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LRC Coed037 Film studies lab

2012/02/15 Leave a comment
  1. Panorama with computer numbering in lieu of a layout
  2. coed037-12imacs-from-teacher-marked-frame
Categories: audience-is-IT-staff, audience-is-language-learning-center-manager, audience-is-language-learning-center-staff, audience-is-students, audience-is-teachers, documentation, e-infrastructure, Film-studies, Institution-is-University-of-North-Carolina-Charlotte, Photos, presenter-computer, student-computers Tags:

Things you can try when having trouble playing video from the internet

2012/02/13 1 comment

There are several things you can try when having trouble playing video from the internet. I made a list here (less would be more, but hey, it’s computers, right?): 

  1. Refresh the web page (f5 or ctrl-f5).
  2. Can you see an error message on the page itself? some video services prevent you from watching video abroad BBC iPlayer used to do this, since it is financed by fees of a local audience – so are ARD and ZDF, but they do not bother restricting by viewer location. However, they assume you are in Germany, and in their time zone, so they restrict you from watching the equivalent of R-rated content during daytime in Germany.
  3. Restart the web browser.
  4. Can your web browser play a video from a different website. Good candidates are Youtube.com (may be HTML5 delivered by now), hulu.com, ARD Mediathek if trying ZDF Mediathek or vice versa). Maybe your plug-in has crashed – try restarting your computer.
  5. Try a different web bowser (chrome, internet explorer, Firefox, safari, opera are all free downloads).
  6. Can you discern a notification bar on top of your web browser window telling you of an error or asking you to upgrade something?
  7. At this point it might be easier to come to the LRC and use what we maintain for you there, or, if you are trying to use your office computer, alter the helpdesk.
  8. Do you have to upgrade your video-plugin? Currently (before HTML5 delivered plug-in free video), most videos are plug-in based. search for adobe flash and MS-Silverlight upgrades.
  9. Do you have to upgrade your browser?
  10. Do you have to upgrade your operating system? your computer hardware? Let’s hope you do not get to here in this list…
Categories: audience-is-students, audience-is-teachers, e-infrastructure, Glitches&Errors, Media Tags: ,

Nice Syntax highlighter tool from wisc.edu @ Madison

2012/02/10 Leave a comment
  1. Wish my Latin teacher at home would have had such a nice tool when he analyzed the “Ante mare et terras et quod tegit omnia caelum / unus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe / quem dixere chaos”, he had only me:
  2. syntax highlighter1syntax highlighter2syntax highlighter3syntax highlighter4syntax highlighter5
  3. Now how could such exercise creation made more automated by having it accept the output of NLP tools like Treetagger?
Categories: Absolute-Beginner, Advanced, all-languages, audience-is-students, audience-is-teachers, Beginner, e-languages, Intermediate, learning-materials, Reading, service-is-evaluating-learning-tools, service-is-learning-materials-creation, Syntax Tags: ,

Jim Breen (Monash) Japanese-English Dictionary

2012/02/08 Leave a comment

jim-breen-monash-japanese-english-dictionary

Categories: audience-is-students, Dictionaries, Japanese, websites Tags:

How to use a drawing tablet and Windows XP writing pad IME to write Japanese and Mandarin characters with autosuggest

2012/02/04 2 comments
  1. Our small group work spaces each now have a Wacom Bamboo drawing tablet installed.
  2. You can use these tablets in conjunction with the Windows XP writing pad IME to input Mandarin/Kanji character strokes and receive autosuggest options you can pick you character from which make not only writing faster, but also reward you for remembering your characters, expose you to more and help you identify the correct one from a list of options.
  3. Here is what the Windows XP writing pad IME and Wacom tablet looks like in action: (behind the pen: our Japanese tutor).
  4. Here is how to access Windows XP Japanese IME keyboard and handwriting:
    1. Open the application you want to write in, e.g. MS Word (the language input option is specific to the current window and defaults to”English-US international”  in the LRC if you open a new window).
    2. In the taskbar, in the language toolbar section, select Japanese or Chinese or Korean.
    3. If only the language identifier is showing in the language toolbar, right-click on it and choose “Show additional icons”
    4. Select as input method for the chosen language from icon “Options” or “Tools”” , the “IME pad” / “Handwriting”
    5. Prerequisites
        1. you need to have the handwriting IME installed for Japanese or  Chinese or Korean in Control Panel / Regional and Language Options / Text Input, and East Asian language support).
        2. For simplified Chinese, the IME Pad may not be checked to be displayed by default. Access the Tools icon menu to check it.
        3. For both simplified and traditional Chinese, if checked, the IME Pad becomes a separate top-level ion in the language bar.
        4. Some screenshots may help:

      korean-ime-pad-enable  chinese-simplified-ime-pad-enablechinese-simplified-ime-pad chinese-traditional-ime-pad

