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Introduction of NanoGong, free open source voice recorder for Moodle
- This is a brief summary outline of NanoGong (which has just been upgraded to version 4.1, which includes an installation file for our current Moodle version 1.9.8), would be a good audio recording add-on for language learning to install in our Moodle learning system. What follows is compiled from various online sources:
- “NanoGong is an applet that can be used by someone to record, playback and save their voice, in a web page. When the recording is played back the user can speed up or slow down the sound without changing it. The speeded up or slowed down version of the recorded sound can be saved to the user’s hard disk, if he/she wishes
- There are special features for programmers, such as the ability to show or hide parts of the NanoGong interface or to completely control what the applet does.
- The NanoGong applet has been released as an open source project since version 3. The picture below shows the NanoGong applet with all components shown. “
- “NanoGong provides a very simple and transparent voice support for Moodle. Using a NanoGong activity and a NanoGong filter NanoGong provides two different types of voice support for Moodle”:
- “An extended HTML editor which supports voice-enriched content”, “ enabling a voice recording option for virtually any Moodle activity entry that uses the wysiwyg toolbar”, as you can see here:
- ”A NanoGong activity which allows students to submit voice messages to their teachers”:
- Questions remain:
- You can customize the recorder applet: Need to check whether this includes the timestretching capability, given that language teachers can be averse to student-controlled,
- Need to check for capability of downloading batches of submissions from the student class and grade it with time-saving techniques, like described here using Audacity. A more sophisticated example that testifies to the same features required to get graders adopt increasing audio student submissions was Web Audio Lab, an authoring system for developing interactive audio-based language courses (Language Resource Center, Cornell University. 2003-2007):
- How could one implement a dual-track recorder using NanoGong, with the program track providing aural cues for a more natural oral interaction?
- Requires JAVA (test compatibility).
- There is no Moodle 2.0 version yet.
- NanoGong seems “a derivative of the Gong standalone voice board” – without similar requirements and issues? Gong can also be integrated into Moodle, seems more advanced, but also much more difficult to implement (requires a tomkat server; problems have been reported with losing course deletion functionality in Moodle, the authentication pass-through not working from Moodle and the audio graph not working in Moodle).
- As with any open source project, there are some move Ifs.
- However, Nanogong seems the free audio recording plug-in for Moodle which is currently most favored.
Moodle: Video Assignment
Kaltura has been integrated into our Moodle system to enable video upload as an assignment type. Teachers can upload videos already now. It seems that students will be able to upload videos starting with the fall term.
Video source can be a webcam which could be interesting for language proficiency assessment, including – if the pieces can be gotten out of Moodle and into an ePortfolio system – to demonstrate longitudinal progression in proficiency.
The videos get stored on the Kaltura servers and redelivered in form of a Flash plug-in – in between happens a transcoding so that results are not available immediately. You can see us waiting for it at the end of this Kaltura video assignment upload screencast demo:
UNCC showed off our use of Kaltura at Educause 2011. You can see example applications quoted in the attached Kaltura use slide deck.
Finally, here is a test and walk-through of an elementary language course homework assignment using Kaltura.
Sanako Study 1200
Study 1200 is the top of the line Sanako language learning product which comes in a number of lesser versions (Study 700, Study 500). You can get a feel for what this product does from this raw video from footage, shot during a vendor demonstration at EUROCALL 2009: Sanako-study-1200-version45-demo-eurocall.AVI. Or search this blog for other examples of using the Study 1200.
How to conduct an easy oral exam with Sanako Study-1200 (Model imitation/Question Response) – Part I: The exam administrator’s perspective
This 7-minute screencast explains how to operate the Study-1200 software interface to administer an oral exam, using as audio source the teacher, providing cues live:
- 0:00: from selecting the activity and program source,
- 1:50: over start and use of the autoscan screen control feature to monitor both audio and screen of the examined students
- 3:45: to ending the exam and automatic collection of the exam files.
For an implementation during an actual class-wide oral exam, see Part II of the Study-1200 oral exam.
