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Archive for the ‘e-languages’ Category

Windows 7 US-English with German language pack

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Just to make sure, we are still in EDT… Smile (and the date and other formats do not get changed with the display language either, but so does help and feedback). image

Can you find the error in Microsoft’s German localization in the command line window? Post it below.

How to do successful Moodle-Kaltura webcam recording assignments

Kaltura turned out to have a number of limitations, and we have some of our own in the LRC. Both required some debugging and finding of workarounds, which you can benefit of if you follow carefully our step-by-step guides for teachers or for students.

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Does Pinyinput reset the default input language to Chinese?

2012/06/29 3 comments
  1. Update: We are in the process of switching from Pinyinput (for other reasons), but I have a new suspicion what may cause the input language switch to Chinese on our teacher computer: Sanako Study 1200 tutor?
  2. Problem: We observe that the default input language on a computer (Windows XP service pack 3, numerous input languages, US international is supposed to be the default)gets reset to Chinese whenever we log on. Numerous attempts to reset the default input language have not had any effect, despite the computer not being frozen.
  3. Possible cause:
    1. There was no configuration change that I can remember was done immediately before this behavior cropped up. Other computers that have the same base configuration but are deepfrozen do not display this behavior.
    2. However, here is a wild guess for a cause: We have Pinyinput installed, a keyboard layout to facilitate typing Pinyin tone marks. It is advised to be installed under US-English input language since installing it under Chinese causes some [edit: only font display, I was reminded by the developer] problems with MS-Word.
  4. Possible workarounds to be tested:
    1. Is this admonition that Pinyinput should not be installed under input language Chinese still up to date with Windows 7, Office 2010 and the current version of pinyinput? If not, try installing Pinyinput under Chinese in Windows 7?
    2. Freeze the computer while it does not display this behavior.

Making audio cues for model imitation/question-response oral exams with Sanako Study 1200

We can easily record and post-process audio files in the LRC for use with the Sanako Study 1200 oral exam activities.

This can work not only  for outcome exams (course- or chapter-wise), but also or formative assessment:

Think converting your textbook-based “drills” into Sanako, like repetitively recapitulating the newly acquired vocabulary item “donut” with different cues:

Example: “What can you do with [student can enter her favorite new vocabulary item for the current class] on [teacher can ask for one social web service after the other that her students likely are familiar with]?”. In response, student has to practice vocabularry item by forming sentences that fit the vocabulary item that fit like in the whiteboard example.

We can add to these recordings the features explained in the slide below.

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I’d be happy to play you examples from this slide – and more – in the LRC (not to be published here so that the exam files can be reused).

How the LRC supports Second Language Acquisition (all 4 skills) and testing using computers, and provides requisite documentation and training

Table of contents for 2 screencasts of a presentation, left screen slides/no audio, right screen/speaker audio – best viewed side-by-side.

Time in LRC-report-speaker

Time in LRC-report-slides

Topic

Subtopic

0:00

Overview of LRC activities

0:00

0:40

SLA reading

0:02

1:10

SLA writing

1:00

high-stakes quiz screencast: http://goo.gl/AaGrK

3:40

Movie caption exercise generation using NLP

5:45

2:35

SLA listening

Text-to-speech Deskbot

7:15

4:00

example of time-stretched audio

10:00

10:10

SLA speaking

Moodle Kaltura for webcam recordings homework assignments

12:30

Sanako oral exams

15:00

Example of oral exam material

16:40

15:45

Classroom management systems

27:15

Outlook: LRC as proficiency assessment/testing center, outreach/service to high schools

16:40

Example of oral proficiency exam

28:30

Needed additions: video streaming to students, video recordings from students

30:10

Question period

30:10

LRC media repositories

33:30

Infrastructure work:

Year1:Ghost+imaging

33:35

Year2:LRC calendars (room reservation, equipment circulation, staff timetabling)

34:25

Outlook: things that need to be fixed in LRC calendars

39:25

39:45

19:45

LRC Blog

39:45

Querying tags and categories

45:00

tags, categories, RSS feeds displayed in internet explorer tag display,

55:20

Using tags/categories searches of the LRC blog in training teachers and students

57:25

Q:TOEFL, AP exams and other oral proficiency assessment –

58:45

Webcape placement exams and other written exam in the LRC

59:30

Q:Concurrent exam scheduling

Sanako has no scheduling system to allow a limited number of users to take an exam simultaneously (but it prevents users beyond the licensing seats to use the Sanako, including for exams), Scheduling plug-ins seem to be available for Moodle.

61:40

Outlook: Need more licenses for the Sanako to match the UNCC class size

Using NLP tools to automate production and correction of interactive learning materials for blended learning templates in the Language Resource Center. Presentation Calico 2012, Notre Dame University

How to easily merge MP3 files

  1. There are many ways, including many that are easier than doing it manually in Audacity.
  2. MergeMP3 is a free and easy one that worked here: mergemp3

Spring 2012 Faculty Workshop II: Oral Proficiency testing with Audacity/Sanako

  1. View screens (best viewed side by side, but note that left and right screen are not synchronized):
    1. for full slide show (note the included short links for convenient further reading), left screen
    2. for Sanako interface and full audio track, right screen.
  2. Table of contents:
    1. Overview of a Sanako Oral Exam
    2. Examples of Exam teachers’ exam question recordings
    3. Example of a Sanako Exam
    4. Loop induction
      1. creating an exam question recording
      2. by taking a Sanako exam as a student
    5. Step-by-Step of administering a Sanako oral exam
    6. Grading Sanako oral exam student files
      1. Sanako voice insert for
        1. facilitating recording oral assignments for student without hard-coded pauses
        2. commenting on student responses during grading
    7. Sanako authoring tool for providing visual on top of aural cues to students
  3. workshop-2012-2-sanako-ppt-thumbnails