Tag: Skype

PJ Crowley live from the Media Center on Fox News

September 13, 2011 / BSL

Today we again had the pleasure of working with PJ Crowley and connecting him to Fox News via Skype. Thanks to Tom Smith for taking on most of the work and Ryan capturing the event in real time. Here is a behind the scenes look and a video of the segment from Fox.

: Three’s a crowd

: Hiding the ear piece

: Getting Chatty

: Perspective

: Camera Perspective

: Tom manning the camera

: Shot Prep

: On the Air

: On the Air

Language Exchanges – Outline

August 1, 2011 / BSL

Outline

Connect through Skype with remote language learners
Pair students and language learners together for discussion
- If number of participants don’t align, partners will be doubled up to ensure everyone speaks
Have students add Skype user to their contacts
Text chat with user to ask if they are ready to speak
Call user
- Speak first 20 minutes in language students are learning
- Speak next 20 minutes in English
Students may have been assigned example questions to ask during exchange and should be writing down answers throughout conversation

Links

The Mixxer

Babylon Translation

Skype

Language Lab Intro – Outline

August 1, 2011 / BSL

Outline

Introduction of Staff/Media Center

Introduction to installed software
- Skype
- Can 8
- Antidote
Overview of online resources
- Dictionaries
- Spell check/Grammar
Windows and Mac language settings
Language specific sites
- News
- Entertainment
- Helpful Hints

Links

Wordchamp – Creates mouse overs for all the words on a given page with dictionary definitions. Great resource for introducing students to online newspapers or books in the public domain.

Project Gutenberg – Great site of public domain books. Also works in conjuction with the site above.

The Mixxer – Organize language exchanges with native speakers via Skype. Students can speak with their partner during our outside of class.

Babble – if you’ve seen the rather expensive Rosetta Stone software and like the principle, this is a good site. It’s basically flash cards of words and phrases with audio. Students add groups of vocabulary to their list and progress as they master each group.

Livemocha– rather traditional vocab and grammar excercises, though “friends” can leave comments and text anyone else on their site. Integrates the tandem principle into the exercises with learners commenting on each other’s writing.

BBC Languages – BBC languages are very good. They also integrate multimedia well and continue to more advanced levels than most other sites.

Google – Google tricks – Search within site:.de site:.fr site:.es

Broadband TV – Watch Television from other countries

Youtube – Localized youTube ex. http://www.youtube.de

Language Lab Intro

August 1, 2011 / BSL

Description:

Dickinson College’s language departments have a wide variety of technologies to provide authentic language resources, extend the classroom, and bring students in contact with native speakers. Language courses frequently organize language exchanges via Skype, create multimedia projects in the target language, and use software that allows students to practice the four basic skills. Interested professors should contact Todd Bryant, Dickinson’s Language Technologist, at bryantt@dickinson.edu.

Can 8 is a language learning system that allows students to listen to audio or video tracks then respond verbally or with a written response. Student answers are recorded and can be monitored by the professor. Standard multiple choice, true/false and fill in the blank questions are also available. Questions can be organized for assignments, test reviews or oral exams..

Skype is widely used in the language departments to coordinate language exchanges with native speakers. Todd Bryant created a website called The Mixxer that connects language learners with each other. This is an open site for anyone in the world to connect with. Because of this, we are able to connect our students with individual language partners either during a lab hour or outside of class.

Antidote is a program used in the French department and is a plugin that appears within Microsoft Word to aid in students spelling and grammar while writing. In addition to providing corrections, the software links the incorrect words or phrases to reference books of French grammar built into the program.

Audience

Language Faculty & Students

Type

Instructor Led-Overview

Time

20-30 Minutes-In Class Time

Outcomes

Learn about language software available in labs
Learn about online resources that will aid in language learning
Learn the multilingual functions available on OSX and Windows
Learn where the Media Center is located and how to get technology assistance

Want to know more? Contact mediacenter at dickinson.edu to set up a consultation. You can also get a sneak peek of what we cover in our training by looking over our Training Outline.

Skype Tutorial

June 1, 2011 / blumenel

Skype Tutorial

Language Exchanges

January 10, 2011 / BSL

Description

Dickinson’s Language Technologist, Todd Bryant, has been coordinating language exchanges for most of the languages for the past 8 years. Using Skype and a website for partnering language learners called The Mixxer he has been able to integrate skype exchanges throughout the language departments.

The partners can be any native speaker of our students’ target language who is interested in improving their English. The discussion is split into two 20-25 minute sessions. The first portion is in the students target language with the second portion in English. Faculty are encouraged to have students prepare questions beforehand and assign students a summary of their conversation as homework.

Audience

Faculty & Students

Type

Instructor Led-Hands On

Time

50 Minutes-In Class Time

Outcomes

Talk with native language speaker for 20-25 minutes in each language
Listening comprehension
Cultural exchange

Want to know more? Contact mediacenter at dickinson.edu to set up a consultation. You can also get a sneak peek of what we cover in our training by looking over our Training Outline.

Examples
Overview of Skype exchange in Japanese course

Overview of how to set up a language exchange through the Mixxer

Music to our ears

November 8, 2010 / BSL

Over the summer, the Media Center went though a redesign and part of it was creating more sound buffered booths (they aren’t quite ‘sound proof’) that can be used for skyping, interviews, podcasts or music creation. Since there weren’t other places on campus that had spaces where people could easily record music (without getting in trouble for being too loud) our Podcast nooks have become quite popular. The rooms are outfitted with soundproofing materials on the walls and door and are equip to record through 2 microphones for voice or instruments, 1 mini mixer, 1 keyboard, and 1 iMac using recording apps, such as Garageband, Audacity, & IMovie. The rooms can be reserved for use by emailing mediacenter@dickinson.edu.