It was the need to replace two life-expired cassette-based language labs in Summer 2000, combined with a move to a different building, which led York College Languages team to adopt the Keylink Virtual Language Laboratory.
Faced with the need to re-equip, our initial response was to look at up-to-date cassette systems, but we quickly realised that technology had moved on and that we should be considering digital systems.
A conversation with Rob Lucas at the 2000 Language World conference in Derby, followed by a visit by two members of the team to Ripon Grammar School, which was already using VLab, convinced us of the versatility of the Keylink system, and a comparison with other digital labs showed that VLab not only best met our needs but was also the only system affordable within our budget.
In a new Languages suite of three classrooms, two rooms are each fitted out with twenty PCs, new in August 2000, arranged around the periphery so as to leave a generous space in the centre of each room for conventional teaching. The computers are linked to the College academic network, and students can thus use all the other networked programs besides VLab and also have internet access at all times. The flexibility that this gives us is a prime advantage of the set-up we have created and has been a major influence on the way we have developed teaching strategies for Curriculum 2000.
Our chief use of VLab is for listening comprehension work for students on AS and A2 courses, including adult learners at evening classes. A significant advantage of digital recordings is that students can access the files from outside the classroom through the College intranet, and they can indeed be enabled to download them at home to listen to through Windows Media Player if they are off sick or wish to do extra work. The use of the speaking facility is principally by students on our popular and very successful ab initio Spanish GCSE course, mainly using Breakthrough Spanish.
In addition to digitising the cassettes which accompany proprietary language courses and old exam tapes, we make great use of current news bulletins and authentic documentary material relating to AS and A2 topics. An increasingly useful resource is live audio downloaded from radio stations on the internet, although the sound quality of the downloads varies quite considerably. In German I very largely work with clips of video material from satellite TV: material on VHS cassettes is digitised using a TV card in a PC in our staff work-room and can then be imported into VLab in the conventional way, although file-size and speed of loading are limiting factors. Students certainly appreciate the additional dimension which the visual element gives.
VLab is just one tool which we use in our classrooms, although the one we use most frequently. Having the PCs there means that students can easily work for part of the lesson on independent research for their coursework or speaking test topics. For each of the languages our departmental pages on the intranet include lists of links to relevant resources to enable students to pursue their investigations in a more focused way.
As time permits we are putting notes and exercises on to the intranet to supplement paper materials. One useful piece of software for this purpose is Hot Potatoes, with which gapped texts, multiple-choice exercises, etc. can be easily and quickly created. When using ILT, however, language teachers frequently find themselves re-inventing the wheel, and it should be noted that there is a wealth of grammar exercises, etc. for different languages, largely created with Hot Potatoes and available to download from the internet.
Learning how to use VLab and other software is an integral part of our induction programme for new students. Since the VLab desktop is so similar to a conventional cassette recorder students very rapidly become familiar with the controls, including changing the 'tapes'. A useful extra feature not found on cassette machines is the Bookmark facility, which students quickly learn to use.
As a matter of College policy staff, ILT training is an on-going process. When VLab was installed the members of the Languages team had varying levels of knowledge of ILT and varying degrees of confidence in using it. All were able to pick up fairly readily the essentials of using VLab in the classroom and of editing recordings. I continue to act as manager to the system, dealing with such matters as compacting the database and giving support to colleagues with file-management, etc.
Essential to the healthy running of VLab is a robust IT network, and here is where our relatively few problems have tended to lie. The database is installed on a server within our own suite, but network problems sometimes still affect performance. However, the College has an IT helpdesk which can usually answer queries over the phone, and we have excellent back-up from the IT technicians in our building who check for any fault-report sheets daily and act on them promptly.
The Keylink Virtual Language Lab was undoubtedly the right system to buy. It offers versatility and value for money, is user-friendly and fits well into our integrated approach to post-16 language-teaching. If you would like further information on any aspect of the way we work with VLab and other software, please e-mail me. My address is ataylor@yorkcollege.ac.uk
Alan Taylor Tutor for German and ILT Champion for Languages, York College April 2002