When you enter the training center, you will be
able to choose either the Demonstration section
or the Main Program. The Demonstration section contains
a small sample module which contains only a few
birds but will give you an idea of how the program
works. The Main Program is only accessable by GBBO
members and contains more, and larger, learning
modules. If you are not currently a GBBO member,
skip steps 1 and 2 below.
1. Enter Password
If you enter the Main Program, you will be prompted
for your Member Password. Enter the password given
to you or
if you have not yet received your password.
2 Choose Module
After entering your password, you will be given
a list of habitat modules to choose from. Select
the habitat that you wish to load.
3. Load Module
The next screen will be where the module will be
loaded and prepared for display. If you are on a
dialup modem connection, the module may take as
long as 10 minutes to load. However, it will load
much faster after your first visit so please don't
be put off by the long wait....it is worth it!
4. Learning Module
Now you are in the main part of the learning module.
There will be a card on the right side of the screen
which initially is turned over. A list of possible
answer choices are listed on the left and the controls
are at the bottom. The birdsong associated with
the card will play. If you need to repeat the song,
hit the "Repeat Song/Call" button (after
clicking this button it might take a few seconds
for the song to replay). Once you think you know
what bird produced the song, select the bird from
the list. Once you have selected, the card will
turn over and display whether you answered correctly
or incorrectly. Also list of hints about characteristic
song elements comes up, on which you can focus your
species ID.
When you are ready to continue, choose "Next
Card" and the next birdsong will play. The
program will continue to randomly select birdsongs
until you decide to quit. Therefore, you may get
the same song repeatedly in sequence, but keep in
mind that learning bird songs is like learning a
new language. The more repetition, the more second-nature
it’ll become to you.
A module is successfully completed when you have
identified all songs correctly. For better practice,
we recommend that you keep going for a while to
get more repetitions. Also, keep going back to the
modules later. You’ll find that you lose your
skills quickly if you don’t keep practicing
them, especially at first.
