A Guide to Producing Audio Only Digital Learning Resources

Section Title Introduction 1 Getting Started: Creating Digital Audio Only Learning Materials 2 Quick List of Dos and Donts for Audio Only Resources 3 Copyright 4 Why Digital? 5 What Resources Do You Need To Create Digital Audio? 6 Computers for Audio 7 Presentation and Delivery of Audio Only Resources 8 Audio Only Learning Resources on a Network or via the Internet 9 Storing Your Audio Only Resources.

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Introduction This guide is intended as a basic 'How To' for those wishing to create audio only learning materials in a digital format. It clearly lays out the basics of such issues as copyright, choosing equipment, playing digital audio, delivery of audio to users, common dos and donts and also a basic introduction to data management and preservation. It is not intended to be an exhaustive guide. It will almost certainly be necessary for you as the resource creator to consult additional more specialised sources according to your particular needs and the RSC would be happy to assist in your search. Perhaps the first thing anyone proposing to create audio only learning resources should consider is the scale of the task you are thinking of undertaking. Hopefully this guide should help get you started, and although the sections may be read and used as self-contained units, it might be an idea to initially read the entire guide to acquire an understanding of the main issues; this could even save you time and money later.

A Guide to Producing Audio Only Digital Learning Resources

David Rowe September 2012

1) Getting Started: Creating Digital Audio Only Learning Materials Planning: Before doing any recording you should of course plan in detail what you are going to do including: What do you want to achieve? o Do you for example want to offer your learners an alternative resource to support any aspect special educational needs. o Do you want to provide your learners with a mainstream resource as an alternative to other forms of delivery e.g. paper based? Whichever you chose will of course have a profound effect on the resources and time required to create the materials. For example: What areas/qualifications are the resources going to cover? o Do you want to cover just the vital aspects of a particular qualification o Do you want to create materials which cover many qualifications e.g. Health & Safety or an induction package to all your qualifications? o Do you want to create materials which cover all aspects of a particular qualification or eventually create materials which cover all aspects of all the qualifications you deliver? Many organisations start slowly by creating a small resource to trial with learners and staff, this is a sensible route to take as those concerned can learn by trial and error feeding in any lessons learnt as further resources are created.

Equipment: Many organisations already have equipment suitable for creating audio only resources it may just be a case of getting this altogether, if not: Equipment requirements? o What equipment do you have and what equipment do you need? o Take advice from as many sources as possible including your JISC-RSC and the JISC service JISC Digital Media (www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk) as many will have done before and their experience could help you avoid common pitfalls o Have you the financial resources to purchase the required equipment, if not consider changing the type of equipment to perhaps less high tech versions, at least this will result in the creation of a resource which can be used to persuade others of the value of creating more. o If you have purchased equipment, is it all ready to go? o Do you have to train anyone o Location? is this going to be done during lesson delivery, or are studio like facilities available where the quality of the sound can be controlled.

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Voice Assets: The suitability of any voice used to create audio only resources is a bit of a black art as, many seemingly suitable voices will be actively resisted if not rejected by listeners for a variety of reasons based largely on the listeners perception of the voices suitability in terms of age, gender, skill area, voice delivery, pitch the ability to imply confidence etc. Voice assets - Have you auditioned them? o Why audition? To ensure that whoever you use is an effective communicator o To ensure the voice asset does not have any potentially annoying idiosyncrasies Ending a phrase on the up note which appears to pose a question Stumbling style Talking too fast Not using the script to engender a good rhythm Lack of confidence A good voice asset will be able to impart information in a relaxed style with no hint of nervousness, appear to be in charge of the information, be able to create an appropriate speech rhythm and be possessed of a voice pitch and depth deemed appropriate for the sector. All of these can of course be confirmed by any initial trialing.

