Since LangLab has been mentioned on this board this past week, I'd like to 
make readers I have not notified separately aware that we recently put a new 
version (2.0) on our Web site http://www.elanglab.com as the downloadable 
demo. You may be interested in reading the extraordinarily enthusiastic 
review of it in the March issue of Language Magazine. This version is a 
multimedia four-skill solution: in structuring lessons, you can link to 
items in them any Web page or instructional resource in file form--video 
clips, longer audio files (e.g., streaming radio programs), image files, 
Powerpoints, documents with text and illustrations (perhaps a chapter of a 
textbook), etc. This capability lets you put the language in a cultural 
context and vary materials to keep students from getting bored. It also 
greatly simplifies secure remote access. The News page of our site has 
quotes from the review as well as a link to the article itself.
     For readers not yet familiar with LangLab, it is cross-platform 
software--a platform for teaching any language, and one that eliminates 
worries about what kind of computer students and faculty have outside the 
lab--usable in a computer room, on a LAN, or over the Internet. It combines 
self-paced work by the student with teacher-student interaction through 
real-time monitoring and a module for asynchronous feedback, letting 
instructors evaluate students' work (from home, for instance) and insert 
comments anywhere in a student's recording to guide the student. Easy-to-use 
authoring tools let instructors create lessons by structuring existing A/V 
and text materials or making their own. As those who have checked the price 
know, the cost of LangLab is a small fraction of that of other solutions 
with comparable functionality; we deliberately set out to make 
state-of-the-art technology affordable to a vastly greater range of 
educational institutions.
     Recent LLTI messages reflected interest in the pairing/grouping module 
we are going to inroduce later this year, and Thomas Plagwitz asked when it 
might be ready. Given the need for thorough beta-testing in actual classroom 
use, which we may not be able to do until our client and test site UC 
Berkeley resumes classes in August, my current estimate is around the end of 
the summer, but we cannot, of course, commit to a specific date.

    --Richard Laden
___________________________
Dr. Richard A. Laden
Director, E-LangLab, LLC
Berkeley, California
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