Greek (modern) | Thomas' Work Space

How a teacher creates audio recordings for use with Sanako Student Voice Insert mode

2012/01/24 plagwitz Leave a comment

One of the Sanako Student player’s useful features geared toward language learning activities, is that it can save the teacher the time and effort for inserting pauses into their audio recordings, so that students can record responses into them.
1. Meaning the teacher can just press the red speak button and record through the entire file in one sitting.
2. The teacher can still help students finding their way around the file, especially where to insert their own audio recording responses, by adding aural cues.
  1. This can be done in minimal time: I once saw a teacher use a bicycle bell – and why not, if it saves time.
  2. A spoken instruction “Respond”/”Answer in 10 seconds” is not more difficult to spot (unless only the voice graph is being browsed) and might be even better.
  3. If you have spare time:
    1. You can post-edit the file with audacity, generating and inserting sinus tones.
    2. You can use the Sanako player to insert bookmarks instead of cues.
As long as students have been instructed to how to use voice insert recording mode with the Sanako student recorder.
1. This is for self access of students to teacher recorded files – be it during class or homework.
2. If you want to record students under exam conditions, a similar insert recording feature is available within the activity: Model imitation, but not with a pre-recorded file, only when the live teacher is the program source students listen to for cues.

Sanako comparative recording exercises using Moodle

2012/01/13 plagwitz Leave a comment

Comparative recordings are one of the best-established practices in SLA with technology. We can implement them here using:
1. The Sanako Study 1200 language lab software installed in LRCRoomCoed434 facilitates comparative recordings by students, based on a teacher-provided model audio, with its student dual track recorder software.
2. Moodle’s Simple file upload assignment aids in managing the workflow,
  1. from delivering the audio file with the model recording to the student
  2. to organizing, assessing and grading the student input.
For the teacher
1. to create such an exercise, she
  1. creates an audio recording that serves as a model for the student pronunciation – a special application of our Audacity recording introduction. It is advised, however, to insert clear cues for the student to start his repetition.
  2. creates a Moodle’s Simple file upload assignment to which she attaches the audio recording
2. continue with How a teacher grades a Moodle simple file upload assignment
For the students to take such an exercise:

Categories: Absolute-Beginner, Arabic, audience-is-teachers, Beginner, documentation, e-languages, English, Farsi, French, German, Greek (modern), Intermediate, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, software, Spanish, Speaking, Student-Computers, Yoruba Tags: moodle, sanako-study-1200, student.exe

How to do model imitation recording exercises to improve language learner pronunciation in the LRC and beyond