Writing Scripts: This is not as straightforward an activity as initial thoughts may indicate. For example, taking text from a textbook and recording it to turn it into learning material rarely works. Apart from the copyright issues of recording the work of others, the text has been written to be read not spoken. As an experiment why not record a short paragraph of text and replay it to yourself, does this come across as a useful e-learning experience? When creating the scripts for audio only learning materials for the skills sector, there are a number of things to establish: Do your likely script writers have the skills Get them to produce an example? From the examples how many of your proposed script writers need training? Have the examples been written for speech? Have you considered the advantages of storyboarding the scripts? This gives the script writer a structure to work to. A guide to Creating Storyboards is available from http://www.jiscrsc.ac.uk/southwest Timescale Do you know what should be ready by when, in other words do you have a production schedule?

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Primary User Group: Have you in your planning process identified the requirements of your primary user group in terms of: Access to the resources Applicability to their qualification Have you for example covered all the main aspects of the underpinning knowledge required or just 50 or 60% of them? If this is the case is there a process in place to make the learner aware of this? Have you explored who is going to trial the resources? Which staff members are to be involved with trialing?

Final Check: Working from your plan have you: Sourced all the necessary resources and equipment? Have you learnt how to use this equipment and tested it? Do the voice assets know how to use the equipment? Have the scripts been proof read? Have the voice assets had a chance to rehearse? Do you have a production schedule?

The Recording Process: If you have all of the above you can move onto setting up the recording process: This will involve setting up audio equipment and connections for recording and listening, and organising source materials (scripts) to make the process hassle-free. Monitoring: It is important to be able to hear what is going on throughout the digitisation process. Do you have a process whereby you can listen to the resources as they are recorded and edit them if required? Have you planned an organising process? This is to facilitate the smooth flow of the recording process by organising source materials and other resources. Listing these resources their timings and linking them into all the resources required for a particular module of chapter is a good idea. Working with common media: It is almost always a good idea to minimise the chance of confusion by working with all resources of a specific type in turn rather than jump between resources of different types.

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Further Activities Documenting audio resources: This is sometimes referred to as Metadata and it may include the kind of information found in a library catalogue, a listing in a publication or in the booklet of a CD the resource came from. If you are creating your own resources it is always a good idea to create a naming convention and stick to it as this will form the basis of your own metadata. This kind of individual identification will enable you to keep track of the resources location and enable others to find the resource if necessary. Creating metadata can be a very simple process, over complication can lead to excessive costs; therefore the creation of metadata should have a place within your initial planning process.

E-commerce: If you hope to be able to charge for access to any resources you create in the future it will be necessary to include information about charging levels and other restrictions in the planning process.

Digital Preservation: have you been clear about the format and file size of any resource you have created, have you included details of its original encoding format and of any subsequent reencoding or migration to new software as may prove increasingly difficult to preserve the resource for future use if not. More information is Sections 7 & 8.

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2) Quick List of Dos and Donts for Audio Only Resources Do: Dont:
Plan what you want to do in some detail What are you going to record? Who will write the scripts? What areas of learning/qualifications will the material cover? How will the material be distributed? Ensure your target audience will be able to use the resources Research your own resources in terms of suitable voices sometime the most unlikely sources produce the best voice quality Explore the writing ability of colleagues as their contribution can ensure the materials are relevant to them and their learners and keep costs down As far as possible record in a repeatable and consistent environment i.e. to avoid the recording of extraneous noises (phones ringing, people talking as they walk past) Rehearse your recordings and voices to avoid the common pitfalls of verbal stumbles resulting from unfamiliarity with the material. Ensure you have access to the required skills Record anything until you have planned what you are going to produce and established how it will be used and received.

Rely on using just any voice, chose voices which are appropriate to the audience Attempt to record formal learning material in a public place unless the material is meaningless without it Take the content of scripts at face value, always check the facts using systems like peer review

Accept poor quality audio from any source, it is possible to clean up poor audio but best to avoid the need

Make it up as you go along, this invariably results in poor quality audio and therefore poor quality learning material Always proof read scripts more than once and if possible get colleagues to do so If recording a connected series of information Attempt to create audio learning materials like the exemplar Fitness Instructor materials, direct i.e. without a script, as this leads to always keep the voice for each voice part inconsistencies and possibly the need to reconsistent to avoid confusing the listener record if important aspects are omitted. At an early stage check that the voices you plan Produce all the material and then load it onto to use are suitable for the target audience your distribution system, produce an example preferably by recording a range of voices and and trial it with your colleagues and learners gathering feedback from the proposed audience first, before going back to produce the main resource with any modifications based on real feedback Always plan to provide a range of formats to Produce just one format and hope it meets all account for the different needs of your learners your learners needs Invest in quality microphones and recording Rely on poor equipment as this can be false equipment this can save an awful lot of wasted economy and will normally result in a poor effort quality audio resource, which may mean going back to re-record all or part of the resource

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Do:
Always have a backup system in case of microphone failure, etc.

