When it comes to e-Learning, which is better, audio or text?

Text is often the foundation of digital learning due to the ease of writing, or updating the content however, audio can add emotion, personality and tone that will help enrich the overall learning experience.

We often see e-Learning combine text and audio, where a narrator reads the text on the screen, however, recent studies suggest that this is not particularly effective.

This is because people process text and audio differently. This means that text and audio may become ineffective, or redundant in targeting a learner’s auditory and visual channels at the same time. 

For example, if you watch a TV show with audio captions, you may notice that you read dialogue before it’s spoken, limiting the emotional impact of the on-screen action.

In the context of storytelling, text can be written in a compelling manner however, audio will improve engagement because the listener will better associate with the emotion behind the voice.

Audio can also create a memorable experience; a critical component of e-Learning because it allows the listener to better retain and recall the information.

Audio continues to be an effective tool in e-Learning, and if used properly can provide better outcomes. However, when deciding on the best media, context for the learning will ultimately influence the solution.