Generally e-learning is has three main elements- On Screen Text (OST), visuals and audio. By using the right audio in your e-learning course design you can make it more engaging, emotional, and memorable for your online learners.
Audio can add a great deal to the quality of your course. While generally beneficial to learners, Voice-over audio is particularly important for :
– Auditory learners(those who remember the best when they hear the information)
– Learners who may struggle with reading and
– For learners with limited accessibility
Many devices and tools offer simple and effective software for recording audio. In this blog, I will be sharing the five popular tools which are used for audio editing and conversion and can be used extensively in e-learning.
| Sl.No. | Tool | OS Compatibility | Feature | Popular formats supported | Summary |
| 1 | Audacity | Windows / Mac / Linux | – It is the pioneer of free sound editing freeware
– It will record music, mix audio samples, cut and trim tracks. – It records sounds from microphones or mixers, streams audio and records multiple channels in the same row. |
– M4A
– M4R – WAV – MP3 – ACC – FLAC – OGG and many others |
It has the modest interface it is absolutely free. It is suitable and convenient for all the standard operations you may need. |
| 2 | Adobe Audition | Windows / Mac | – It is the powerful suite that makes audio editing, splicing, remixing and restoration easy.
– It has a user-friendly interface. – It will support most of the formats. – It has powerful built-in effects to add flair to your recordings. |
– AAC (Including HE-AAC) – AIF, AIFF, AIFC (Including files with up to 32 channels) |
It offers robust audio toolkit. and advanced features to enhance audio quality and overall efficiency of editing audio. |
| 3 | Waveshop | Windows | – It has plain simple UI
– It gives the option to edit the only fragment of a file without affecting the whole track. – It also gives the option to record some audio block to patch a song cover. |
– ACC (MP4 Audio) – AIFF (Apple / SGI) – AU (Sun / NeXT) – FLAC – MPC – MP3 – RAW – VOC – WAV and many more |
Waveshop is a pure open source product. If your mission is to make some technical alterations then, I would recommend to go for this editor |
| 4 | Wavosaur | Windows / Mac | – It will fulfill all the simple requirements like cutting, pasting, editing, pitch shifting and processing sounds.
– It can work with multiple files at once – It supports VST effects plugin and even muting the audio flows, fading in and out. |
– WMA
– OGG – FLAC – AC3 – AAC and many others |
As the interface is is plain and not user-friendly it might take time to familiarise with the buttons and the overall operation of the tool |
| 5 | MEF Music Editor | Windows | – It has stylish looks and easy interface
– If you want to record the altered media file then this is the best tool. – Option to add effects like echo, amplification and noise reduction – It will extract audio from YouTube or any video files or even electronic instruments. – It is integrated with an ID3 tag editor. |
– WAV
– MP3 – VOX – GSM – AU – OGG – WMV and many more |
MEF Music editor is good for advanced professional users, but could be a little challenging for the e-learning users. |
By using these tools you can create effective background music and edit high-quality narrations which helps you to create a memorable and interactive e-learning course for your online learners. Audio in e-learning has a significant impact on the minds of your learners and by using the right audio tool you can use the power of sound to your advantage.
