The DLC (Digital Language Center) coordinated by
Elisa Goldsmith and Mark Sheeran
subscribe cu-seeme-schools
subscribe cu-howto
end
A to W in the DLC
an explanation for visitors of what goes on in the Nobles Digital Language Center and tech tips for DLC teachers
Hello visitors!
We always love visitors
1) you can have plenty of time observing and walking around
2) time for all of us at Nobles tends to be rather frenetic .. of course we will tour you and answer brief questions, but we always tell visitors that we cannot sit down for a big chunk of time and talk through things in 60 minutes style
3) we also need to require you and your dept head to look through the following web pages before coming .. the first THREE are PUBLIC . the last two require a login of GUEST and password of TEMP51 .. both should be in LOWERCASE .. feel free to print them out .. they will make your visit more productive because you and your colleague(s) will be that much more informed before coming
Rachel Nance’s e-mail address is nance@nobles.edu; please give her at least 2 weeks notice in terms of finding a date of mutual convenience ... Steve Bergen
http://www.summercore.com/DLC.html
http://www.summercore.com/Foreignlang.html
http://www.nobles.edu/technology/special/dlc.html
http://nobilis.nobles.edu/nobles_only/info/documents/curr_guide/Language.html
http://nobilis.nobles.edu/nobles_only/academics/courseware/DLCy2k.html
... an explanation of what goes on in the Nobles Language Lab
... some helpful tech hints to guide you through
A is for Analog Voice Recording
- we own 25-30 good quality analog tape recorders; over the years, we have realized that analog voice recording has its place in a DLC along with digital voice recording
- great for students to hear their own voices. Mark Sheeran says his students have appreciated being able to hear how they sound
- activities range from students typing a dictee in Appleworks (formerly ClarisWorks) and then reading it onto a tape, reciting the alphabet, or preparing for the AP exams
- in the first few years of the DLC, we used digital recording exclusively and hit much frustration; now, most DLC teachers use analog voice recording and have one audio tape labeled for each student with a box of tapes for each teacher
Tech Tips for Analog Recording:
- Make sure the recorder is plugged in to the wall.
- Plug in the BLACK end of your headphones to the place that says EAR on the side of the recorder; leave the RED end of your headphones DISCONNECTED from both the recorder and the computer. The reason is that the tape recorder has a high quality built-in microphone therefore you do not need the microphone plug from the headphones
- Make sure the volume is up.
- Make sure the ALC (automatic level control) switch is at the “In” position and the VOX switch is at the “out” position.
- When you put in your tape, rewind to the beginning and press play and record at the same time; you might want to set the counter to be zero at this time
- Let your tape play and record for 10 seconds before you start to speak.
- The microphone is on the lower left corner of the tape machine...speak there!
- Say your name and the assignment at the beginning of every exercise you record!
A is for Appleworks formerly called ClarisWorks
- use this for students to type a dictation they are reading, or to do written work when in lab
- use this for the wonderful Spanish and French dictionaries
- use this for fast typing of accent marks with the macros we have made
- we have wired the F1 to F12 buttons on the DLC keyboards to allow shortcuts to these symbols
F1=é F7=ñ
F2=è F8=ö
F3=î F9=í
F4=¡ F10=ó
F5=¿ F11=ë
F6=ç F12=ô
Tech Tips
- here are steps for changing from English to Spanish or French dictionaries
-go to the Edit menu and choose “Writing Tools”
-then choose “Select Dictionaries”
-from this menu, you can pick either the Français-Orthographe option, or the Español- Orthografia option.
- these dictionaries (Français-Orthographe, Español-Orthografia) are in the ClarisWorks folder within the System Folder; these were purchased in addition to the software and do not automatically come with your Appleworks application at home
- when recording macros in Appleworks/ClarisWorks that you want preserved for all users, the trick is to make the macro DOCUMENT SPECIFIC, then broadcast it to all machines with Network Assistant, then load that document and un-X the DOCUMENT SPECIFIC attribute
Type the Acute Accent ´ Push OPTION-e, then release and type the e or other letter you want to accent, for example— école.
Type the Circumflex Accent ^ Push OPTION-i, then release and type the i or other letter you want to accent, for example— maître.
Type the Grave Accent ` Push OPTION-`, then release and type the e or other letter you want to accent, for example— lèvre.
Type the Spanish symbol ¡ Push OPTION down and then type 1 whenever you want to get the upside-down exclamation mark ¡ symbol.
