Electronic Education: Quick Study

Divace Interactive Audio Video Recorder Turku, Finland: Teleste Educational.

Over the past several years, audio and video have found a permanent niche on the Web, and the technology of creating these files has allow educational sites to em-braced their use for language learning in new ways. Although there are many excellent players, most were never designed to handle the multidimensional nature of language learning tasks, particularly for allowing students to record their own voice input. One product seeking to fill that void and go beyond mere receptive skills is the Divace Interactive Audio Video Recorder by Teleste Educational (www.divace.com). The Divace SOLO version tested for this review is a dual-track recorder/player that allows the user to record and save audio files, for instance from TV, radio, or the Internet, on the Program track, and then provides the ability to record the user’s input on the Student track. With this product, a whole myriad of language learning possibilities open up for both receptive and productive skills. With this dual functionality, some of the basic features include:

  • listen to the Program track of a conversation and record a summary
  • correct your recordings immediately
  • create voice-overs to video segments;
  • add synchronized text annotations similar to open captioned TV
  • record simultaneous translations from English to the student’s native language.

Teachers will also enjoy the Divace’s capabilities at converting existing analog materials (e.g., audio cassettes) to a digital format. Such files can then be uploaded to a server as part of a “media library” where students can access and download the files for autonomous learning. The new Divace web site opened in October 1999, and a player-only version can be downloaded for free. Another factor that may influence potential users is the lack of customer support forums, set-up tutorials, and pages on frequently asked questions.

After contacting Divace, I was told that additional support would soon be created. In the end, the Divace Interactive Audio Video Recorder shows great promise in providing new channels for enhancing language learning, and the play and record features are some of its greatest strengths. Better online documentation and support should encourage users to consider making the leap to the Divace.

Randall Davis teaches at the English Language Institute, University of Utah in Salt Lake City