EUROPEAN TECHNOLOGY. Optimize your computer classroom. Convert it into a real Language Laboratory

Transcription

1 Optimize your computer classroom. Convert it into a real Language Laboratory

2 WHAT IS OPTIMAS SCHOOL? INTERACTIVE LEARNING, COMMUNICATION AND CONTROL Everything combined in the same intuitive, easy to use package for teachers and students Optimas School is a system that combines hardware and software to optimize and fully exploit any computer classroom. We started from the premise that computer classrooms in educational centres lack the tools to create environments where the students can fully participate. In these classrooms the students do not interact, nor do they communicate orally amongst themselves or with their teacher. Optimas School teacher s workstation Optimas, besides enabling a high level of communication within the classroom, also gives the teacher complete control over everything in the classroom. A wide range of resources and didactic material can be used, including high quality audio and video in real time through the computer network. For these reasons, as well as its special functions designed for language learning, Optimas is the most complete and up-to-date digital language laboratory on the market. It is easy to install and use. And, as it uses the existing classroom computer network, it does not require additional networks or cabling. ROYCAN A Spanish company which leads the way in educational technology Optimas School is the result of many years of development and a high level of investment in R & D. Roycan, which has been dedicated to teaching throughout its 30-year history, is the only Spanish company dedicated exclusively to designing and building language laboratories and multimedia classrooms. From the very start of this project hundreds of teachers have participated, lending their ideas. These teachers have been the true architects of this system which is revolutionizing educational centres. Nowadays, Optimas School, a European technological breakthrough, is known throughout the world; a fact backed up by more than 4,000 classrooms in five continents.

3 Advantages for the Centre Optimas School can be integrated into any computer classroom using the Windows or Linux* operating systems, allowing the centre to fully exploit the new technologies available for educational purposes. A small additional investment means a greater return on equipment already in place, adapting the computer system to real teaching needs, and turning the classroom into a multi-discipline, multimedia area, or a fully functioning language laboratory. It is a modular system that can be adapted to any center, discipline, teacher or groups of students. It also allows the integration of other audiovisual and multimedia devices, such as digital whiteboards, VHS video, video cameras, etc. * Only available with Global Master (optional) Advantages for the teachers The system allows new and interesting multimedia tools to be used from day one, without the need for advanced computer knowledge or highly specific training. Everything is under the teacher s control. The students can work alone, but the teacher can speak to them over their headsets, control the activities they are involved in and monitor each and every one of them from his/ her work station. The teacher no longer has to waste time preparing the classroom and setting up the equipment. In a very short time the classroom is up and running and the students can begin work immediately. The interface and Optimas School software are highly intuitive and easy to use. The system also works with touch screens. Advantages for the students Studying and carrying out activities in the classroom turns everything into an attractive, enriching, enjoyable multimedia experience. At all times, the students can communicate orally with their teacher and the rest of their classmates, speak amongst themselves, share experiences, ask for help, or work in pairs or groups. The students have an infinite number of teaching resources available to them, including activities and multimedia exercises based on the Internet, audio and video, adapted to their needs and to the digital world we live in.

4 FOUR SYSTEMS IN ONE Optimas School is based on four pillars: four systems that, put together, make up a world of endless possibilities to optimize and turn your computer classroom into a real cutting-edge language laboratory. 1 AUDIOVISUAL BROADCASTING Optimas School broadcasts extremely high quality audio and video to the students workstations with no delays or interference. Broadcasting Channels The 10 channels available allow the teacher to send audio and video from different sources from his/ her workstation. The audio and video is received by the students on their monitors and via their headsets. Different channels can be simultaneously sent to different groups of students. Diversity of resources The material used in the classroom can come from a wide variety of sources, both analogue and digital, such as: DVD, CD-ROM, digitalized video, computer programmes, the Internet, as well as analogue sources such as VHS videos or cassettes, etc. Demonstration At all times, the teacher controls the transmission of these resources so that the students can receive them individually at their workstations. There are many ways that the teacher can carry out this task. He/ she can show his / her screen to the students, or show one of the student s screens to the rest of the class, while at the same time providing spoken explanations. 2 COMMUNICATION Oral communication is fundamental in Optimas School; it allows the students to communicate amongst themselves, as well as with the teacher at all times. Work groups Optimas School allows you to configure 8 groups simultaneously within a class. Within these groups, it is the teacher who controls the students microphones allowing them to speak with each other, or to the rest of the class. Pair conversation Pair conversation encourages interaction and collaborative work between two students. The teacher can create different types of pair groupings (consecutive or random) to allow the students to participate in oral exchanges. Group Chats This allows Chat rooms to be set up, either for the whole class or for groups of students, where the students can communicate in writing. The teacher can also record these sessions. Private conversation and Help The students can call the teacher if they need individual attention and talk to him/ her in private without having to leave their workstations, and without disturbing their classmates. General Call This allows the teacher to take control of all the classroom workstations and speak to the class as a whole, even if the students are working on different activities.

