In an Audio activity, the whole group listens to an audio file together. While it plays, the group canvas shows an animated orb with an optional avatar, or large captions from the audio’s subtitles.
How to add an Audio activity
In the section you want, click Add content > View all activities…, and then choose Audio. Then click Choose audio to add an audio file.
Upload audio
On the Upload tab, you can upload an MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG or AAC file of up to 20MB. The file processes in the background. When it’s ready, you can add it to the activity.
Choose from the media library
On the Media library tab, choose an audio file you’ve already added.
After you add audio, add a headline and description. You don’t need to set a time. Time allocated, in the options panel, is set from the length of the audio.
Visual modes
An Audio activity has two visual modes.
Orb/Avatar mode
Orb/Avatar shows an animated orb that moves with the audio. You can show an avatar image over the orb. The avatar can sit in different places, such as bottom-center, or be hidden.
To add an avatar, select Orb/Avatar, click Add avatar, and then choose an image from the media library. To change it later, click Edit avatar.
Experience avatar: If you set an avatar in the experience settings, every Audio activity that doesn’t have its own avatar uses it. When it does, you see Avatar from experience settings when you hold the pointer over the audio preview. To use a different avatar in one activity, click Edit avatar. The activity’s own avatar replaces the experience avatar.
Large captions mode
Large captions shows the audio as large text on screen, in time with the audio. It needs subtitles, so it’s unavailable for audio that has none.
To use it, add subtitles to the audio file in the media library, and then select Large captions.
When to use the Audio activity
When your content doesn’t need visuals, as an alternative to video.
For podcasts, interviews or narration.
To give learners an audio-based way to learn.
To bring the group back to a topic.
For more information, see Managing media content, which covers audio and images, and Subtitles.
To create narration from text instead of recording it, see Generating audio with text-to-speech. If your organization translates its experiences, you can add a different audio file for each language. See Using media in other languages.