Type the Spanish symbol ¿ Push OPTION-SHIFT down and then type ? whenever you want to get the upside-down question mark ¿ symbol.
Type the Symbol ç (cedilla) Push OPTION-c whenever you want to get the cedilla, for example— façade.
Type the Tilde Accent ~ Push OPTION-n, then release and type the n or other letter you want to accent, for example— mañana.
Type the Umlaut Accent ö Push OPTION-u, then release and type the o or other letter you want to accent, for example— Böblingen.
Using the DOCUMENT SPECIFIC feature of ClarisWorks macros, you can do the following
(1) Find someone who has created a set of macros for French or Spanish or whatever.
(2) Have that person make the macros on his/her machine to be DOCUMENT SPECIFIC as part of a fake document.
(3) Have that person send you via e-mail or floppy disk that fake document that contains those macros; or even better, post onto a bulletin board
(4) Now you load up that file and change all of the macros to be NON-DOCUMENT SPECIFIC by un-X ing the box for each of the macros. This will insure that all of these macros are now part of your computer regardless of what ClarisWorks document you are using
B is for Burning CDs
-a new thing to most of you, but it's working wonderfully and is very easy to do!
- in February 2001, we burned 3 language CDs (french, spanish, japanese) that incorporate grammar exercises and poetry readings for students to use in the classroom and practice at home
Tech Tips
- we use UltraRecorder for recording audio and we use Toast by Adaptec for burning the CDs
- the specs when voice recording for a CD in UltraRecorder is: 16 bit, 2 channels, 44.100 khz with file type AIFF
To burn an Audio CD:
- there are two types of CDs to burn; the first is a CD-R which can only be recorded on once, the second is CD-RW which can be recorded on over and over again
- plug the CD drive into the side of the computer in the USB port and turn the power switch on in the back
- restart the iMac (not always necessary)
- load Adaptec Toast
- within Toast, change the top square button bar from "Files and Folders" to say "Audio CD"
- click on the button "Audio" to the right of the screen
- click on "Add" at the bottom left of the screen and then navigate to the audio files you want to put on the CD
- when you are finished, click on "Done"
- now you are back at the first screen, and you can click "Write CD"
- at the next screen, check to make sure the speed = 4x
- then click on "Write Disc"
- the CD will begin to burn itself and then will ask you to eject it when it's finished
C is for CD-ROMS
- many teachers have used the projector and the cd-roms in their class
- our CD ROM collection includes Rosetta Stone (all languages), StarFestival (5 copies, Japanese), Musée d’Orsay (french), Tour de Paris (french)
-Tomoko has a great Japanese CD (Star Festival) that she has had on and off success with
- it is great to have 3 or 4 different CDs to use during one period and have students rotate to the different stations in groups of 2-3 so that they can practice with all of the different CDs. Sarah Klein did this successfully in one of her classes.
- some of the ones we own: Asterix, Encuentros a lo Vivo French Pronunciation, Language discovery Learn To Speak French Learn to Speak Spanish (missing) Let's Visit France Let's Visit Spain Louvre (the Met museum, 10/98) Pris Sur Le Vif Salamandre: Chateaux of the Loire (Laser Disk) Tanabata-the star festiva
Tech
- these CDs occasionally require foolproof to be turned off
D is for the Digital Camera
- We own two Mavica (by Sony) digital cameras that take stills and short movies up to 60 seconds with low quality; these MPEG movies can then be posted on our web site using our video streaming server
- We own a Canon Digital Camera that will take movies up to 30 minutes in length; these high quality movies can be manipulated using iMovie and then transferred to a VCR tape
- primarily used by Tomoko Graham
- samples can be found on www.summercore.com/vsupdate.html
Tech Tips
- the Mavica cameras store JPEG pictures on a floppy disk (1 megabyte)
- the size of the Canon movies is over 1 megabyte for just 10 seconds (30 minute movie=3.5 GB)
To Record a Movie with the Canon Digital Camera:
- remove the lens cap
- open the viewing panel on the left side of the camera
- put the tape in VCR mode (the red circular button at the back of the camera) and rewind the tape to the beginning (if you're starting a new movie and don't care about the rest of the thing that are on the camera)
- to record, move the red circle switch to the movie option
- press the red button in when you are ready to record
- press the red button again to stop recording
- you can zoom in and out by using the wide angle and telephoto dial that is just below the eyepiece on the back of the camera
- the camera is set for automatic focus
- you can download the movie through iMovie using a firewire cable
E is for Ejercicios Generales
-- published by XXX and available through XXX
- this is a program similar to SML used frequently in the Spanish classes mainly for grammar exercises
- primarily used by Jaime Ocana and Bill Gilbert
it uses a program called Spanish Partner, which means maybe it's published by them too? i'll ask the spanish teachers if they know where it came from
G is for Grammar Web Sites
-there are many grammar web sites out there that have been used with success by many of the classes.
