Voice quality
I feel that to keep the students attention, ones vocal presentation should be clear and concise. The instructor needs to keep the students attention on the subject matter. And if the student is not "captured" by the presenter, they become bored and lose interest.
Kelly:
Audio components must not only be of high quality; the narrator must employ proper presentation techniques for this medium. If an Instructor is not capable of producing quality audio, they should seek professional help, including hiring a professional narrator.
Satrohan
I agree and it sometimes helps to have a very loud voice that can penetrate all noises and discussions to reestablish order in the room necessary. Some of us have it! And it is very helpful.
Adarine:
Quite true; although there are other effective methods for restoring order without harassing one's vocal cords. please share your thoughts with us on voice quality as it relates to using audio in online courses.
Satrohan
This is interesting because I have not had to use any "voice" or presentations in my courses. Although we do have the capability of providing voice chat sessions, I typically opt for text interaction. The majority of the schools that teach for the asynchronous so having to use the voice element is not necessary.
I think one of the benefits of requiring students to respond in written text is that it may improve their writing. Many students need to have the opportunity to develop their writing skills through practice, and online learning is a way to do that.
The above statement is 100% true. There are three requirements of all of our instructors here and they are:
*To be entertaining
*To make sure that every student learns something new every day
*To make sure that the student comes first every day and every time.
I like those requirements Dawn. Thanks for sharing them with us.
Yes shouting in online courses does not work well. I do hold "live" lectures that are open to students to attend. I find that I have a much easier time being spontaneous and interesting when I have students present. My problem is that when no one shows up live, I am obligated to complete and record the session by myself. This often results in a very boring, monotone presentation where I slip into reading from the slides. Anyone have any suggestions for keeping the instructor motivated in this case?
My recommendation would be to role play as if you do have students live. While I am not suggesting you pretend you are a student and ask yourself a question, I do think pretending that there are students online is helpful. I do this all the time when I am practicing a presentation before giving it live. I picture myself in the situation and practice as if I am really there.
I do agree with this. Voice quality can make or break online chats. Enunciation is also important as not all students have good sound reception. With this in mind, I try always to make sure that everyone is hearing my voice clearly and can therefore participate more freely. It seems to work well.
It can be easy to loose a students attention through on line learning. I also would agree that the importance of keeping the students attention is crucial for the students success in the course.
Wee said. I would have to agree with your statement.
Yes, it can be easy for students to get distracted--but I think that can happen in any environment (unfortunately). As you state, it is critical to keep the students engaged in the course.
Thanks for your comments Raquel.
I have been assigned the task of putting our classroom power point lectures into the new online format. When I search the internet for examples of online courses, I am really disappointed by the voice quality in a lot of the lectures presented. One of the previous posts said something about entertaining the students and another talked about keeping them from being distracted. Some of the vocal quality that I have heard is .... BORING! No changes of tone, or warmth in the tone at all! I can't imagine trying to learn from that type of audio presentation.
I find that I naturally record my lectures as if I am speaking to students (face to face) and even use my hands as if they can see me!!! :-)
I think it is a great idea to imagine that your students are actually in the room when you are recording your presentations. That way you sound much more engaging. Thanks for your comment student.
As an orator, if you intend on keeping your audience's attentions, your voice quality plays a great part in doing so. When projecting your voice, it should be clear when pronouncing each word. Also, your voice should refelct enthusiasm and excitement. Have fun within your chat sessions. You can project the way you feel through your voice. Your audience can pick up on how you feel about teaching that session, just by listening to your voice. No matter what is going on in your personal life, when it is time to teach, you put all other distractors aside. Smile while you are teaching! Show interest in what you are teaching. This in turn, will interest your students more to be interested in your lesson. Have fun! Enjoy your class sessions. It also makes time go by faster.
Your post reminds me of something I have heard in admissions training in the past, which is "smile and dial." It is the idea that people can hear the smile in your voice when you are talking over the phone, which is much more comforting and welcoming.
The concept is very similar to what you are saying--you need to have a "smile" in your posts as well as in your live chats when teaching online. This is a great tip Karen. Thanks so much for sharing it with the group.
I agree with that. I sometimes feel like I'm hamming it up on stage in order to put some extra inflection in my voice. Hopefully the Breeze connect will start sorting out some of its audio mishaps, i sound like I'm sitting in a cave sometimes.
That is an excellent observation - I never thought of the written part of the chat as improvement for writing skills. It would be very difficult to correct them in front of the whole class though - and many students treat it more like an IM and don't use complete sentences. I think it would be a great component if the prof asked them to use full sentences and pay attention to grammar and spelling. At least in that case, the students who don't write as well can see what other students write and how sentences are structure and hopefully learn from it in that way.