Dont:
Record the entire session in one take, this will leave a large unweildy file to export and it is better to record each scenario separately to ensure good organisation and management of the audio files Just use any old music, think about how it supports the purpose of the audio or learning point and not how it sounds Go through the entire session without checking/testing the audio levels and that the recording equipment is working

When using any incidental music in the background or sound effects, make sure that they are copyright cleared first before using them. Record a test run to ensure the equipment and the audio levels are correct before the session

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3) Copyright If you are creating your own audio resources, you may think the copyright of this material would automatically reside with its creator i.e. you. However, this may not always be the case, as some education providers have a clause in their employment contracts stating that all or any resources created by a member of staff will automatically be deemed to be the property of the provider, unless an agreement is in place prior to their creation. This of course may or may not be a problem. As to general guidance on copyright there is a plethora of advice, guidance and support available on this important area available from the JISC RSC and other JISC services. In general if you are creating audio resources, copyright will only come into play if you need to include extracts of information from other sources or refer learners to other sources of information without the correct permissions, attributions or acknowledgements. Obtaining permission to use copyrighted material can be a time consuming and costly process, perhaps best avoided as much as possible. Creating you audio materials from scratch by writing your own scripts sounds the ideal way to avoid this completely. However, if perhaps you are creating resources based primarily on an audio version of printed materials from an outside source, it would be necessary to obtain permission to avoid any infringement of copyright. For example if you author an audio resource from your own script based on your own interpretation of the vital aspects of a subject then this would usually constitute your own work therefore the copyright resides with the author. However, if you: use existing recordings storing or archiving these in a database using them for CDs, websites and/or making them available to the public (i.e. to more than just yourself) using audio for private research or study, which is then used publically In the above cases, except for purely private research or study it will be necessary for you to gain the permission of the owner of copyright in the work before you can use the audio material. It is also worth considering the area of Intellectual Property Rights a similar are to copyright but with subtle differences. There is a host of information available on this somewhat complicated area from the JISC service JISC Legal www.jisclegal.ac.uk. 4) Why digital? Creating audio resources in a digital format allows the resource to be stored, edited and manipulated within a widely available number of formats. The move towards the widespread use of formats like MP3, has brought many benefits as opposed to the previous use of analogue based resources, which were difficult to edit, inflexible in their delivery and

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in the case of reel to reel tape degraded with each use. Unlike a digital resource which can be re-used indefinitely.

Which digital format to use is largely down to the way in which the resource will be downloaded, used or stored? The original source work should be recorded in a generic format such as WAV as this has the better editing options. The file should then be converted to MP3 and/or AAC (Apple) for distribution, especially if being downloaded directly from a VLE. If a streaming server is used, such as Reals Helix server, then it is possible for the server to encode on the fly for the demanding device. WAV will generate large digital files, this will impact on recording devices that may not have expandable memory and could affect IT systems where storage is limited and back up procedures are not fully current. If you convert a digital recording from a format such as .WAV the resulting MP3 file will be smaller in terms of storage capacity. This is because the conversion process to MP3 reduces the size of the file by removing parts of the sound from both the upper and the lower registers. The human ear does not register these sounds as well as the middle range so therefore the quality appears to our ears to be much the same. For learners with disabilities or learning difficulties other formats are available which may provide a more adaptable end result enabling the user to adapt the delivery of the content to address their disability/difficulty. Therefore it is important when creating resources to ensure that they are available in a range of formats. For example when creating audio resources it is a good idea to always have a written script prior to recording, once the recording is complete you then have a written format which can be converted into a .PDF suitable for screen readers to address some of the needs of the visually impaired There are however some pitfalls with the use of digital media; therefore its use cannot automatically mean high quality resources. A good digital recording is one which captures as much information as possible but this can mean the presence of background noise and noises off stage to use the theatrical term, for example a ringing phone or people talking as they walk past the recording location. However, there are ways to improve the quality of even the worst digital recording with the use of software programmes, which remove extraneous noise and the noises off. 5) What resources do you need to create digital audio? Audio resources can be created with a wide range of equipment, most laptops have a built in sound recorder accessed either through a built in microphone and speaker. These devices are useful but the quality can be improved vastly with the use of an external microphone and headset as these will reduce extraneous noise and produce a better voice quality as many headsets have noise cancelling microphones for use in shared office areas like call centres. The disadvantage is of course that only one voice can be recorded at a time. For multiple voices to be recorded it is a good idea to use a unidirectional microphone plugged