2011/11/22 plagwitz Leave a comment

Sometimes teachers ask about support for voice recognition in the LRC. The term voice recognition or speech recognition (the former appears to be analogous to face recognition in authentication and other security contexts?) is usually reserved for software that can transcribe your voice into text – still no free option for this, AFAIK. Dragon naturally speaking is the oft recommended market leader outside of education (and within, Auralog Tell me more, see below). Update summer 2012: We are working on enabling the Speech recognition built into Windows 7 Enterprise for English, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French, Spanish, German, and Japanese.
Often times, what is actually desired is a digital audio recorder with voice graph, ideally a dual track recorder.
1. In the LRC student computers, we have for exactly this purpose a digital audio recorder as part of the SANAKO Study 1200language learning system
  1. It features a dual track recorder (allows to listen to teacher track which can be a prerecorded model to imitate on the left channel while recording the student track on the right channel of a stereo track) with a voice graph: . See this dual-track-voice-graph screencast demo from the vendor and also our student cheat sheet from the vendor documentation.
  2. The Sanako is available in the LRC, as well as in many other educational institutions around the world, but neither free nor web-based (although a web-based version seems to be in the works). It currently requires MS-Windows to run.
2. A popular and free audio editor (but not an SLA – specific application, let alone geared towards model imitation; also, for all practical ends and purposes, requires an extra download and installations of an MP3 encoder to be able to save recordings as compressed MP3) is Audacity. To use for model imitation exercises,
  1. the student can open a model track (mp3 recommended)
  2. and manage within the program the imitation portion, using the voice graph:
  3. then export back out as mp3,
    1. either her responses individually (see my demo screencast, requires Windows Media Player on Windows, which actually shows a question/response rather than a model imitation, but same principle),
    2. or, by deleting the model track, the response parts mixed down to one track,
    3. or also, if, like in my demo screencast, the timeline sequence of model (with pauses) and responses is carefully managed (so that model and imitation do not overlap), mixed down to one track.
3. In one language program, I have worked extensively with Auralog Tell me more
  1. which was (not exclusively, but arguably too much) based on this pedagogic concept of having students compare the voice graph of their imitation with the model voice graph (while it do did not allow for teachers to upload their own content, and was certainly not free).
  2. To my knowledge, Auralog Tell me more does not allow for adding teacher-produced content as models.
  3. I did like the self-reflective and repetitive practice element. However, I found that students – apart from intonation and (not useful for not pitch based languages) pitch -, did not benefit as much as one might have expected from viewing the voice graph, indeed tended to get overwhelmed, even confused by the raw voice information in such a voice graph.
  4. And automated scoring of pronunciation (or speech recognition” – not free form, but on a level that has been commoditized in operating systems like Windows 7, the level of voice-directed selection between a limited set of different options, like menu options, and in the case of Auralog, choosing between different response options) seemed iffy and less than transparent in Auralog Tell me more, even though this is their primary selling point. E.g. when I made deliberate gross mistakes, the program seemed to change its standards and wave me through ( English pronunciation example; also observed by me when testing Auralog with East Asian speakers of English).
A voice graph is not the same as a more abstract phonetic transcription (although I do not know whether language learners can be trained in phonetic symbol sets like the IPA). There are now experimental programs that can automate the transcription of text into phonetic symbol sets for e.g. Portuguese or Spanish. Maybe you will find that practice with recording and a phonetic transcription of the recorded text is more useful for your students’ pronunciation practice than a fancy voice graph.

Categories: Arabic, documentation, e-languages, English, Farsi, French, German, Greek (modern), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Screencasts, software, Spanish, Speaking, Yoruba Tags: audacity, auralog-tell-me-more, Dragon naturally speaking, sanako-study-1200

MS Universal Language Input Tool offers correction and transliteration on any web page

2011/11/10 plagwitz Leave a comment

Using the UIME, you can “type any language with any keyboard on any web page, using only the Roman characters present on every keyboard.”

And you can install your favorite input language in your web browser, like so:

Categories: Absolute-Beginner, Advanced, Arabic, Beginner, e-languages, English, French, Greek (modern), Intermediate, Japanese, Mandarin, Russian, software, websites, Writing Tags: character-input, ms-uime

Speaking/Listening Assessments and Oral Exams: A comparison what the LRC has to offer

