--- Forwarded Message from John de Szendeffy <[log in to unmask]> ---
>To: LLTI-Editor <[log in to unmask]>
>From: John de Szendeffy <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2005 15:15:20 -0400
>Subject: Re: #8058.2 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.
---------------------------
Claire Sandler <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I am wondering how others have organized accessibility to
> student-recorded MP3
> files. Currently our students record themselves on audio tapes which
> they
> turn-in to their professors. I would like to use Audacity/LameLib to
> move this
> work onto the computers, but I'm not sure how to deliver it to
> professors who
> are less than thrilled about using technology. Have you created a
> webspace?
> emailed sound files? used Blackboard? Any ideas would be welcome!
> Thanks,
> Claire
>
> Claire Sandler
> Coordinator, Language Learning Center
> Modern Languages Department
> 151 Regina Hall
> Saint Mary's College
> Notre Dame, IN 46556
> 574-284-5376
> http://www.saintmarys.edu/~llc/
> [log in to unmask]
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