--- Forwarded Message from Roberto Perez <[log in to unmask]> ---

>Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 09:47:56 -0400
>To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum               <[log in to unmask]>
>From: Roberto Perez <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: mic via computer
>In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>

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Hi all,

I have a question. Some students in our computer lab have complained that,
from the 3rd/4th road to the back, they cannot hear the instructor at the
front very well (the acoustic barrier of the monitors and CPU's, humming
noise, etc.). We have an LCD projector with good built-in speakers hanging
from the ceiling, in the middle of the room. The projector is hooked up to
the instructor's computer at the front. When we play CDs, for instance,
those speakers work very well to disseminate the sound from that central
point to the rest of the room.

Now, here's my question: is there any way (software/hardware/device) that
would allow a microphone to be connected to the computer, and send the
sound through the speakers, the same way the CD-Rom player does? It
wouldn't work if the speakers that are activated are the instructor's
computer's themselves, since that wouldn't change the situation (i.e., the
voice still would come from the front -whether speaker-mediated or not-
instead of the center of the room). 

We would need something simple to install and setup (if it is a software
solution, all the better), so that we can convince our lab administrators
to adopt that solution.

We are using Macs G4.


Thanks for any ideas/suggestions/pointers