Protected: How to conduct an easy oral exam with Sanako1200 (Model imitation/Question Response) – Part II: Implementation/instruction of examined students
How to design a classroom layout in Sony Virtuoso, and reflect it in the Sony Soloist
Teachers using a fully computerized classroom – as well as the installed language learning software itself (which, once set up, will help further by displaying the names of the students logged in on the student computers), – need to have an easy way to identify and address individual student computers.
Sony Virtuoso/Soloist, like the Sanako Lab 300, use an identification scheme which based on manual numberin of te student computers.
This requires the administrator to manually make a configuration change on each student computer when the software is first installed (and whenever the classroom is reimaged with upgrades).
Newer classroom mangement and langauge learning systems like NetOp SChool or Sanako Study can autonumber and –identify connected student computers.
To set up the student computers, start the Soloist from the desktop icon.
Press ctrl – shift –f10 to access the configuration dialogues. On tab: teacher control, 
in the text input field Seat number highlighted red above, put the number that corresponds to the attached seating map below.
NOTE: the seats in the center bottom forming a dent in the layout are intentionally left blank for he presenter computer and PC32.
The square in the upper right are the leftmost (teacher perspective) computers in our main lab – they would not fit better into the lab layout grid of the Sony Virtuoso Apprentice (higher versions have more flexible layout grids, I hear).
Webswami, a Moodle-compatible language learning platform for self access (homework, asynchronous distance learning)
What about improving language learning through technology during homework activities?
“The greatest strength of WebSwami lies in the seamless support it provides for doing audio/visual-based tutorial activities within an existing course management system, thus allowing anywhere/anytime access for lesson designers, instructors, and students alike. Its student record keeping system, in particular the integration [duplication] of a grade book with direct access to student responses and the support it provides for multimedia response feedback, far surpasses what is available in any other virtual learning environment. Most important, it manages all of this through well established, reliable, web browser and Flash software coupled with ubiquitous, inexpensive web camera hardware.” (review by Jack Burston for CALICO (pay-link, ask me for access); see also also the freely accessible review by İlhan İnçay).
Authoring and managing authored materials is not an easy task, but gives more flexibility than using textbook provided materials. WebSwami promises the possibility of exchanging learning materials through a materials bank.
View a recording of a recent WebSwami Online Demo.
Foreign Language Character Input on Windows XP in the LRC
The LRC offers the following foreign language characters writing support:
| American English | us international | not needed | us-int |
| Arabic | Google;MS;MS-maren;fontboard | maybe later, now osk | demo |
| British English | us international | not needed | us-int |
| Dutch | us international | not needed | us-int |
| Farsi | Google;MS | maybe later, now osk | demo |
| French | us international | not needed | us-int |
| German | us international | not needed | us-int |
| Greek | Google;MS | maybe later, now osk | demo |
| Italian | us international | not needed | us-int |
| Japanese | MS | not needed | |
| Korean | MS | maybe later, now osk | demo |
| Mandarin | MS;pinyinput | not needed | pinyin |
| Portuguese (Brazilian) | us international | not needed | us-int |
| Russian | Google;MS | maybe later, now osk | demo |
| Spanish | us international | not needed | us-int |
The support is best accessed from the “international toolbar”, like so: 
You can also use the windows on-screen keyboard to input non-Western characters on a computer that has not the corresponding keyboard overlay stickers. In the small-group workspaces, which have writing pads, you can also use the MS-Handwriting IME for East-Asian languages.
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Other ways to find help
If you cannot find it here, look there: 5,500 Language-Learning Links and Programs for learning or teaching 150 languages
Shortcuts:Our Lists, Our Maps, LRC Staff Moodle Site,LRC Project Moodle Site, 49erexpress, UNCC Moodle, Student Recordings: s:claslcslrcsanakostudent
Learning usage samples: Sanako oral exam, Kaltura webcam presentation, Dictation with speech recognition, Sanako written exam, Chinese and Japanese interactive stroke-order practice
Test the Sanako Installer, Webbrowser Popup Konfigurator for XP, or Windows7, faster LRC TeacherPC Log-in Let MS facilitate diacritics writing by installing for you US-International keyboard layout
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