--- Forwarded Message from "Cahill, Linda E." <[log in to unmask]> ---
>From: "Cahill, Linda E." <[log in to unmask]>
>To: "'Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum'" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: RE: #5628.6 Lab Experience (!)
>Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 15:58:18 -0400
------------------
We're a small program: about 150 students, max. We teach five levels of ESL.
Courses offered are oral communication, written communication,
reading/writing combo for upper levels, conversation, and content courses.
We have one, two, or three sections of each level, each course.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: LLTI-Editor [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, July 21, 2000 8:27 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: #5628.6 Lab Experience (!)
>
> --- Forwarded Message from Heather Colwell <[log in to unmask]> ---
>
> >Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 01:15:04 -0400
> >From: Heather Colwell <[log in to unmask]>
> >Subject: Re: #5628.3 Lab Experience (!)
> >To: [log in to unmask]
>
> It would be interesting to know how many students and how many classes
> this
> lab serves.
> Thanks
>
>
> On Wed, 19 Jul 2000 08:12:59 EDT, LLTI-Editor <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> >--- Forwarded Message from "Cahill, Linda E." <[log in to unmask]> ---
> >
> >>From: "Cahill, Linda E." <[log in to unmask]>
> >>To: [log in to unmask]
> >>Subject: Lab description
> >>Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 13:04:20 -0400
> >
> >OK--here goes. In response to some requests from LLTI participants for a
> >description of our lab.
> >
> >University of Miami Intensive English Program Media Center
> >
> > We constructed our Media Center (MC) at the University of Miami
> >Intensive English Program in August 1999. Each workstation includes a PC
> and
> >a built-into-the-desk cassette deck. We have a seven-foot oval table and
> >chairs in the back of the room. In the corner of the room we have a small
> >office where the assistant director of the MC sits. That office was built
> >with two large square windows facing the entrance to the lab on one side
> of
> >the office and the front of the lab on the other side.
> > The oval table has worked out well as a study area. Students meet
> >there during independent hours. The office with the windows (no blinds on
> >the windows) invites students to use the assistant director as a resource
> >(an unanticipated dynamic, and something that took quite a bit of
> adjustment
> >by our assistant director). We also have student assistants to monitor
> the
> >MC.
> > We chose Dell 450 PCs and a Tandberg audio system. The Dells were
> >the recommendation of our IT department. We chose the Tandberg system for
> >several reasons: We didn't like the technical configuration of our former
> >system and we wanted a system whose features were somewhat intuitive (in
> >contrast to the incomprehensible interface and technical manual of our
> >previous system). After visiting a Tandberg lab, visiting a competitor's
> >lab, and watching a demonstration from a third manufacturer, we found
> >Tandberg's software and hardware to be the best. I posted questions to
> other
> >lab managers on the Web and got positive reviews of Tandberg performance
> and
> >a few complaints (one very serious) about the technology of one of
> >Tandberg's closest competitors.
> > We needed our lab built (total room renovation included), wired,
> and
> >ready to go in three weeks (during a semester break). Since we had this
> >tight timeframe, and since ergonomics were an important aspect of the
> lab,
> I
> >chose Synsor furniture, which has a sleek Scandinavian look, but a
> studious,
> >old-fashioned library look at the same time. Another motive for choosing
> >that furniture is that Tandberg is a distributor. That fact reduced the
> >chance that the technical equipment wouldn't fit the furniture, thus
> >minimizing the chances of the furniture being set up, and then finding
> that
> >things didn't fit, having to reorder and redesign, etc. The furniture
> worked
> >out perfectly. We have thirty carrels that are semi-enclosed by dividing
> >side panels that are lined to reduce noise, and a plexiglass, numbered
> front
> >panel.The PCs have MS applications, access to instructional software
> (from
> a
> >Dell server and a Meridian CD Net 14-bay CD server), Internet access, and
> a
> >stability device called Centurion. The Centurion has been critical to the
> >success of the lab. Essentially, it partitions a temporary drive for
> student
> >use. When the system is rebooted, the system refreshes itself. We are
> >currently testing another product, Fortres, which has one big advantage
> over
> >Centurion, i.e., we can stipulate one area on the hard drives of each
> system
> >that won't be refreshed when rebooted. We also have a Hewlett Packard
> >LaserJet 8000 N printer, which has proved to be perfectly adequate.
> > Our teachers bring classes into the Media Center as a regular
> part
> >of the curriculum. The Tandberg system is controlled from the teacher's
> PC,
> >as any traditional language lab. In other words, the tape decks are
> stopped,
> >started, etc., by the teacher using the Tandberg interface. It can also
> be
> >set in library mode so that students can individually control their own
> tape
> >decks. It has all the features that our teachers requested, and more
> (e.g.,
> >pairing students randomly or by selection, group conferencing,
> telephoning,
> >distributing a tape that's in the teacher's console to all or a group of
> >students in the lab; testing with the teacher's voice as the program
> source
> >and students recording from their carrel's cassette desks; testing with
> >tapes as the program source, etc.). Students are also free to come into
> the
> >Media Center to study independently. We keep the lab open three to four
> >hours after classes and an hour before classes. For independent study, we
> >added a Tandberg product called the Divace (soon to be updated to the
> >Tandberg "Duo" we hope), which we purchased experimentally and installed
> in
> >one row of our lab. The Divace (that's a Tandberg acronym) easily
> digitizes
> >analog tapes, compresses them with the same interface, and puts them on a
> >server. (I no longer have to worry about one tape out of the set of six
> >that's missing since the digitized "data" is duplicated on the server).
