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Setting up and running CALL labs

On this page, below, you can get an introduction to setting up CALL labs, locate model implementations, and find out about training teachers. Elsewhere on this website, you can:

See a "hot" list of commercial software vendors and their websites
Find where to download software
Find out about search engines and locate discussion lists
Find sources of information on technical issues
Link to a computer/periferals/furniture hardware page
Find links to sites orienting Newbies toward CALL and technology
Learn, or teach others, about web development
Find links to audio technology and applications in listening, pronunciation, speech recognition
Find links to video technology and applications such as video conferencing
Find out about authoring tools

Lab management tools:

• Imperata
• Linguatronics Genesis, http://www.linguatronics.com/systems1.htm
• NetControl2 (Remote Vaccine) - http://horizon-datasys.com/169618.ihtml
• NetSupportSchool http://www.netsupportschool.com/
• Robotel LogoLab http://www.robotel.ca/english/educational_language.html and SmartClass Symposium, http://www.robotel.ca/english/educational_language_product.html
• SuperLab4 by Cedrus: http://www.superlab.com/
• SynchronEyes http://www.smarttech.com/synchroneyes
• The Gong system http://www.cs.ust.hk/gong/
• Timbuctu
• XClass

Guide to Good Practice for learning and teaching in Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies Resources for independent language learning: design and use - This CIEL handbook relating to design and use of resources for independent language learning discusses individual learning styles and how best to support them; the selection and design of self access independent language learning materials; the types of resources available along with their location and organisation; and also tandem learning; the role of the language assistant and language exchanges: http://www.lang.ltsn.ac.uk/resources/goodpractice.aspx?resourceid=1405 Author: Ciel Language Support Network © CIEL Project, 2000 This article was added to our website on 14/01/03.

The info below is mostly from 1999; I'll clean it out when I can - Vance

Pointers for CALL Managers

• CILT maintains its Languages ICT site: http://www.languages-ict.org.uk/ including a section on managing ICT for languages
• Davies G., Bangs P., Frisby R. & Walton E. (2005) Setting up effective digital language laboratories and multimedia ICT suites for Modern Foreign Languages, London: Centre for Information on Language Teaching (CILT): http://www.languages-ict.org.uk/info/digital_language_labs.pdf
• Administering the Learning Center: The IALL Management Manual (1995) is at http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/IALL/pub/manman/manindex.html .IALL (http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/IALL) has a binder on Lab Design
• Instructional Technology Connections (connections to journals, educational theory sites, etc.) http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itcon.html
• The JAIST Center for Remote Learning: http://www.jaist.ac.jp/english/research/r_learning.htm
• Greg Kessler's suggestions in his recent article on the ESL MiniConference Online, at http://www.ESLminiconf.net/june/story4.html gives step by step considerations involved in setting up a CALL lab from scratch.
• Planning technology at your school, John McVicker's impressive compendium of links and insights on starting up and running computer labs.
• Craig Nansen has a Technology Coordinator's Resource Center site with links to Internet resources and educational bookmarks, at http://minot.com/~nansen/index.html.
• David Rees has a set of CALL links on his website http://www.inh.fr/enseignements/langues/ under CALL and Language Labs - the '*Setting up and running CALL labs'
• Claire Brandin Siskin's page "Planning a Language Resource Center": http://www.msu.edu/user/bradincl/labplan.html - may have moved; try http://edvista.com/claire/labplan.html (teslca-l, Jun 14, 1999). Claire also has a "Faculty Needs Assessment Questionnaire," which can be found at http://edvista.com/claire/needs.html. "Feel free to print it, reproduce it, and distribute it to your faculty". - Claire

Media Center Web Sites

• Consortium of Language Resource and Research Centers (language labs) http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/larrc/tech/ - not much of a web site but consortium members can be linked to from one of the frames
• The Language Learning Center at Michigan State U. http://llc.msu.edu/
• A good model media center home page: Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Connecting through MWALL, Midwest Assn for Learning Laboratories an AALL affiliate). There are many links here to, for example, software reviews - http://www.siu.edu/~lmc/
• Washington State University's Intensive American Language Center IALC uses Moodle and invites students to bring their laptops to the computer lab: http://www.ip.wsu.edu/ialc/about-IALC/educational-technology.shtml
• University of Pennsylvania Language Resource Center: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/larrc/

Photos of lab layouts

• Renaisance Digital's drop-down computers
• The MLI's innovative lab design, pics at: Stevens, Vance. 2000. Designing a CALL facility from bottom to top at the Military Language Institute in Abu Dhabi. In Hanson-Smith, Elizabeth (Ed.). Technology-enhanced learning environments. Alexandria, VA: TESOL Publications. Pp. 21-33. The final draft I submitted to the above publication is here: http://www.vancestevens.com/papers/tesol/tele2000/mli_call.html
• Other case studies are documented at the ICT for Language Teachers website in Module 3.1 (Managing a multimedia language centre): http://www.ict4lt.org

Net nannies

The following was compiled by Leslie Opp-Beckman and posted to teslca-l (by Derya Dincer) on Jun 14, 1999:

• Net Nanny, information online at (click on "Take me to Net Nanny"): http://www.netnanny.com/
• Cyber Patrol, information online at: http://www.cyberpatrol.com/
• SurfWatch (Windows 95 and 98 only): http://www1.surfwatch.com/
• WizGuard, http://www.wizguard.com/
• A good source for software information and related articles of this kind is the CNET web site: http://www.cnet.com/. You can enter the keywords "pornography filter" and find links to the above sites plus articles, studies and editorials.

Copyright 2007 by Vance Stevens
under Creative Commons License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/

February 3, 2007

Mirrors: This page is available at:

• http://www.vancestevens.com/calllabs.htm
• http://www.geocities.com/vance_stevens/calllabs.htm
• http://www.prof2000.pt/users/vstevens/calllabs.htm