2011/09/22 plagwitz Leave a comment

Moodle:
1. I proposed for installing one of the free audio recorder plug-ins into our Moodle, but we are not there yet.
2. However, we do have a new video recording assignment (which is based on Kaltura).
  1. Format: free form, according to your written instructions in the assignment. Students can review and repeat the recording as often as they wish.
  2. The video overhead is minimal since it is streamed, and video is better for authentic language assessments – unless you specifically prepare your students for phone interviews: then just have students step out of the viewing angle of the webcam).
  3. thanks to Moodle, the familiar interface and the underlying LMS support infrastructure, it is easy
    1. for the teacher
      1. to create and assign a video-assignment
      2. to grade it from the gradebook
    2. for the students to take it and submit it.
  4. LRC Support:
  1. Since our PCs have no built-in or added webcam (proposed), we can currently only use our 5 iMacs for Moodle video assignments. Since the MACs do not have headsets (but built-in microphones), the audio quality is not as good as on the PCs. Since 5 seats are not sufficient for class-size activities/exams, it is best to use this as a homework assignment
  2. I list all necessary steps for a video assignment
  3. Additional support is available through the campus Moodle support team.
Sanako
1. Sources
  1. Dual-track comparative recorder:
    1. the teacher can prepare an input track (or provide one live. Preparing is easy, and worth your while, since easily reusable. I can help you)).
    2. the students records on her own track
  2. Pair and group recording:
    1. Sanako makes it easy to pair or form groups of students and to record free-form conversations.
    2. These recordings can be either controlled remotely by the teacher or locally by the user
2. Control
  1. Remote-controlled recording under exam conditions,
    1. responding to a listening cue within a preset (or live) pause in the teacher track
      1. model&imitation: for phonetics and pronunciation exercises,
      2. question&response for a wide variety of activities as commonly used in SLA textbooks and classroom, including practicing grammar structures or vocabulary recently
      3. question&response&model response: the teacher can also include after the pause in the teacher track a model answer for the students to compare their own output to.
    2. automatically saved with student names to be accessed from the teacher office desktop
    3. easy comparative grading using Audacity (see below)
3. User-controlled recording is also possible, using the student recorder in manual operation mode
  1. which has more language learner features (bookmarks, voice graph, dual band recording), and a simpler interface than a full blown audio editor like Audacity (see below).
  2. The task how to save and sent the assignment to the teacher is here left to the user.
4. LRC support:
1. I can help you
  1. creating an audio recording with your content and speaking cues and pauses – using Audacity (see below)
  2. conducting the remote-controlled exam
2. Up to 20 seats can take an oral exam simultaneously, until we get more Sanako licenses. However, we found a way to split classes into 2 halves and have consecutive exams (we can play audio on the other students’ headsets to provide for exam conditions). The LRC main classroom is equipped with 30 seats for 2 consecutive exams with Sanako headsets.
Voicethread is a popular online recorder, especially for educational institutions that have no onsite support.
1. Visual and audio cues can be provided by the teacher.
2. Pairing of students has been attempted via sharing and responding/commenting to the partner’s submission. This is not a realistic conversation.
3. Recordings are stored in the cloud.
4. There is no integration with the SIS (accounts – getting students set up with accounts that can communicate back with the teacher is a challenge) and LMS (the Moodle integration is superficial).
5. Voicethread is not free. The ELTI, however, has a subscription. LCS does not.
6. LRC Support:
  1. We support Voicethread exercises with new and improved headsets.
  2. Help is available through the vendor.
Audacity:
1. for teachers and LRC staff and other language professionals:
  1. best free audio editor, also good for comparative grading. I routinely make my audio exam recordings with Audacity.
  2. LRC support: I have tips and tricks how you can use it in your teaching preparation and grading.
2. for language learners: not the recommended option, since Audacity has not a feature set geared towards language learning nor support for language assessment workflows:
  1. Language learners do no need an audio editor for speaking exercises, they need a recorder. If you are a language learner, it is not pedagogical to be able to technically edit and refine your audio recording. Rather rehearse, reflect on and repeat your audio recording, until you are happy with your language output.
  2. Audacity is too technical: It involves too many steps, options and settings for the students to record, save, export and name the audio and to get it to the teacher, and (if it is not uploaded into a Moodle assignment, which could then be a Kaltura assignment anyway, see above), too tedious for the teacher to manage and grade files.
  3. LRC Support:
    1. If your students are technically inclined, we do have Audacity installed in the LRC.
    2. Your students should not find it difficult to read the documentation. Here are my posts on Audacity.

Categories: Arabic, assessments, audience-is-teachers, e-languages, English, Farsi, French, German, Greek (modern), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Listening, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Speaking Tags: audacity, audio, oral-exams, sanako-study-1200, voicethread