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into the laptops microphone socket. This will allow multiple voices to be recorded as for example simulating a meeting, but can lead to the recording of extraneous noise.

The simplest solution is to record each voice separately and then edit them together using a simple editing software package like Audacity. Also simple sound mixing decks can be bought, such as : http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/behringer-xenyx-1002premium-mixer--31556 for circa 53. These allow simultaneous multiple inputs including background audio form other digital sources, CDs tapes etc, copyright permitting.

If you are not lucky enough to have access to a recording studio as is the case with most learning providers, other devices can be equally useful, like hand held digital voice recorders. However, the equipment you will need depends on the medium of your original recordings. In general, the more sophisticated the recording the larger the file size even when using MP3. For example At 128KBpS (FM radio quality) work on 1MB of data per minute of audio. You will also need to think about how you will use the files with your learners. Will the file be stored on a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) or some other system accessible from the IT system? Will this system be accessible from outside the organisation so that learners can download the files as and when they need them?
Best to check with your IT support team about the amount of available disk storage for each system and the back system in place. If they know the content is there and doesnt need backing up every day as your work files do, they will change the schedules and probably thank you for easing the back up overhead, which is often a system limitation depending upon the method(s) in use

Time To create audio only resources does take time but in comparison with video and animation and other visual based learning materials the time taken is significantly less, in some cases taking up only 10% to 20% of the time required for the visual resources. You will however need to allow plenty of time for issues like planning what you are going to cover, writing the script and getting this proof read and checked for accuracy and any rehearsal time prior to the actual recording. Precisely how much time will be required for each facet of the creation process will vary with each individual case: for example, some projects may involve preparation of specialised equipment or the recording of the noise created when actually using a piece of equipment. Whereas other resources may use a straightforward technical setup which results in the creation of the resource without too much complication in the way of preparation.

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Skills What skills are actually required? The ability to write a coherent and meaningful script which contains the maximum of essential information and the minimum of inessential information or distracting detail is a key requirement. As is the accuracy of the information the script is based on. Organisational skills are also vital as these will allow you to pull together the different elements of the development and get colleagues to commit to the development. The level of technical skill required is actually quite low if you are working with simple portable basic equipment and possibly free audio editing software like Audacity. You may of course have these necessary skills and the technical expertise and experience to create your own highly sophisticated digital resources. If not this obviously has funding and time implications which will need to be thoroughly considered in the planning stage of your development. However, your local JISC-RSC can provide a wide range of advice, support and guidance as can the JISC services Digital Media and TechDis as evidenced by the links below: Creating an Audio Podcast: http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/audio/advice/creating-anaudio-podcast 5by5 Podcasting equipment guide 2011: http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/blog/entry/5by5-podcasting-equipment-guide-2011 The Little Guide to Making a Podcast: http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/pdf/little-guide-topodcasting.pdf Microphone Guide: http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/audio/advice/microphone-guide Basic Audio Editing : http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/audio/advice/basic-audio-editing Audio Post-Production Techniques for Spoken Word: http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/audio/advice/audio-post-production-techniques-forspoken-word/ Audacity: Introduction: http://www.jisctechdis.ac.uk/techdis/multlinkres/detail/FOSS_AudacityIntro

One final link which may be of use is: Audio tutorials: http://www.vtstutorials.ac.uk/tutorial/audio

