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Sound in European E-Learning
Start date: Sep 1, 2014, End date: Aug 31, 2016 PROJECT  FINISHED 

The project will examine opportunities for using sound in e-learning settings as a way of enhancing the learning experience and supporting learners. Special attention will be paid to visually impaired learners. The consortium will build model implementations and publish them along with a handbook to support future improvements in the development of open learning content and other types of e-learning applications. Unlike visual impressions, acoustic impressions affect human psychology in a very direct way. Since the beginning of humanity our hearing warned us of approaching and hidden dangers, thus hearing is a sense we cannot shut off. For this reason it is not surprising that acoustic sensations are highly emotional. Whenever visual and acoustic perception contradict each other humans put more trust in the acoustic perception. Film as a medium takes advantage of this and sets a scene through sound which can serve different functions: Supporting the visual action (e.g. action music in an action-packed scene), creating emotions that are not conveyed by the pictures, and foreshadowing events that are not visible but about to happen. We know from developmental psychology that learning is most effective when linked with emotional impressions. Therefore it is surprising that sound is hardly ever used in learning situations. The project intends to research and develop ways of taking advantage of sound to enhance learning in e-learning settings. The consortium will create sample implementations such as instructional videos, audio lessons, interactive online lessons, exercises, and serious games, test them in different learning settings, and turn them into model implementations through the required redesign phases. Special attention will be paid to visually impaired learners for whom acoustic perception is even more important than for other learners. The results will be published in a handbook which will be made available along with the model implementations. The handbook will serve as a basis for future design of better learning content, especially EU opened learning content, by adding the dimension of sound.
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