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How best to fit your class into the Sanako Study1200 Classroom Layout
- When started, the Study1200 Tutor will prompt for the classroom layout (computer and student icons in the right part of the Sanako window) that you want to load, like so:
- We have 2 classroom layouts preconfigured for common uses of the LRC
- “right-half”: only the right half, as viewed by the teacher, of the coed434 main classroom. If you come with smaller classes (<16), this will fit relatively nicely onto the screen.
- “template class” = all that can fit onto the screen which means:To fit students (and, more importantly, the reasonably sized thumbnails of their desktops) onto the screen (Sanako Tutor will not span both screens, at least not if they have different resolutions), we had to
- take the main classroom COED434
- break out the front 2 rows, break them apart in the middle, and turn them counterclockwise, like so:
- to achieve the following result in the Study 1200 classroom layout:
thumbnails of the 2 front rows barely fit the layout, remaining computers from the rear row are cluttering the bottom of the classroom layout. This severely limits the usefulness of this great feature, and is counter-intuitive, which is twice as bad when standing in front of (or here rather: behind) a class. We are working on getting a bigger secondary screen on the teacher podium. Since we will also eventually need more Sanako licenses to equip the whole classroom. So the secondary screen should be as big as we can possibly get for the podium: 1900*1200 would be 1.75 times what we have now. - To simplify this while we wait, we have numbered the seats (rather: the monitors) in the LRC according to the computer numbers. In the Study-1200 classroom layout, you can show the computer (names which end in these) numbers instead of the the student login names, by going to menu: tools / admin / change student names.
- if you classroom configuration changes,
- you can change the layout by reloading a preconfigured classroom layout file, like so:
- you can alter the layout on the right on the fly, by CTRL-SHIFT dragging student/computer icons
- If you have done this, on exiting, the study1200 tutor will ask you whether you want to save your changes to the layout. Feel free to do this, as longs as you save them in your personal tutor folder. Please do not overwrite existing layouts for all teachers.
- Classroom layouts are stored with the extension CCF, but are simply XML files. To preview or even edit them, You can open them in your preferred XML editor, like so in MS-Excel:
Subtitling language learning exercises with Sanako Study 1200 Student
I love to work with target language subtitles in the media-rich environment of the Language Resource Center: Target language subtitles provide readily available transcripts of non-ephemeral, often authentic target language to base language learning exercises on.
More and more target language subtitles are included in newer editions of movies. In addition, projects that crowd-source subtitles for other video materials, have sprung up on the web also, e.g. http://www.universalsubtitles.org/en/ . So if you just want the transcripts to build language learning exercises from, you have a variety of choices.
If however you think “Der Weg ist das Ziel” and the listening comprehension and writing activities in creating subtitles are valuable language learning exercises in themselves, the Sanako Student player comes with a subtitling mode:
In the following screencast I subtitle one of my own training screencasts (explaining how to access timestretched animated GIFs for practicing Chinese stroke order in the LRC environment) in a 3-step process: type along as fast as you can while listening to a first run of the screencast; listen to the screencast again and correct errors; finally, to adjust the timing of the subtitles (which the Sanako makes especially easy), listen to the screencast for a third time (talk about “massed presentation”).
Digital language lab audio configuration
Issues (BSODs) have been reported with simultaneously running USB sound-card driven headsets and on board audio, which have been alleviated by either USB soundcard driver updates or disabling the onboard audio or both.
To be safe, we do the latter, on this screen of the Dell-Optiplex-760-bios: f12 / System Setup / Settings / Configuration / Miscellaneous Devices (you need to push button “Unlock”and issue the BIOS password to make changes):
Dual audio is also a potential source of confusion for the user. This is the reason why we prefer hiding the MS-Windows Volume control icon in the notification bar – a setting in the control panel / sound and audio devices:
We rather stir the user to the Sanako student player audio volume slider as the single point of entry – and one which can be easily seen by the teacher: see Study 1200 teacher / PC Control / Show the student player).
This comes with added responsibility for the teacher, as the Sanako student player audio volume slider does not control the WAVE volume level. Ensure proper setting of the WAVE volume level AND proper source audio levels – or use our TBA:teacher lab audio control extensions to control the WAVE levels on student computers.
Interpreting Lab Vendors at BETT 2009
artec_main_bett2009.AVI (big, and you can find help here on How to play videos) is a quick-and-dirty video I shot during my visit to the ARTEC/TELEVIC booth at the British Educational Technology Tradeshow (BETT) 2009 in London 16/01/2009.
ARTEC demonstrated certain lab features (they had a live setup of a teacher and a number of student computers) for face-to-face teaching.
They also tried to show off a web-based add-on for self-access interpreting practice which you better try out yourself here, then browse to Demo edumatic online / demo online / audio/video comparative / comparative recording : an online dual band recorder.
If I have time, I will post an outline of this video here. In the meantime, you can add points you find notable to the comments below.
I also visited the booth of CONNECTED (SONY VIRTUOSO – they have their own WMV Demo Video ) and SANAKO (I put the CD-Rom in a SkyDrive folder sanako for the Interpreting-Group).
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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
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