Date: November 26, 2014 at 4:41:59 PM GMT+2

From: Gavin Ng <[log in to unmask]>

Subject: (ADVTSG) WebSwami 3.0 Goes Mobile

To: <[log in to unmask]>

Cc: Gavin Ng <[log in to unmask]>

Dear Colleagues

We are excited to announce the release of WebSwami 3.0 including mobile.

WebSwami is a web-based language & communications training system with powerful and intuitive learning, grading and authoring tools. Video-rich, highly interactive and integrated with most leading LMS, the system is being used by universities, language schools and publishers worldwide:

• One-click webcam recording
• Integration with all leading LMS including Blackboard, Moodle and D2L
• One-of-a-kind centralised in-box for instructors displaying unmarked activities
• Collaborative learning through sharing and commenting on media files
• Only system with voice graph with stress AND tone
• Unique activities such as video matching and video simulation
• Authoring tools that enable even technical novices to create video-based activities

A 2010 CALICO review awarded WebSwami a near perfect 4+ out of 5 lauding WebSwami’s “innovative and effective use of web-based multimedia resources for language teaching” and states that from the learner’s perspective the system “could not be easier to use”. In summary it states that WebSwami’s greatest strength is “the seamless support it provides for doing audio/visual-based tutorial activities”, going on to say that the student record keeping system “far surpasses what is available in any other virtual learning environment”.

Building on the system’s existing strengths, WebSwami 3.0 sets a new benchmark in online language learning systems with a complete interface overhaul and going mobile:

• Mobile apps for iPhones/iPads and Android phones/tablets - true platform independence including all features from browser version, which increases accessibility, improves participation and course completion.  Includes video recording/voice-graph not in any other competitors’ apps.
• Completely rewritten browser version - highly responsive interface up to 10x faster than previous system.  Don’t just see, but also feel the difference.
• Customizable multi-language interface for increased immersion for foreign languages or localization for non-English speaking students (adaptable to institution terminology).
• Improved voice-graph visibility - easier to identify intonation and stress differences while comparing student recordings to models.
• Streamlined intuitive interface – new icons, even easier media playback/recording and slicker navigation, improving user friendliness.
• Course Progress Report - lists grades and lesson completion in easy to read charts.  Incomplete exercises listed for students – makes teachers’ reminders redundant, saving time.

To view a short video of the new release please click here http://www.webswami.com/images/stories/media/learner .

A couple of long-term clients give some feedback about WebSwami:

"Webswami is definitely helping my students to develop their speaking skills and also their confidence in speaking, which is key. I can also give feedback so that the student can improve and I can monitor individual progress in this skill. As a language teacher I have always done a variety of speaking activities in class, now I can easily set speaking activities to be done in class or as homework. It’s so easy to give feedback and being able to give oral feedback really helps the student, especially when they have pronunciation problems. As a teacher of exam classes, we want to give them as much practice as possible in exam oral situations i.e hearing (not reading) questions and responding spontaneously but we never have enough one to one time to do this. Now I use the simulation activities and they definitely help students in this.  I also like the way the students have their own bank of speaking work in one place, which is easily accessible for them and for myself as a teacher."

Vicky Berman
Head of Spanish at UWC South East Asia
(used to use VoiceThread and Quia)


“MyLinE, a language teaching website serving the needs of 20 public universities in Malaysia (and with 590,000 registered users is one of the world’s largest Moodle installations, and the largest specializing in language teaching), feels that WebSwami has given language instructors from across the country the opportunity to create personalised listening and speaking activities to meet the specific language needs of learners majoring in various disciplines of study, thus enriching the variety of speaking and listening activities for the learners. WebSwami allows language instructors to develop content with localised settings and specific issues in mind. The recording tools and the multiple attempts allowed give learners the opportunity to practice as much as they desire. This helps in allowing them to be responsible for their own learning. For pronunciation purposes, the presence of the voice-graph encourages the learners to continuously try to produce near-native pronunciation of words. All in all, WebSwami has been successful in addressing the listening and speaking needs of learners of English as a second language at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and at most of the 20 public universities in Malaysia.”

Fatimah Puteh
Language Academy
Univrsiti Teknologi Malaysia

If you would like to set-up an online demo and experience WebSwami 3.0 first hand then please contact Gavin Ng at [log in to unmask]. We’d be very proud to show you what WebSwami can do for your students’ learning and answer any questions that you may have.