#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/ [log in to unmask] #7 dl-recorder (available at http://schiller.dartmouth.edu/dl-recorder) can play all types of MP3 files. [log in to unmask]