--- Forwarded Message from Christopher Stormer <[log in to unmask]> ---
>Date: Wed, 09 May 2007 09:14:54 -0500
>From: Christopher Stormer <[log in to unmask]>
>Organization: Language Learning Center
>User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.0 (Windows/20070326)
>To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum
<[log in to unmask]>
>CC: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: International broadcasts
>References: <[log in to unmask]>
>In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
Pat--
We have satellite programming set up in our lab-- we have an old-style
analog dish set up to receive Deutsche Welle, but we get other
programming (Spanish, Italian, Russian, French) via DISH network dishes
just like you'd have on your house. DISH actually has a fairly good
deal for non-residential educational use.
Up until this semester, we'd been doing the VCR timer thing and
switching tapes on a schedule, which worked out well, despite the
occassional error or tape mix-up (such as forgetting to set the VCR
clock back for Daylight Savings time!) VHS tapes are easy to come by
and can be played just about anywhere, so this is a big plus.
This semester we got a computer-based PVR setup (PC is just a standard
PC desktop equipped with a TV tuner card, DVD Burner, and the BeyondTV
software) and have been able to set up timers to record programs to
digital files (think TiVO but on a PC), which we can then copy out to
our media server for use in our lab classroom, or burn to DVD. I
personally like this setup much better because it really is "set it and
forget it", and since we're mainly taping current events like news
broadcasts, we generally only keep the files for a few days anyway-- and
the software lets us automatically only keep the last 3 or 4 days of
each program. I set up a simple batch file to copy the files to our
media server as they're recorded (and to delete the old ones), and this
means that any of our computers in the lab can have access to any of the
shows we record. If an instructor needs a copy for classroom use, it's
easily enough burned to a DVD-- for example, one of our French
instructors just used the TV5Monde news broadcast from Sunday evening
(with French election results) as a video based final exam on Monday
afternoon!
Let me know if you'd like more specific details about our setup-- I'd be
happy to share whatever information I have.
Cheers,
Chris
--
---------------------------------
Christopher Stormer
Director, Language Learning Center
Saint Louis University
Ritter Hall 325
220 North Grand Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63103
tel. (314) 977-3644
fax. (314) 977-1495
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http://www.slu.edu/colleges/AS/languages
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