-for French links:
http://www.ccsf.cc.ca.us/Departments/Language_Lab/frlinks.htm
-for Japanese links:
http://www.ccsf.cc.ca.us/Departments/Language_Lab/jalinks.htm
-for Spanish links:
http://www.ccsf.cc.ca.us/Departments/Language_Lab/splinks.htm
- primarily used by Nina DeSimone, Sarah Klein and Jacqui Cronin
I is for iMovie
- iMovie is very useful for saving and editing movies taken with the digital camera (Canon).
- you can add subtitles (), transitions, sound effects, soundtracks
- you can export to QuickTime and a VCR tape
Tech Tips
-every time you want to start something new, the FIRST step is to go to the File menu and choose “New Movie”
- how to transfer an IMovie from the computer to a VCR tape: export the movie from the Mac back to the camera using the direct cable; then play the movie using the S-video cable connecting to the VCR
N is for Network Assistant
- this Mac software allows for file transfer, locking and installing software, distributing sounds, file management, shutting down the computers, and communication between teachers and students
- it also allows the teacher to ‘eavesdrop’ on their students screens and check mistakes
- used experimentally by Jaime Ocana for sharing audio
Tech Tips
- always double check the carrels you have highlighted when transferring files or shutting down the machines
- there’s an option to delete the hard drives of all machines, which is VERY dangerous! Don’t try it!
N is for NoblesNet
- our First Class Gold software allows for posting and recording sounds
- this software is on all of the machines in the DLC, including the office machine, and the machine upstairs in Baker 209
- several DLC teachers maintain active bulletin boards with assignments, turn-ins and sounds (Amadou Seck, Bill Gilbert, Sarah Klein)
Tech
- here is how to voice record when on NoblesNet using First Class Gold:
- first, make sure your sound is set to the appropriate option (either Sound In, or Built In Mic, or External Mic) in your sound control panels...then...
-start a New Message in NoblesNet
-click on the sound icon, which is on the very right of the bar of icons at the top of a message
-a new window will appear above the body of your message
-click on the red square button and then start speaking
-when finished speaking, click the red button again
-test your recording by pressing the green arrow button
Then you can send your message around!
People can only hear the message if they have the First Class Gold Software on their computers as well.
P is for PCs (Accent Marks)
On most Windows 95 or 98 computers, you will find CHARACTER MAP within programs, within accessories. On Windows 98 computers, you might find them within System Tools within Accessories. Once you find character map, put it on the START MENU or on the DESKTOP for convenience.
Write down on a label your favorite keyboard short cuts and stick the label on your computer; character map reveals these four digit numbers conveniently. Typing these numbers involve holding down the ALT button and then typing in all FOUR digits, including the leading zero, then releasing the ALT button. These are NOT the regular numbers from 1 to 9 at the top of your keyboard, but are instead the NUMERIC KEYPAD numbers usually on the right side of the keyboard. By the way, if you are on a laptop, these numbers are frequently on the keyboard itself via the letter keys. Activating NUM LOCK might be the key for you for enter these numbers.
ALT 0233 yields é (accent aigu)
ALT 0232 yields é (accente grave)
ALT 0241 yields ñ (n tilde)
When in Microsoft Word, choose SYMBOL under the INSERT menu. You will then see the screen above (SYMBOL TAB) and the screen below (SPECIAL CHARACTERS TAB). Each time you click on a symbol (e.g. é) you will see the Shortcut Key (e.g. control ' followed by e) “whispered at the bottom of the screen.” If you want, you can wire this to be F5 or any other function key by clicking where it says Shortcut Key!
P is for Printing (black/white or color)
- we have two laser printers in the corner called “DLC-Magique Printer” and “DLC Magic Printer #32”
- we have a color printer next to the iMac in the DLC office, which anyone is welcome to use at any time, for any of your classes
Tech Tips when you can’t Print
- Go to Chooser under the Apple Menu.
- Click on “LaserWriter 8”, “Baker Building” and make sure either “DLC-Magique Printer”, or “DLC Magic Printer #32” is highlighted. After you single click to highlight one of the two printers, you do not need to do anything else!
