Use of narrator in e-learning

Sep 26, 2016

 
I am interested in what you have to say about the use of narrator in e-learning and how you use it.

I'm not saying I'm doing right but I see that others are doing different than me and then I get curious why ...

I always use narrator when I produce e-Learning. The narrator is turned on from the beginning (by default) and I use minimal text (data, facts and instructions) in the production area. I use my slides to illustrate what the narrator says,  using images, videos, animations, graphs and so on. In principle, I never use the text to read on the screen. I always use notes for what the narrator says so that it CAN be read if wanted to.

I'm not able to produce all of our e-Learning at my job so sometimes we buy it from other producers. These producers are working contrary to what I do and always use text (a lot of it) so that the learner can read what they want to know. The option to turn on the narrator is optional. They of course also use images.

I try to understand why they choose to do this and have asked them. In response, I get that the narrator can be disturbing and it pulls down the pace of e-learning, and the user can not make e-learning at their own pace.

I on the other hand argue that if you print all the text on a screen, it becomes more of a document that you can read. It will be neat, but more like a brochure.

So please! Give me som input and thougts about how you do and what your opinions on this is!

3 Replies
Dave Cox

I assume by speaker, you are referring to the PC speakers?

I've found that the answer to this varies depend on who you talk to. Some people like to be able to read the content, and be able to skim it to search for what they need. Others, don't like to read it for themselves, and prefer the structure of having someone present the information vocally. My current employer likes to see minimal text, with just the key points in bullet points, and the rest in the VO.

If you need both, a good compromise is to provide the content with a voice over, and additionally have the text available in separate narration panel. The default storyline  player provides a good place for this in the notes panel. You can rename this tab to something like script, or narration if you like and then put the contents of the VO here.

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