8th W: Audio for the web

In the process of creating a website we have to look at all the elements which we want to include in the website. Audio is one of the major elements which are used together to produce a successful the website.

What is audio?
Audio is a term used to describe sounds within the range of human hearing. It is also used to describe devices which are designed to operate within this range. Sound (audio) can be added to a multimedia presentation from a variety of sources. Original sounds can be recorded using a microphone and programs such as HyperStudio, MovieWorks, or Smart Sound.

Audio for the web
Audio can enhance a website in a great deal. This is because audio always can enhance the presentation of media. Nobody would choose to watch television while the sound is off. Likewise audio enhances the "stickiness" of a website, helping people to want to stay longer and visit more pages. It also enhances the look of a website, because having audio means those blocks and blocks of text can be shortened or removed, but all of the information is still on the site. Most people are much more willing to listen to a few minutes of good audio rather than read long passages of text. When a visitor wants to know more, they simply click and listen. There is nothing like the sound of a friendly human voice to help form a more personal bond between the prospect and the business. Audio can improve navigation through the website. Moreover, it can also be used in terms of background sound especially for the main page of the website.
However, audio in the web can be affected with some factors like:
- Internet speed
- The technology of transferring the audio (streaming vs downloading)
- The file size
- The compression technique (loosy vs loosless)

Streaming: Streaming media are multimedia that are constantly received by, and normally presented to, an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider (it includes audio or video playback).
Downloading: In contrast to streaming, downloading refers to receiving the complete file or multimedia element (be it audio or video) before being able to play it.

Stereo vs mono
A Stereophonic sound, commonly called stereo, is the reproduction of sound, using two or more independent audio channels, through a symmetrical configuration of loudspeakers, in such a way as to create a pleasant and natural impression of sound heard from various directions, as in natural hearing.
Monaural (often shortened to mono) sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or, in the case of headphones or multiple loudspeakers, they are fed from a common signal path, and in the case of multiple microphones, mixed into a single signal path at some stage.
Stereo is better but..
Contrasted with monophonic or "mono" sound, where audio is in the form of one channel, stereo is obviously better for listeners because of all the advantages mentioned above. However, this does not mean that the audio must be in stereo for the following reasons:
· The use of stereo and mono largely depends on the purpose of the audio.
· A well organized mono system can sometimes be better than some stereo systems.
· Many stereo systems available today are not real stereo, but fake stereo which shows no obvious difference from mono.
· A piece of sound can be considered real stereo only if it is recorded with a stereo system from the beginning. Because of this, the debate of using stereo or mono is not valid in our project. The audio we are going to use is either stereo or mono from the beginning. And changing a mono piece of audio to a fake stereo is not of use to our project but will rather affect the CD-ROM space management negatively.

Formats and bitrates
What is audio file format?
An audio file format is a container format for storing audio data on a computer system. The general approach towards storing digital audio is to sample the audio voltage which, on playback, would correspond to a certain position of the membrane in a speaker of the individual channels with a certain resolution — the number of bits per sample — in regular intervals (forming the sample rate). This data can then be stored uncompressed, or compressed to reduce the file size.

A Plenty of audio formats exist for storing and playing back digital sound. When deciding which to use, we need to consider the audio bitrates, sound quality, the best format for the type of player we will use, and the trade-off between file size and listening quality.
Although a lot of different file formats have been used to store digital sound, music, and even instrument or synthesizer tracks on computers, those seeking to store digital audio for playback will find their choices more limited. To some extent, such limitations occur as a function of different factors worth considering which include overall sound quality, the presence or absence of other digital versions of the same audio material, the types of players you want to use, and trade-offs between file sizes (smaller files mean more audio data) and listening quality (more compression normally means lower audio fidelity). It might also be worth factoring in whether we are rescuing sounds from potential oblivion (as might be the case for aging 8-track).
Some compression schemes are "lossy," which means that once a file has been compressed it can't be returned to its original uncompressed form from the contents of the compressed file. Mathematically, this is a one-way, irreversible transformation. Other compression schemes are "lossless," which means that a uncompressed version of data can be generated from the compressed form. Mathematically, this is a two-way, reversible transformation. Lossy compression schemes usually result in smaller compressed files since they can "throw away" details and information they can't use and don't need, whereas lossless compression schemes produce bigger result files.
Another key ingredient in audio compression schemes is a special piece of software called a codec, short for the type of "compression/decompression" algorithm that's used to translate uncompressed data into a compressed form for storage and to decompress that compressed form for access or playback.

Common Digital Audio Formats
Table 1 provides an alphabetized list of the most common digital audio file formats. It also gives some indication of the age of each format, tells whether it supports compression, and gives a general indication of sound quality based on numerous audio tests and listening sessions.