Categories: Advanced, audience-is-students, audience-is-teachers, e-languages, Intermediate, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Near-Native, Videos, Writing Tags: , , , , ,

How we improve client service through changes to the reception desk computer image

2012/01/31 Leave a comment
  1. These browser windows will now load automatically when student staff logs into the reception desk computers:
    1. Safari: In the entrance area, we display the live calendar of LRC events and services, containing the schedule of events (classes and other room and computer bookings from our bookable resources): uncc-lrc-calendar-reception1
    2. Internet explorer
      1. is used by clients exclusively
      2. displays only the 49erexpress login screen in full screen
      3. clients do not close, but only log off
      4. dependent application windows can be opened from there
        1. Moodle 
        2. Ninermail
    3. Firefox
      1. is used by LRC Assistants exclusively
      2. better overview thanks to fewer duplicate tabs
      3. immediate access to online spreadsheets
        1. bookable LRC resources
        2. film collection
        3. Moodle teaching resources
      4. LRC homepage, displayed for walk-in clients in the entrance area: lrc-coed433-reception-client-welcome-screen
Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, audience-is-students, audience-is-teachers, Reception-desk Tags: , , , ,

How a student uses the Sanako Recorder Voice Insert mode for Moodle comparative recording exercises

2012/01/25 2 comments
  1. to load a file
    1. from Moodle:
      1. Find your assignment with the model audio file, presumably in your Moodle course.
      2. download the model audio file
      3. open the Sanako Student Recorder (introduction).
      4. go to menu: file / open, and open the file you downloaded
    2. from student recorder playlist: double-click the file.
  2. enable voice insert:
    1. To activate voice insert (which is a toggle that changes the behavior of the other buttons)
      1. either go to tools/ voice insert mode
      2. or click the voice insert button sanako-student-player-voice-insert (darker shade of brown = OFF; tooltip should say “Toggle Voice Insert OFF”, meaning: it is ON now)
  3. press the green play button to listen until you reach the point (your teacher may have inserted a pause or aural cue) where you can repeat  or respond.
  4. Then click the red speak-button sanako-student-player-speak to repeat after/respond to the source/teacher
  5. When you are done repeating/responding, press the green play-button.
  6. At the end, press the blue stop-button.
  7. Rewind and review your recording (e.g. compare your pronunciation with the teacher’s model).
  8. When done, click file / save as and save only your, the student track, as mp3 or wma.
  9. Additional notes:
    1. TBA: you can overwrite your pronunciation where you deem necessary.
    2. Fixed in Sanako 7: you cannot show the voice graph when in Voice insert mode – both are incompatible.
    3. To see in action how to record with voice insert and save the student track, view
      1. this step-by-step screencast
      2. this demo screen cast
    4. The previous is just a step-by-step for our environment based on the Sanako Study 1200 documentation which follows here:
    5. sanako-student-player-voice-insert1
    6. sanako-student-player-voice-insert2
Categories: assignments, audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, audience-is-students, multimedia-recording, software, Speaking, step-by-step-guides Tags: , , ,

How we reorganized the reception area to improve support of circulation and small group work

2012/01/25 1 comment

The new reception desk is meant to secure the entrance to Coed436. To secure the circulation equipment, we do not let students into COED436 anymore, whether they are trying to check out equipment or for other reasons (except if they need to see the LRC coordinator). Hand all equipment to students over the counter. The door to Coed436 has to  be locked when the LRC Assistant leaves the reception desk (it always can be unlocked from inside).

We also carved out 2 small group work spaces in the LRC entrance area. They can be used by language tutors with their students, and by other small student groups, including for assigned film viewing. These work spaces currently do not have to be booked, but they can be. Bookings take precedence over walk-ins. Send meeting requests to LRCRoomCoed433c@uncc.edu (Group1 next to entrance), LRCRoomCoed433d@uncc.edu (Group 2)). The calendar on the reception desk will display the bookings.

We moved 3 more iMacs (with built-in web cameras) into the main classroom (currently available to students only when all other iMacs are in use). All the iMacs in the main classroom actually have now also their own “room”: LRCroomCoed433b@uncc.edu (iMacs), but we are not requiring this “room” to be booked (yet). We are considering this in an attempt to avoid pile-ups of students trying to take video recording assignment. First we monitor actual usage patterns, especially nearing assignment dead-lines.

New “rooms”, and other equipment types are highlighted in green on our list of bookable resources.

renovation-hack

coed433-CIMG0013 Stitch

Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-staff, audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, audience-is-students, audience-is-teachers, documentation, iMacs, Institution-is-University-of-North-Carolina-Charlotte, Reception-desk, service-is-library, service-is-tutoring, small-group-work-spaces, TV-viewing-area Tags: ,