> >Another feature is that it has two tracks. In other words, a student can
> >independently come into the lab, sit at a system with a Divace, open the
> >interface, select a "tape" (now in digitized form) or digitized video,
> >listen, record his or her own voice (which would destroy an analog tape
> on
> >another system) and listen to his/her own voice. The Divace is
> >user-friendly, as are all the Tandberg interfaces. Our server is very
> small,
> >only about 10 gb, but we plan to add another 10 gb. It's runs Novelle.
> >When the teachers came back from their break to face a new system, they
> >panicked. After looking at other manufacturers' interfaces, I think it
> >probably would have been worse. After the first semester of Tandberg use,
> >the teachers felt comfortable, and they are using most of its features.
> >Students congregate here because the workstations are well
> >designed--conducive to whatever they want to do (study alone, collaborate
> >with the person next to them, use the PC and/or cassettes, watch a
> video).
> >They study independently more than ever, often using our Divaces.
> > We have four TV monitors attached to the ceiling from which we
> >project the videos (controlled at the teacher's workstation through the
> same
> >Tandberg interfaces). We also have a "Vizcam," essentially a camera that
> >projects but doesn't record. It's great to use not only as you would use
> an
> >overhead projector (better because it projects on the TV monitors and you
> >can project any image--your hand, a page from a book, rather than having
> to
> >use transparencies) but also because students can do presentations and
> >appear on "TV," which seems to inspire them.
> > The equipment almost never fails (teachers will claim technical
> >malfunction occasionally, but it is almost always pilot error). Things we
> >plan to add: a cable connection to run CNN at lunch time and lots of
> >web-based, teacher-authored material.
> >
> >Linda Cahill, PhD
> >Assistant Director for Learning Resources
> >University of Miami
> >Intensive English Program
> >[log in to unmask]
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: john w harris [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> >> Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2000 9:42 AM
> >> To: Cahill, Linda E.
> >> Cc: Ursula Williams
> >> Subject: Re: #5628.2 Language Lab experience (!)
> >>
> >>
> >> On Tue, 18 Jul 2000 08:01:56 EDT LLTI-Editor
> <[log in to unmask]>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >> > --- Forwarded Message from Ursula Williams <[log in to unmask]> ---
> >> >
> >> > >In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
> >> > >References: <[log in to unmask]>
> >> > >Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 14:13:42 -0500
> >> > >To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum
> >>
> >> > <[log in to unmask]> >From: Ursula Williams
> <[log in to unmask]>
> >> > >Subject: Re: #5628.1 Language Lab experience (!)
> >> >
> >> > ------------------
> >> > >--- Forwarded Message from "Cahill, Linda E." <[log in to unmask]>
> ---
> >>
> >>
> >> Linda,
> >>
> >> I second Ursula's interest in your program and want to know your answer
> to
> >> her
> >> question, "What's your secret?"
> >>
> >> John
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> > >
> >> > > >From: "Cahill, Linda E." <[log in to unmask]>
> >> > > >To: "'Language Learning and Technology International Information
> >> > >Forum'" <[log in to unmask]>
> >> > > >Subject: RE: #5628 Language Lab experience
> >> > > >Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 16:17:10 -0400
> >> > >
> >> > >------------------
> >> > >Our lab is the most popular aspect of our program. Would you like a
> >> detailed
> >> > >description of the lab/program? Would that help?
> >> > >
> >> >
> >> > I for one would love to hear more about this, Linda. We have an
> >> > active lab at Notre Dame, but not as active as I would like to see,
> >> > given the large number of students completing foreign language
> >> > courses. There are always methods and strategies to promote the use
> >> > of the lab, and to make it more effective. Indeed I have a list of
> >> > benefits that I routinely quote when asked (and sometimes when not!)
> >> > But we are a long way from "most popular." What's your secret? Maybe
> >> > you could share with the list?
> >> >
> >> > Ursula
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> >
> >> > Ursula Williams http://www.nd.edu/~uwilliam
> >> > Director
> >> > Language Resource Center http://www.nd.edu/~lrc
> >> > 201 O'Shaughnessy Hall
> >> > University of Notre Dame
> >> > [log in to unmask]
> >> > Notre Dame, IN 46556-5639
> >> > 219.631.5881
> >>
> >> ----------------------
> >> John Harris
> >> Orlean Bullard Beeson Professor of Education
> >> & Associate Provost for Quality Assessment
> >> Samford University
> >> Birmingham, AL 35229-7020
> >> (205) 726-2674
> >> (205) 726-2908 FAX
> >> [log in to unmask]
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