with Shockwave, Flash, and similar movie files. If you know how to create these presentations, then you likely will want to display these in your lessons. Of course, as with MP3 use, it will be imperative that your students have the appropriate player plug-ins and hardware to support them. Also note that you will likely need to package your file(s) before uploading so that they will work. Please see module 3 (Advanced Content Entry) for details on how to do this.

[ Back ] [ Next ]

Using Audio

Some compression is usually required

The plug-in problem

Advanced Bb Online © 2002-2003 MATC -Madison Area Technical College