--- Forwarded Message from Greg Kessler <[log in to unmask]> --- >From: Greg Kessler <[log in to unmask]> >Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2011 20:02:24 -0500 >Subject: Re: #9576.1 Anyone using the Gong Moodle Module? >To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum <[log in to unmask]> Hi All, I ran a java/tomcat server for Gong (generally within moodle, but sometimes outside of it) very soon after Gong was released until 2009 and it was typically reliable, but we had started having problems associated with the old/end-of-life versions of Tomcat and Java that Sue mentions. Of course, it is worth mentioning that this server was running under my desk for this sole purpose not centrally managed by the university. I introduced Gong to the ESL department at Ohio State a few years ago and they began using it on a very large scale and were extremely happy with it. For the two years we used it we had very heavy use and certainly fewer failures than our campus-wide Blackboard system is accustomed to. Anyway, we had been using nanogong that entire time as well, but initially it didn't include the activity module. For the past couple years we have been using only nanogong. Unlike Gong it requires no external server, just a very light applet. It has required a little bit of attention when upgrading to a new version of Moodle, but otherwise it has been very reliable and our teachers love it. In some cases we have teachers who have requested a Moodle site only to use the nanogong activity module. In fact, we have used it (along with Apple's free iChat software) to replace all the functionality of our audio labs so we never needed to justify the expensive upgrade from cassette labs to a digital lab. The nanongong activity creates a nicely organized table of student recordings with a space for comments from both teacher and student. Further, with the htmlarea nangong patch you can use it anywhere in Moodle where you can see the HTML editor. That was a major improvement for us and it gets used a lot. Of course there is now also PoodLL as well for recording audio and video. We have found that to be useful, but it is a bit more of a bandwidth hog. Hope this helps, Greg --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greg Kessler Ohio University Athens, OH 45701 http://ohiou.edu/linguistics/people/Kessler.html http://call.ohio.edu -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************** LLTI is a service of IALLT, the International Association for Language Learning Technology (http://iallt.org/), and The Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning (http://www.languageconsortium.org/). Join IALLT at http://iallt.org. Subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives at http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A0=LLTI Anthony Helm, LLTI-Editor ([log in to unmask]) ***********************************************