TANDBERG EDUCATIONAL Newsletter


IN THIS ISSUE....
ACTFL Teacher of the Year
Pueblo Public Schools
EDO
Global Proportions




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 Westwood
Greetings!  

ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year

We would like to congratulate Lisa Lilley of Springfield Public Schools, MO for receiving the ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year Award. Ms. Lilley is a National Board Certified Teacher - World Languages other than English and Curriculum Development Committee Chair - Foreign Languages. 

Springfield Public Schools currently have 5 Sanako Lab 100 Language Labs in their high schools.  We are proud to be part of their Foreign Language program.

If you are an ACTFL member and would like to read the "Q&A Interview" with Lisa Lilley in this months The Language Educator please click here.
   



 
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Sanako Study 1200 in Pueblo City's Schools 
 by John Robinson

Pueblo City School District in Colorado purchased the Sanako Study 1200 Language Learning software in Spring of 2009. The Study 1200 licenses allow any existing computer lab to be transformed into a full language lab. It is very cost effective because it doesn't require a classroom to be set aside as a language lab only. The same computer classroom can function as both language lab and a general purpose computer lab for all subjects.

In the short time Pueblo has had the Study 1200, it has proven to be a very successful teaching tool for their World Languages program. Altogether, four high schools, one "magnet" middle school, and one "magnet" elementary school are benefiting from the innovative Sanako system. The language departments in the four high schools (Centennial, Central, East, and South) are using the labs for teaching French, Spanish, Italian, and German. The middle school (Corwin International Magnet School) is using the lab for its French and Spanish program, and the elementary school (Fountain International Magnet School) is just beginning their Spanish program with the brand new system.

The Study 1200 is a great advance for Pueblo's schools. Before purchasing the new system, many of the schools were using an analogue cassette language lab, and before that, an old reel to reel system. To call the Sanako Study 1200 Lab an upgrade would certainly be an understatement.  Students can record their voices in dialogue practice, question and answer, and reading aloud. They can practice with each other, their headsets functioning as telephones. The students can be placed in groups of two or more. The recording capability extends to these telephone practices. Students can record their interactions with other students. Playing back these interactions is very instructive on the one hand, but also a lot fun. The students particularly enjoy the pairing "chat room" feature where they can "talk" with each other in the target language and benefit from the corrective interpolations of their instructor. The teachers and students enjoy the variety of possible activities and the fact that different groups of students can be engaged in different activities. This feature allows the instructor to focus more on the students' individual needs and interests. The teacher can view individual students computer screens and can also view thumbnails of the entire class's computer screens to see what each student is doing make sure everyone is on task.

Each teacher's desk has two monitors and images can be dragged between them. This allows the instructor to prepare a set of images or lessons on one monitor, then drag them to the second monitor and project them using the ceiling mounted projector or transfer to the students. This useful way of preparing lessons ahead of time takes advantage of the substantial amount of lesson material available on the internet for language learning, including photos, videos, and websites from the countries of the target languages.

Deborah Cody, District World Language Liaison and Department Chair at Pueblo's South High School says, "We feel that we've just scratched the surface with regard to all the possibilities for language teaching afforded by the Sanako Study 1200 Lab. We had our first training in the spring of 2009 and a follow up training this fall. So, we're just at the beginning. Meanwhile, we're continuing to be amazed about what's possible as we use the system daily. We especially look forward to using the new lab to administer the Advance Placement� Exam. We keep learning new ways to present lessons to our students and new possibilities for group activities."

Deborah Cody's students already feel that the Study Lab 1200 has helped them learn a language. "It's a good monitoring system; it keeps us on task," says Meagan Bell, a student in intermediate French and her classmate, Shayla Margison, agreed: "It gets and keeps our attention quickly and efficiently." These students both say they appreciate the fact that the Study 1200 allows for individual study as well as interactivity. Another student, Alyse DeVan put it this way: "It's cool because the conversation component and immediate feedback improve my language learning quickly." When students record their voice with an audio file, and play back their recording, they can hear their pronunciation compared to the native speakers. The students can even visualize a graph of their voices, a real graphic way to get feedback. Korey Rucker appreciates the interactive components. "It's fun and I love that I can message and discuss with the teacher and other people in the class."

At a time when there are so many cutbacks in education, it is a credit to Pueblo City Schools that they have made this state-of-the-art technology available to their teachers and students. Whereas students might not accomplish all of the goals or live up to all of their expectations in a given language class, they will be given the ultimate opportunity to succeed. And the memory of having had that learning experience with the best technology will stay with them for a life time.

Building on the success of the Sanako Study 1200, the district has started to install its "sister" product the Study 500 in many of the general purpose computer labs throughout the district. The Study 500 is a computer classroom management and control application without all the advanced audio features needed for language learning



Tandberg Educational, inc.
English Discoveries OnLine (EDO)

Did you know that EDO has:
  • Over 900 learning hours
  • Over 20,000 vocabulary words
  • Interactive, leveled courses: First Discoveries, Basic, Intermediate and Advanced
  • Choice of Self-Access, Blended or Fully Integrated learning models
  • Topic-based content units for language learning in context
  • Online Dictionary and local support
English Discoveries OnLine computer assisted English language learning solution integrates the very latest in multimedia learning technologies with field-proven instructional approaches for English as Second Language Learners.  Worldwide, EDO is used by secondary, adult and higher education classrooms, business and industry, and government ministries and agencies.
For more information please contact Ann Cohn, Director of Educational Development at 800-367-1137 ext. 14 or [email protected]
 

EDO

In a Sanako Tandberg Educational Language Lab students are involved in creating knowledge together. They are studying cultures and  carrying on conversations with peers. While the teacher is always present to facilitate, the students are empowered to discover and grow independently .




A Language Lab is still the BEST instructional tool available for language learning.



Websites of Global Proportions....

To help you bring the World to your students

Guide to Infusing Global Education

Translation Tools such as Babel Fish

Digital Storyteller

Friends and Flags
SPeaking around the world

Globaldreamers

Global Nomads Group

Discover Languages

MERLOT Digital Library

Mixxer - Language Exchange Community