What If We Could Train the Ear for the Real World?

After going through the Ears subsection of Learning Science by Clark Quinn, and because I really love sitting with his words, it almost feels like I’m picking up superpowers from each sense to become a better learning experience designer.

I’m left with two takeaways, plus a bonus one that came when I started thinking about how I could apply the last takeaway I got from Clark Quinn’s book about the human ear using my audio engineering skills.

So, I learnt that sound can communicate meaning.

Through narration.
Stories.
Explanations.
And so on.

And sound can also communicate status.
Alerts.
Warnings.
Confirmations.
Changes.

But then I had a thought:
What if sound could also be used to train the ears for a real-world, high-stakes environment?

Not just teaching someone about what they might hear…

But creating an experience that mirrors what they might actually hear.
I sat with that thought for hours.

And I landed on something that may or may not already be commonly practised in high-stakes learning environments, but it got me thinking about something important:

Learning doesn’t always have to simulate what someone sees.
Sometimes, it needs to simulate what they hear.

So I went into DaVinci Resolve and worked on a small sample.

And there’s one thing I’d recommend if you’re on Windows:
Press Ctrl + U → Audio → Turn off Mono Audio

That way, you can actually experience the design as intended.
I’m still working on it.

I’ll be uploading the sample later this evening.

And if you’re reading this and you work in a high-stakes environment or have expertise in auditory learning, simulation, or audio design…

I’d genuinely love to hear your take on this.

Is this something already being practised?

Or is there more potential here than we’re currently exploring?

Day 33 of Instructional Design.

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