Table 1: Common Digital Audio Formats

Notes
Ext = file extension, the three- or four-characters that follow file names in Windows environments. Cmp= compressionAsterisk(*) indicates that various compression rates are supportedPlus (+) indicates that the format uses lossless compression, or supports an uncompressed (lossless) form.

What is bitrates?
The bitrates refers to the number of bits per second devoted to storing the final product; the higher the bitrates, the greater the audio resolution of the final product. Audio bitrates can be likened to older cinematic features. The movements were jerky on account of the fewer frames per second displayed. In the audio realm this means less data is distributed over a given time frame.

To balance between bitrates, size and quality we are going to look at an example (table 2 below) showing (in different bitrates) an audio file put in different formats. The audio file used here is a piece of music for John Williams. The length of playing is 2 minutes and 16 seconds (136sec in total) and the original size before any compressing is: 22.9 MB.
In addition to size and quality the table also estimates the speed of encoding and decoding which is also important for satisfying the users. For easy reading of the table, the best results are written in bold.



From the table we can see that the higher the bitrates, the better is the quality but also the bigger is the size and the more time is needed for coding and decoding. At the same time we can notice the differences between the formats when changing the level of bitrates. In the level of 64 kbps, mp3PRO is better than all other formats in term of quality and size. However, for the same level WMA is the best in terms of coding and decoding time. Looking at the level of 128 kbps (which gives the best quality among the bitrates above), we can see that WMA and OGG (an "open-source digital audio compression format) are the best in quality, but OGG surpasses WMA in terms of file size. For the same level WMA wins the encoding time, but mp3 have the best decoding.

6th W: Looking at an educational website; a brief analysis

In the following lines we will have a brief look at British Council Central as a website intended for adults. The website URL is: http://www.britishcouncil.org/central.htm. Looking at this andragogy website includes three main sides. These are design, content and strategies.

To make it easy to follow this will be presented in points as follows:

Design:

1. Is not childish in terms of sounds, colours and movements

2. Not much colors used –rather few calm colors were used; one main colour and two or three secondary colours.

3. The design gives a since of seriousness but without losing the fun of the website employing games, stories and songs.

Content:

1. Less guided and more optional than kids’ websites

2. Offers different levels for different users

3. Considering that users might have background by using “Test your level” activities. This in precise helps building on previous knowledge as constructism demands.

Strategies:

1. Gives the user the option of starting from his level by offering evaluating tools.

2. Teaching by fun (games, songs, stories) Here the difference with kids website is in the kind of games, songs or stories

3. Audible stories

4. Teaching by discovery employing educative general information about countries, cultures, environment,..etc.

5. Using themes in introducing new knowledge. For example learning English Listening through sports, jobs, etc.

6. Users can subscribe to a news letter about new things in the website

7. Gives links to related professional education institutes and activites

8. Helps finding institutions for teaching English in users countries

5th W: Learning Theories

Learning

“Learning involves the acquisition and modification of knowledge skills, strategies, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors” (Schunx, 2000)

Although much of the knowledge about learning was gained through experiments on animals, this does not mean that human learning and animal learning are identical. “Human learning is more complex, elaborate and rapid and typically depends on the use of language.”
Although people agree that learning is important, there are different opinions about its causes, processes and products. Research on learning has produced a number of theories serving as bridges between research and education. In forming these bridges, researchers employ various types of paradigms. Examples are corelational research, experimental research, qualitative research and laboratory and field research.
For assessing learning researchers use different methods like direct observation, written responses, rating by others, self reports, questionnaires etc. However, in fact learning is not assessed directly; rather its products and outcomes are assessed. Some of the critical issues in the study of learning which causes controversy between theoretical perspectives are:
1. How does learning occur?
2. Which Factors influence learning?
3. What is the role of memory?
4. What is the role of motivation/
5. How does transfer occur?
6. Which types of learning does the theory best explain?

Rationalism
Rationalism referes to the idea that knowledge can be derived by reason without the aid of senses. Plato made a distinction between mind and matter. Things that can be sensed like trees and animals do exist but ideas and the like are only in our minds. Descartes and Kant, however, believed that reason acts according to what is received from the world through senses.

Empiricism
Empiricism refers to the idea that experience is the only source of knowledge. Aristotle drew no sharp distinction between mind and matter. In fact he thought that all the ideas in the mind are mainly sourced from the world around us.

Moving to experimentation
In 1879, Wilhelm Wundt initiated a psychological laboratory aiming to establish psychology as a new science. He also founded a journal to report psychological research. Wundt defined psychology as the study of the mind.