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To summarize the previous section an audio creation project could involve all of these skills: Negotiating copyright license agreements Playback of original audio media for re-recording Sound recording of equipment, machinery etc Digital audio sampling and storing Researching available hardware platforms and software Setting up the computer Setting up audio interconnections to playback equipment Using an audio editing software package Installing audio software; learning how to use software and hardware Documentation, design and management Managing time for playing audio - converting - storing recordings mistakes - level adjustments - storage time - saving audio to disk- backing up digital files - postprocessing editing - applying noise reduction, saving edited files Organisation time - arranging files within the resource Documentation time - preparing documentation and entering data

Computers for audio To keep things simple we will focus on creating and storing digital resources as analogue recording on vinyl or tape would have to be converted and captured prior to use on any delivery device like a computer or mobile device. The following types of systems can be used with digital resources most of what has been written so far in this guide refers to digital files being used with a PC as the primary tool; however, all of the formats below have their uses. DAT: DAT uses magnetic tape to record digital information on a cassette, which though convenient is actually quite delicate; meaning that one of the disadvantages of DAT is that it is not particularly rugged and can be susceptible to mechanical failure. The main advantage of DAT is that once sound is recorded as a digital file it can be transferred to computer via a digital link. If you do decide to use DAT in this way, it is advisable to keep at least one backup version of the tape in case of failure. DAT machines are fairly straightforward to use, although a glance at the user manual is always advised. Apple Macintosh: Apple Macintosh machines are very widely used in the digital audio and arts world as they have built-in audio hardware and an internal architecture which is very efficient at handling digital audio files. The built-in audio hardware/software is probably good enough for many organisations to produce good quality audio resources; however, it does not allow for direct digital transfers, such as from DAT. For professional quality digital resources it may be best to invest in extra

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audio third party hardware which can easily be added to the computer via a USB port or a PCI cable.

PC - Microsoft Windows: Whilst Microsoft Windows operating system is widely used on IBM-compatible PC computers, the computers themselves are made by a wide range of companies and therefore vary greatly in the technical specifications. Most PCs are purchased with at least a basic sound card; however, these can and are disabled by some organisations for whatever reasons. Most basic soundcards are intended to support the use of games and music files or 'multimedia' most of these types of soundcard are not generally suitable for the production of high quality audio; however, using basic software like the sound recorder built into Windows and a basic sound card audio, resources of an acceptable quality can be produced. However, the purchase of a good quality soundcard is a worthwhile investment and one which can have benefits far beyond its purchase price in terms of versatility and the quality of the resulting outputs. There are some other functions of a PC which should also be part of your considerations, the amount of RAM for example; an absolute minimum of 128Megabytes is perhaps a good idea. The amount of hard disk storage space is a further consideration as there is nothing more annoying than have to delete something to make space of your hard disk for the resource you are creating. For example an hours worth of recording depending on the file format can easily take up 600MB of storage space. There are also other considerations which may be less vital but would support the creation of your resources in other ways, the speed of your hard drive for example. A hard drive which rotates at 10,000RPM and operates at 300MHz will help your efforts as its speed of operation will speed up your creation process. To go back to the mention of Microsoft Windows, not all instances of this system work in the same way or even well with audio resources, best perhaps to check with your technical support/supplier about the capabilities of your version of this widely used operating system. Linux Linux is a version of the Unix operating system that runs on PCs. Its major advantage over Windows is that it is free as is the majority of software bolt-ons available for it. However, support for audio under this free system can be confusing. Basically there are two systems of audio support, called OSS (open sound system) and ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture). An increasing number of soundcards support both of these different systems, but support for high-end hardware is not as comprehensive as perhaps the MAC or Windows systems. For all the above systems, you could consider the use of USB 3 external Hard Disk Drives (HDD)

