Vendor Showcase - LangLab

E-LangLab, LLC News Release – October 29, 2006

E-LangLab, LLC has released its Let'sT@lk modules, adding functionality for pair and group conversation to its LangLab software. An installer for a free fully-functional demo version can be downloaded from http://www.elanglab.com. (Those interested should download the installer for the main LangLab modules and documentation first.) The on-line help files in the new modules, brought up by clicking on a ? button, contain all information needed for use.

Since the Let'sT@lkClient module uses the tools of the regular Client module, teachers can base discussions on materials view, listen to, or read first. Students can record conversations and replay them afterward. Teachers can use LangLab's Teacher module to listen to any student's participation afterward; as with other student recordings, the teacher can then provide targeted feedback by inserting comments in the student's recording that the student can listen to later with the Client module.

The Let'sT@lkMonitor module lets a teacher join any group in order to listen to the conversation or speak with the students in it. It also lets the teacher organize groups. In one mode of Let'sT@lk operation, a teacher can let students choose their groups themselves, and a student can simply click on a group to join it and can leave it just as easily. In other modes of operation, the teacher can choose groups manually (including before class) or let the computer form them randomly. For discussions that carry over from one class to another, teachers can export a list of who is in which group and import it again in a subsequent session.

The next release of LangLab, currently scheduled for March, will introduce additional features and improvements, including controls for the text window that allow an instructor to choose the background and font colors, font and size, and use bold and underlining to draw students’ attention to key elements. A pop-up tool will facilitate creation of response boxes for typed answers.

For those not yet familiar with LangLab, it is a powerful, flexible multimedia platform for teaching any language. Usable for distance learning as well as instruction in labs and classrooms, it helps student learn faster by facilitating integrated teaching of all language skills using mutually reinforcing activities and diverse materials. LangLab includes lesson-creation tools, modules that let students work individually or in groups, and support for teacher-student interaction through real-time monitoring and asynchronous feedback. A cross-platform solution, LangLab eliminates worries about what kind of computer faculty and students have at home; it also costs a fraction of what vendors have previously charged for comparable functionality.

(For further information, contact info@elanglab.com.)