How a Student takes a Moodle Video Assignment in the LRC

2011/09/22 plagwitz 2 comments

On one of the LRC iMacs, in the Safari web browser (open new window with COMMAND-key+n),
go to your Moodle course, (1) find the video Assignment, read the assignment instructions (what your teacher wants you to record). Then click underneath the (2) button: “Add video Assignment”, to open the (3) submission window:
Note that she will also have to allow the flash player to interact with her webcam first.
If you see no web cam video window, only a black frame, read in.
In the submission window, choose the tab “Webcam” (1), use the dropdown to select the camera hardware (2).
Check the headset microphone audio: The external headset microphone on the iMacs did not work., but now it does, provided you do this: control-click on Flash’s a video preview window (= the window where you see yourself like in a mirror) for the web camera, and click on “settings”.
- Click on the microphone icon :
- Make sure the USB PnP device is selected.
- You can bring up the settings dialogue, make sure the USB PnP device is chosen for audio and CRANK up the microphone input sensitivity! Then, by tabbing (don’t speak yet) on the headset microphone, test the volume levels with the built-in volume meter (should show lots of green bars when you tab). Unlike in the picture, do not choose “reduce echo ”.
Start (3) the video recording.
Afterwards, the student can review (4) her submission.
If you don’t like your first recording, (3) “record” over it and review again with (4) “Play”. If you do this and the video appears frozen, drag the timeline cursor forward to get the re-recorded video to play. If this does not seem to work, you are likely still able to submit your 2nd attempt, just not review it again.
Click through all the “Next”etc. buttons:
2. until you get to the feedback page for the student (caveat: in IE9, the video does not fit into the frame provided on the page).
3. Note, it warns you to be patient now:
LRC support:
1. Depending on your hardware (webcam), software and network support, you can record your language speaking video assignments on any device that has a webcam and a browser that supports flash – and even more devices, if you are willing to post process and upload the video clip.
2. If you run into problems or want to use a tested setup, we recommend using the LRC. Since our PCs have no built-in or added webcam (proposed), we can currently only use our 5 8 iMacs (see LRC Layout, see Classroom Calendar and iMacs Calendar for availability). Our (limited) tests worked better in Safari than Firefox.

Categories: Arabic, assessments, audience-is-students, e-languages, English, Farsi, French, German, Greek (modern), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Speaking, step-by-step-guides Tags: audio, kaltura, moodle, recording, video

Keyboard overlay stickers improve foreign character writing support in the LRC

2011/06/17 plagwitz 1 comment

Some non-western, but character-based languages benefit from having keyboard overlay stickers installed. Here is a list of what the LRC has:

Amount	Languages	installed@
3	Arabic	1 list. station, 2 rightmost computers in the front row of the left (teacher perspective) half of the main classroom
2	Farsi	2 rightmost computers in the middle row of the left (teacher perspective) half of the main classroom
1	Greek	1 list. station
3	Russian	1 list. station, 2 rightmost computers of the rear row of the left (teacher perspective) half of the main classroom

Here are photos of the Arabic and Cyrillic keyboards:

We installed the stickers, so that they reflect the software layout of the keyboard that you get when choosing the respective language from the international toolbar. Note that the letters marked in red on the Cyrillic keyboard picture below are not supported by the Russian keyboard layout:

Since only one set can be added to any existing physical keyboard, the teacher computer keyboard can not have an overlay. The student computers with overlays are the listening stations and computers 6,7,12,13,18,19 on the LRC layout map.

Remember that the On-screen-keyboard software remains accessible at all PC’s through clicking “Start”, “Run”, typing “OSK”, clicking "OK".

Example where you can get your own keyboard overlay stickers.

Categories: Arabic, audience-is-students, e-languages, Farsi, Greek (ancient), Greek (modern), Russian, student-computers, Writing Tags: FAQs, foreign-language-character-input, writing

Protected: How to conduct an easy oral exam with Sanako1200 (Model imitation/Question Response) – Part II: Implementation/instruction of examined students

2011/05/04 plagwitz Enter your password to view comments.

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How a teacher creates audio recordings for use with Sanako Student Voice Insert mode

Sanako comparative recording exercises using Moodle

How to do model imitation recording exercises to improve language learner pronunciation in the LRC and beyond

MS Universal Language Input Tool offers correction and transliteration on any web page

Speaking/Listening Assessments and Oral Exams: A comparison what the LRC has to offer

How a Student takes a Moodle Video Assignment in the LRC

Keyboard overlay stickers improve foreign character writing support in the LRC

Protected: How to conduct an easy oral exam with Sanako1200 (Model imitation/Question Response) – Part II: Implementation/instruction of examined students

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