#1 Re: #8058 Delivery of MP3 Files
We have replaced audio tape with digital recordings in our LRC. We have
40 Apple computers of several generations, all running OS X. Our
students use QuickVoice for their oral portfolio projects. The
interface is simple, and the recordings export as QuickTime audio
files. Students upload their saved recordings to their respective
professor's drop box on a networked file server. Faculty members access
student recordings from their office and home computers (both Win and
Mac) using a simple network connection. Even the most reluctant users
of technology have been very pleased with the efficiency of our
(relatively) new digital capability. Feel free to contact me if you
wish more specific information,
Louise
Dr. Louise E. Stoehr
Director, Modern Languages Learning and Resource Center
Stephen F. Austin State University
Nacogdoches, TX 75962
http://www.sfasu.edu/modlang
#2 Re: #8058 Delivery of MP3 Files
Hi Claire,
I introduced Audacity to my colleagues a year ago - and several times -
with all the bells and whistles (record in your time and office, send
file by email, upload on server etc..) it deserves; apart form people
interested in exploring new techniques, 80% teachers were still using
our analogue recording equipment (tapes and mixer) in our soundproof
recording room as they had been doing for the past decade. The recording
room (had to) disappear(ed) early this year to be replaced by a PC
self-access lab for independent learning. In the months that followed,
we have actually had very little mumble and grumble - unless I didn't
hear about it - and all in all teachers are now happily using Audacity
now. However the transfer to Audacity demanded and still demands a great
deal of availability on behalf of the support person; let alone when you
introduce something new to people starting with a great lack of
confidence and reluctance.
Have a special meeting in a computer lab and give them examples of how
the sounds can be used, involve your head of schools to push them along,
maybe? Keep it easy and get your IT department to install Audacity on
all language teachers PCs - even if they are not asking. When come the
right time introduce it on a one to one basis if need be.
Some teachers here are also using Blackboard to upload their files, but
students send their own recordings by email to their teachers toan
adress other than their staff address to avoid cluttering up the mailbox
-.
They also sometimes upload them on our server - restricted to their
language file - for teachers to collect and mark. Students use Audacity
on our Macs and Soloist on our PCs for pronunciation practice and
assignments, and are loving it.
Best regards
****************************
Edith Paillat
Language Technology Specialist
Language Learning Centre
Victoria University of Wellington
P.O.Box 600, Wellington
New Zealand
+64 4 463 5792
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/llc/about/projects.aspx
#3 Re: #8058 Delivery of MP3 Files
Claire,
You have several options to implement. It just depends which one has
less "hoops" to go through for your institution and department.
1. A web page linking to all of audio files. This depends who has access
to your web page the web master or you.
2. An ftp account can be created. Network Admin will have to create.
3. If you have a server within or computer with a large harddrive, the
professor can map to that shared resource once their network account has
been granted permission to do so.
4. If you have Blackboard, you can create a generic class for the
professors log into. This depends on who has control of the Blackboard
server. Or if your Blackboard Admin is open to the idea of uploading the
recordings into the actual class they came from, then the students can
download them as well for their review. You know the whole
self-assessment thing.
Jason Vance, Supervisor
Language Learning Center
Thomas Nelson Community College
PO BOX 9407
Hampton, Virginia 23670
757-825-2819(Office)
757-825-3807(fax)
#4 Re: #8058 Delivery of MP3 Files
Our students save their voice recordings to class folders on our MCX
(Managed Client for OS X) network. Teachers have the option of
accessing this class public folder and listening to these files from
any computer on our network; however, most of them prefer an
old-fashioned CD audio to listen to at home or in their office on a
boom box (teachers who are, in Claire's diplomatic language, "less than
thrilled about using technology"). We have a student worker or other
lab staff burn the students' MP4 audio files to CD, which is simple,
cheap, and takes just a few minutes, then deliver the CD to the
teacher's mailbox. We spend less time burning the files to CD than we
would helping a technically challenged teacher navigate the network and
play these files.
Also, there's a lot of talk about Audacity on this list. We've had
numerous problems with this freeware in Mac OS 9 and in OS X and have
opted instead for Sound Studio for OS X, which is not free but quite
reasonable. It has an interface that is much cleaner and more intuitive
than Audacity and it saves to MP4 (AAC), which is what we use for
compressed audio. It also offers AIFF-compressed and MP3 with the
installation of the LAME library framework.
We're currently using Sound Studio ver. 3.0 beta, but the full version
is available for order at http://www.freeverse.com/soundstudio/ .
Voice recordings are at the heart of what many in a language lab might
do, so why must this critical tool be free? We shell out an awful lot
for our OS, networking software, office suites, reference and pedantic
software, web, graphics, and A/V editing tools, etc., so why should we
primarily consider voice recording tools that are free? We're happy to
pay for a simple, sturdy app that performs this task exactly as we want
it to.
-John
___________________________________________
John de Szendeffy
Multimedia Language Lab
Center for English Language and Orientation Programs
Boston University
890 Commonwealth Ave., 2nd floor
Boston, MA 02215 USA
ph 617.353.7957
fx 617.353.6195
lab http://www.bu.edu/celop/mll/
personal http://people.bu.edu/johndesz/
"A Practical Guide to Using Computers in Language Teaching"
http://www.press.umich.edu/titleDetailDesc.do?id=97662
---------------------------
CELOP is accredited by the Commission on English Language Program
Accreditation. Accreditation by CEA signifies that an English language
program or institution has met nationally accepted standards of
excellence and assures students and their sponsors that the English
language instruction and related services will be of the highest
quality.
---------------------------
#5 Re: #8058 Delivery of MP3 Files
We use a QuickTime Streaming Server to deliver streaming audio and video
files. Our website divides content by language, book/course/etc., then
finally file. Each web link has a corresponding reference file that directs
the browser to the file on a separate streaming server. The files are of
the type .mov, and there are various codecs that can be used for delivery.
The web pages listing the content are typically accessible only after a
student authenticates against a Kerberos database (she enters her campus ID
and password, which uses Kerberos). The combination of streaming format and
password protection makes it easier to acquire permission to allow access to
the media.
The audio can be accessed anywhere with a web browser and (free) QuickTime
software, even down to a 33k modem, although we're looking at also making
some higher quality files that may require something like DSL or cable modem
service or better speed. We also have .WAV files on a Windows 2K3 server,
and Windows clients access these files through Sony Soloist software, which
creates a second audio track (upon opening a file) that allows students to
do listen/ record/ compare.
Bob Majors
Language Learning Center
University of Washington
#6
Hello,
Have you looked at Audio Portfolios? http://www.audioportfolios.com/
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#7
dl-recorder (available at http://schiller.dartmouth.edu/dl-recorder) can play
all types of MP3 files.
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