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6) Presentation and Delivery of Audio Only Resources How you want your audio resources to be available to your learners and how you want to incorporate it into your learning resources as a whole will largely determine the ultimate shape of your delivery mechanism. There are of course several common ways of presenting resources to learners the most common perhaps over the last few years being via a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE); however other forms of distribution still have a valuable role to play. CD-ROM/DVDs for example. CD-ROMs or DVDs have a number of advantages: Access to the CDs can be easily controlled if that is an important factor for copyright purposes Audio files can be incorporated without needing to consider their operation of the resource over a network. Download time over the Internet is not a factor Placing your audio files on a CD or DVD means that full-bandwidth uncompressed sound can be used (for instance in the form of 'wav' files), achieving maximum sound quality if that is important. Materials presented on CD-ROM can be organised and constructed in the same way as websites, so they could for example mirror the delivery of a VLE Ease of use if programmes run automatically when the CD is inserted into the computer CDs and DVDs are cheap and easy to re-produce for example stand alone CD/DVD copiers which will create up to 9 copies from a master are available now for as little as 400.

CD-ROMs and DVDs also have a number of disadvantages: CDs are a physical medium: they have production costs, they take up space, CDs need to be physically delivered to users. Copies may need to be tracked in order to ensure their return, perhaps through your library loan system. CDs have generous but necessarily limited storage capacity, so the amount of audio you can present is limited to the CDs capacity which is approximately 700 MB, orf up to 8.4GB with a DVD. DVDs have more storage capacity but again this is finite In most cases once created CDs and DVDs cannot be updated. This limits the lifespan of the CD if the resource is likely to be subject to ongoing development or updating.

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7) Audio Only Learning Resources on a Network or via the Internet The advantages of presenting a resource via a network or the web are: The resource is highly accessible to any learner with access to the internet It is instantly updateable by the resource owner There is effectively unlimited data capacity, though storage space is an obvious consideration It can link to other databases/resources. No physical media are involved in delivering the resource. The disadvantages are: Resource performance is limited by network performance: sound files may need to be compressed and quality may be compromised. The resource requires ongoing technical support. Need to regulate access to those entitled to use the resource A streaming server that will play almost on demand is required, or does the file have to be downloaded and then played in installed software? There are normally two options for delivering audio via networks and the web File download: where the sound file sits on a server belonging to the resource owner. The file is downloaded after the user clicks on a link, the whole file is then sent from the server to the users machine. The user can usually choose whether to save the file to a folder for burning to a disk to play it later, or load it straight into a sound-player programme, in either case, the user will only be able to hear the file once the download is complete. Streaming: The file resides on the resource owner's server. When the user clicks on the link to the sound, this starts up a browser plug-in which downloads the file bit by bit, playing each bit as it goes (sometimes called buffering). The user starts to hear sound as soon as the first bit of the file is received. The plug-in will keep receiving and playing until the end of the sound is reached. This method means the user cannot download the whole file to save it within a folder in order for example to make a copy or burn it to a disk. Data compression There are various ways in which the size of any kind of digital data resource can be reduced. With audio data compression, there are types of compression which are termed as 'lossy' and others which are 'lossless'. Lossy compression discards some parts of the data and retains the essentials. There are some very effective compression methods use lossy compression which can achieve large reductions in the size of the file and therefore speed up its transmission over the Internet or reduce its download time. If you have encoded your audio only learning object in a common format like MP3 this is in effect already a compressed file.

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Storing Your Audio Only Resources. There are two main concerns around the long term storage of audio resources firstly the storage medium and secondly the life span of current audio file formats which in time may become obsolescent. Storage media Digital information held on computer hard-disks should never be regarded as permanent; there are many factors which can result in the loss or corruption of data. Computer hard disks are vulnerable to a number of problems: mechanical failure, electronic corruption, errors in computer programmes, malicious viruses etc. This aspect can also affect the magnetic or optical media which stores the information. It is vital to take adequate steps to guard against such loss, both in the resource creation process and in the longer term. Fortunately, backing up fairly small amounts and even large amounts of data is now relatively straightforward, using extra/external hard-disks which now can exceed 1TB in capacity are freely available. Alternatively removable media such as writable CDs/DVDs can be used. The key to successfully preserving your resource is to have a sustainable strategy for backing up on a regular basis both during the audio resource creation process and once the resource is up and running. As any data is created, at least one backup copy should be made. This backup should be logged and stored safely. Once the creation process is complete, a long term strategy should take over.

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