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Audio Basics for Educators

In this lesson, we go over the basics for creating audio content for educational purposes by going over the equipment and software needed to record and edit audio, as well as ways to share it with students. First we go over the importance of audio, and then the necessary steps to make it accessible online.

Why Teachers Should Create Audio

Audio can be a powerful medium of instruction and can be very easy to make. Because speaking is much easier than writing, audio content is not as taxing to make as written works. Also, students like audio as it allows them to multitask as they learn. They can work out, commute to school or work, or work around the house and learn at the same time. Audio is great for longer lessons which can be turned into podcasts or lecture series. Audio is also pratical for short segments that require modeling such as in language instruction. Finally audio is very easy to distribute as it can be shared via e-mail, shared hosting (i.e. dropbox) or posted on a website or social media site like Soundcloud or Audioboom.

How to Record Audio

To create audio content, you need some kind of recording device. Most computers have built-in audio recording capabilites and are a good option when first starting out. If you use your computer, you will need some recording software to capture the audio. Audacity is a good free choice when getting started. Most computers come with built-in microphones so you just need to direct speech towards your computer, but the sound quality will suffer in quality. For one person, it is best to record with a USB headset. On a PC, you can use a headset with an audio jack. For two or more people, you should have a decent mic like the Yeti by Blue. You can also use a handheld mic and then import the audio to your computer for editing or distribution. Smartphones and tablets also allow recording via downloadable apps.

How to Edit Audio

Once some audio is recorded it will inevitably need some editing. Even the most clear audio will sometimes need some bits chopped off, or perhaps the sound amplified so it is easier to hear. The most commonly used audio software is Audacity which is freeware. Audacity offers all the tools most educators need, but there are some good commercial software worth looking at. Commercial software such as WavPad for the PC and Aumadeus Pro for the Mac offer easy to use interfaces and some advanced features not found in freeware.

How to Format Audio

Once you record some audio on a device, you need to select the settings for the audio for export. Most audio should be saved as MP3 as it will play on almost any device or media player. You should save the audio as MP3, 64 KBPS. KBPS stands for Kilo Bits Per Seconds and refers to the qaulity of the audio recording. The higher the number the larger the file. Usually, 1 minute of audio at 64 KBPS will equal 400 kilo bits (.4MB), while 128 KBPS will equal .8MB and so on. Anything below 64KBPS usually distorts the quality of the audio.

How to Distribute Audio

Sharing audio has never been easier. There are basically two ways to share audio on a website. First you can host the audio on a remote server and then embed the audio using basic HTML5 coding. The other way is to host the audio on a third party site like soundcloud.com or audioboom.com and then embed the player on the site. One advantage of hosting audio on a third party hosting system like SoundCloud or Audioboom is that the audio then can easily be hosted and shared via social media like Facebook and Twitter.