- Back in your document, when you click print, make sure the same printer you chose under the chooser is the one you’re printing to.
P is for Powerpoint
- we have copies on alternating Macs as well as the teacher stations
- students have done presentations on Spanish authors and different countries
- we use the projector and teacher's station for presentations
- students and teachers have used the scanner to prepare images for their powerpoint presentations
R is for Real Player Streaming Videos
- Mark Sheeran has frequently downloaded a streaming video and then used Network Assistant to broadcast it
- XXX I’ll ask Mark about this and then flesh it out...
S is for Satellite TV
- some very good French programs on it according to Mark Sheeran and Elisa Goldsmith who use this technology a good deal
- other teachers use this when students have finished their work, or as an introduction to the class
- it is also nice to just have it on to an appropriate channel when the students walk into the classroom.
- there are lots and lots of Spanish channels that I would love to have feedback on from someone who understands Spanish! <smile>
Tech Tips
steps and hints for taping from the satellite TV
- the guide button on the remote control shows you what shows are on what channels
- the input button on the TV must be toggled to “Ext” in order for the satellite to work
- the satellite should never be turned off
- turn on the TV
- choose the satellite channel you wish to tape by doing the following:
- press the Guide button on the remote control - this will give you a listing of all the channels and what is playing at that time
- to skip a page down or up, use the arrow keys at the bottom of the remote control
- to choose a channel, use the arrow keys in the middle of the remote to get to that channel and then press select
- we can only view the channels that are in gray
- turn on the VCR, insert a blank tape
- press record and play on the VCR
- when finished, press stop, your tape is ready!
S is for Scanning
-we have an HP color scanner in the DLC, next to one of the teacher’s stations
-on the computer with the scanner there is ColorIt! software that is useful in editing scanned pictures
Tech Tips
To Scan a Picture:
- make sure scanner power is on before turning on the computer -- if it’s not, turn on the scanner and then restart the computer
- place picture to scan face down in the top right hand corner of the scanning bed
- press green button on the front of the scanner
-if this doesn’t load scanning software, double click the “HP Scanning Software” icon on the desktop
- click scan
- click options. choose Color Photograph (normal) to reduce the file size.
- get preview and use the flashing rectangle to designate the area you want to scan
-click on Options and then choose the ruler on the left. This allows you to resize the selected area (choose custom) and shrink the file size to be under 100K!
- click accept, and then click ok to floppy disks
- save file in your folder on the desktop, on a disk, or in your file server folder--if you want to keep it permanently, then definitely save onto a disk or your file server folder
Save scan in pict format, so the file name should read “nancephoto.pict”
- to open image, double click on the icon (where you saved it) and choose ColorIt! when it asks what program you want to open it with from ColorIt! you can edit and print your picture
Place image on the scanner in the upper right corner near the green arrow. Make sure scanner is powered on. Push green button at the front of scanner which automatically loads the software, assuming scanner has been turned on BEFORE the Mac. If not, then open HP PictureScan Software in Special Software. Click SCAN (to preview what's in the scanner). Click Options. Choose Color Photograph (Normal) to reduce file size. Use Funky Rectangle Marquee Tool or Lasso to select the area of the image you wish to actually scan. This will further reduce File size. Finally (and most importantly) click on OPTIONS and then choose the ruler on the left. This allows you to resize the selected area (choose CUSTOM) and shrink the file size to be under 100K, a common spec in various CP courses!
S is for SuperMacLang
-almost everyone uses this for grammar, vocabulary and quizzes
-able to attach sound and video files (and with the digitizing available again, you can do new videos!)
-has grammar exercises that have been used since the beginning of the DLC, as well as some great new exercises that teachers are creating specifically for their curriculum
Tech Tips
To create a new SML exercise:
- open SML author (on the teachers stations and the iMac in DLC office)
- click on the Exercise menu, and choose Exercise parameters and change the parameters to meet your needs.
- click OK when finished
- click on the Item menu
- click Add New Item
- choose which sort of exercise you want this to be (Fill In, Jumble, Column Match, or Multiple Choice)
- you can have all 4 choices in one exercise by going to Item and choosing Add New Item more than once
- after you start typing any of the questions you can add a new item by going to the Item menu and choosing Add New ____ Item
- it is important within every exercise to go to the menu choice at the top that corresponds to the type of exercise you are doing (for example, go to the Fill In menu when doing a Fill In exercise)... this is where you will mark words to be filled in or scramble your words for the jumble
- you can simulate student mode by going to the Exercise menu and choosing "simulate student mode"
- when you are finished, you can save the exercise and use Network Assistant to send it around to all the carrels
S is for Storybook Weaver
-everyone has been getting great mileage out of this recently!