5 3 MANAGEMENT AND PERSONALIZATION To make teaching and learning easier in the classroom, Optimas School has several different management tools which facilitate these tasks. Identification The students are identified by their names in the graphic interface of Optimas School, so the teacher knows at all times which student is seated in front of each computer. Library The teacher has an advanced, shared classroom resource management system to store teaching material and make it available to the students, establishing access privileges if necessary. Profiles Each teacher can create their own configuration profiles, save them and retrieve them in later classes. This configuration includes the way in which the classroom can be viewed, the groups and channels created, etc., so that these can be used again for similar activities or with different students. 4 CONTROL The teacher controls the classes, supervising and maintaining control of all the activities taking place at all times, hence taking full advantage of the time spent on classroom activities. Supervision The teacher can see the students screens from his/her workstation, and listen to the students taking part in conversations, pair work and group work, and at the same time record them if he/ she wishes. The teacher can focus on individual students, monitoring the students one by one or get a general overview of the whole class. Remote access The teacher can remotely take over control of the student s computer without having to leave his/ her workstation, switch the computer on or off, or block the computer in order to get the student s attention. Guidance The teacher automatically executes the programmes on the students computers, denying them access to software they are not authorized to use, or sending files with exercises for the students to complete. In this way, the organization, sending and receiving of work is simplified in a personalized manner. + Authoring tool for language learning Optimas School includes DLL, a digital recorder/ player which can be used to design highly motivating learning projects for your students, based on audio and video resources with bookmarks, questions, comments and subtitles. Among other features, the students can adjust the playback speed and compare their pronunciation with the original.

6 YOUR PRESENT CLASSROOM PC ALUMNO PC ALUMNO PC ALUMNO PC ALUMNO PC ALUMNO PC ALUMNO EQUIPMENT Optimas School is quick and easy to install in any computer classroom. All you need to do is install the software and equip each workstation with the communication equipment and a micro headset. RED INFORMÁTICA DEL AULA YOUR CLASSROOM WITH OPTIMAS SCHOOL STUDENT PC STUDENT PC STUDENT PC Communication equipment This connects the headsets to the students and teacher s computers in order to optimize the audio resources and provide the required audio quality for the language laboratory. PC PROFESOR SWITCH INTERNET STUDENT PC STUDENT PC STUDENT PC CLASSROOM COMPUTER NETWORK Optional 2nd monitor TEACHER PC SWITCH Optimas School Teacher s Interface This is easy to use and highly intuitive. It has been specially designed for use with touch screens and double monitors. INTERNET Headsets with built-in microphones Both the students and the teacher have headsets which have been designed specifically for learning languages. They have ear pads which provide excellent sound isolation, and the unidirectional microphones have noise reduction circuits. COMPUTER EQUIPMENT - MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS * General minimum requirements. For more information please contact Roycan s Sales and Marketing Department Ordenador de los alumnos Pentium IV 2,8 GHz. or AMD Athlon Mb RAM (256 Mb free). 40 Gb. Free hard disk space. AGP 256 Mb Graphics card. 10/100 Mbps Network card. 1 free USB 2.0 connector. Windows XP SP2, 7 SP1, 8 or 8.1 (32/64 bits) Ordenador del profesor Pentium IV 3,2 GHz. or AMD Athlon Gb RAM (768 Mb free). 80 Gb. Free hard disk space. PCI Express 512 Mb Graphics card. 10/100 Mbps Network card. 2 free USB 2.0 connectors. Windows XP SP2, 7 SP1, 8 or 8.1 (32/64 bits) Computer Network Switch with support protocol P Qos. Minimum speed 100 MbpS 1000 MbpS recommended. * For wireless network it will be necessary previous checking by Roycan Technical Support

7 portable Move Optimas from one classroom to another Optimas School in a portable format. This allows you to reuse the equipment easily in any classroom. The communication equipment has been minimized and installed onto a pen drive, which makes it easy to connect to any computer, even laptops. This also means that it can be used with any type of headset. If your educational centre has more than one computer classroom, you can choose to install the software in all the classrooms and easily move the hardware from one classroom to another depending on your teaching requirements. The universal solution premium In Optimas Premium, the students communication equipment comes in the form of a control panel with buttons which can be used to adjust the volume, as well as an auxiliary USB port to allow the connection of other external devices. The connector is a high resistance 5-pin DIN which allows you to connect Roycan s specially designed language learning headset. This panel can be easily screwed onto, or integrated into, the classroom furniture. university More functions for the most demanding centres The communication equipment is in the form of a control panel, but it includes buttons which allow you to carry out certain features automatically according to the activity taking place in the classroom. Moreover, it has advanced features for language learning, including translation and interpreting. starter The easiest way to enjoy Optimas technology Optimas Starter is the core of Optimas School. It has been designed to standardize working methods in centres or institutions with a large number of computer classrooms. It includes most of the features of Optimas School, except those related to oral communication. It is the starting point which allows you access to Optimas technology. All you need to do is install a single piece of communication equipment in the teacher s workstation. Whenever the centre feels it needs to, it can opt to move up to Optimas School and enjoy all the oral communication features by simply installing the corresponding Communication Equipment in the students workstations.

8 OPTIONS GLOBAL MASTER Central Control System This encompasses, in a single device, all the control and management features of the classroom, freeing up the teacher s computer. This piece of equipment can be run in the classroom under Windows and Linux simultaneously. It has additional multimedia storage, and includes the external sound system. It comes with its own monitor, that can optionally be a touch screen. MULTIPLE RECORDING MODULE Essential tool for language learning and those schools demanding the performance of oral examinations with many students at the same time. Simultaneous recording of all the students, as well as group and pair-work conversations, is carried out automatically, and the teacher is provided with individual logs of each and every classroom activity. ASSESSMENT MODULE This tool allows written tests and exercises to be integrated into the classroom, saving both time and increasing productivity. It has a comprehensive set of questionnaires, statistical capabilities and control and monitoring parameters, which allows you to design a multitude of evaluation activities and maintain records of student progress. P.I. L Andana - C/ Nuevas Tecnologías s/n Paterna (Spain) Tel Fax [email protected]