-can be used to enforce different tenses and new vocabulary
-students can use the projector and teacher’s station to read and show their stories aloud to the whole class
U is for UltraRecorder
-UltraRecorder is our digital voice recording software
-teachers use this to record a dictation or sounds and then using network assistant they send it to all the carrels
-students use UltraRecorder to record and send assignments back to their teachers, or to just practice their pronunciation
Tech Tips
Specs...
-UltraRecorder requires different specs depending on what the end product of your recording is going to be.
For Sound Files to distribute to the machines:
8 bit, 1 channel, 44.100 kHz, and System 7 memory based file format
For Audio CDs:
16 bit, 2 channels, 44.100 kHz and Standard AIFF format
If your Sound Doesn’t Work...
- Check the Volume Control on the Control Strip, and turn up the volume if it is down.
- If you still can’t hear sound, go to the monitors & sound control panel. Click on the Sound icon and change from XXX to Sound In XXX
- Make sure the Computer System Volume is turned up and mute is NOT checked.
V is for Video Digitizing
- there are now two locations that you can use to digitize...upstairs in the office, and downstairs in the DLC office
- teachers use this to select clips from language movies to show to each student
- video clips are often combined with a grammar exercise in SuperMacLang
Tech Tips
-To Digitize a Movie using the equipment in the DLC office:
- plug the Director's Cut box into the iMac in the DLC office and turn on the power
- toggle the switch to have Capture and NTSC highlighted
- put your VHS tape into the white TV/VCR to the right of the iMac
- find the position on the tape a few seconds BEFORE you want to record
- open iMovie
- choose "New Project"
- give your movie a title and choose where you want to save it
- there are two blueish round buttons on the bottom left of the screen, click on the left one that looks like a camera
- then choose import when the tape is at the place where you want to start recording
- press import again when you are finished recording
- now press on the right circular blue button that looks like a film strip
- here you can click and drag your clips from the top down to the editing shelf on the bottom of the screen
- you can rearrange the order of the clips here, and add transitions or titles to a particular clip
- by clicking on the music note tab, you can adjust the sound and add a soundtrack if you'd like
- the four buttons on the right of iMovie (Titles, Transitions, Music and Sounds) give you most of your editing options
- when finished with your movie, choose "Save Project" from the File menu
- you can also export your movie under the File menu too
- this will allow you to export in QuickTime format which will reduce your file size and make your movie more compatible
V is for Video Conferencing
- we just acquired a NEW video conferencing unit that now has a home in the DLC; it is a great machine, and very easy to navigate and use. It will make all videoconferencing attempts from the language department much easier and more convenient.
- we all know of Tomoko's amazing continuing relationship with KNHS in Japan...
- Mark and I will be experimenting with the Indianapolis Museum of Art in late March
- Amadou and I are in the process of establishing a connection with a school in Texas
- connections have been made with a couple other schools, one in California with Tomoko and one in Ohio
Tech Tips
- the microphone has a very long cord and can be used in the middle of the room
- the big TV that is not being used for the satellite can be turned on so the VC can be watched from two screens
- we can call out and receive incoming calls
Some VC tips:
- it is polite and almost essential to introduce yourself and everyone in the room when you start a VC
- try to only have one person talk at a time
- speak articulately
- use lots of hand movements to supplement your speaking
W is for Web Searches and Web Pages
- I think everyone has had their students do a web search on cultural aspects of a country, often answering worksheet questions, or finishing with a class discussion
- www.google.com is the BEST search engine
- www.altavista.com is also good and has a translating component on their site
- DLC web page of links on www.summercore.com/DLC.html
- curriculum links for French, Spanish, Japanese teachers on www.summercore.com/Foreignlang.html
- public page on DLC on www.nobles.edu/technology/special/dlc.html
-- Bill Gilbert's web site at www.spanamericas.com
- DLC nobilis page on nobilis.nobles.edu/nobles_only/academics/courseware/DLCy2k.html
Tech Tips
Tips and Tricks that work with most search engines (posted on www.summercore.com/Searching.html)
(1) Use leading caps for proper nouns, e.g. Larry Bird
(2) Use double quotes around phrases or to create a phrase, e.g. "point guard"
(3) Use + in front of required words, e.g. +Celtics +basketball
(4) Use - in front of words to be excluded, e.g. +Celtics -Ireland