Webcams and Voice Recorders for Student Learning

Project Title: Webcams and Voice Recorders for Student Learning

Project Lead's Name: Daniel Meyers

Project Lead's Email: meyersde@MiamiOH.edu

Project Lead's Phone: 513-529-2510

Project Lead's Division: CAS

Primary Department: Interactive Language Resource Center

Other Team Members: n/a

List Departments Benefiting or Affected by this proposal:

  • FIC - Department of French, Italian, and Classical Studies
  • GRE - Department of German, Russian, Asian, and Middle Eastern Languages & Cultures
  • SPO - Department of Spanish and Portuguese
  • LRC - Interactive Language Resource Center

Estimated Number of Under-Graduate students affected per year (should be number who will actually use solution, not just who is it available to): 1,285

Estimated Number of Graduate students affected per year (should be number who will actually use solution, not just who is it available to): 0

Describe the problem you are attempting to solve and your approach for solving that problem:

  1. The purchase of Windows computers for the Interactive Language Resource Center (ILRC) three years ago did not allow for additional funding for web cameras to be purchased alongside the purchase of computers. With COVID changing the way many students took courses last year, and with those students returning to campus this year, I have needed to purchase several web cameras to allow for professors giving exams via Proctorio when students' Chromebooks cannot connect properly, to allow students to access Zoom /WebEx/Skype meetings in the ILRC, and to allow students to connect with remote student partners globally in various language culture courses.
  2. The purchase of Digital Voice Recorders assists mainly the Spanish 101-202 courses (although other languages utilize this equipment as well) in that the students are tasked each semester with various projects involving interviewing native Spanish speakers and translating/transcribing those interviews. When the students are out in the field doing these interviews, digital voice recorders are used to capture the audio, allowing the students to record, then review, and process the captured audio. The digital voice recorders that the ILRC currently has are quite limited now due to breakage and wear and tear over the years. I am seeking funds to replace our existing digital voice recorders with new ones. 

How would you describe the innovation and/or the significance of your project:

The significance of this request is that the language courses that use these webcams and digital voice recorders may continue to do their assignments, projects, and tasks each semester without worrying about whether or not there will be enough working technology to accomplish the tasks mentioned above. Students being loaned this equipment will be able to complete their assignments and instructors giving these assignments will be able to continue their teaching by using this equipment. The courses that would directly be impacted by using this equipment are listed in the PDF file "LRC Tech Fee Fall 2021 Enrollments.pdf" attached to this proposal.

How will you assess the success of the project?

The success of the request will be based on the completion of student assignments, reflected in their course grades in their language courses. Faculty will regularly give feedback to the ILRC Director on how to make student interaction with the equipment easier or to address concerns or issues that crop up when students are using the webcams and/or digital voice recorders. Success will also be determined by the frequency of equipment checkouts over the course of the academic year.

Financial Information

Total Amount Requested: $4,069.85

Budget Details:

  • 25 Logitech C920e 1080p Business Webcams - $64.25 each = $1,606.25
  • 40 Olympus WS-853 Digital Voice Recorders - $61.59 each = $2463.60

Please address how, if at all, this project aligns with University, Divisional, Departmental or Center strategic goals:

This request aligns with the University's MiamiRISE strategic goals in the following ways:

  1. We will honor Miami’s legacy of distinguished undergraduate teaching and learning: Faculty using innovative and engaging teaching practices to stimulate the student's interest in global language and cultural interaction and appreciation of the world around them.
  2. We will generate knowledge and scholarship to benefit the world around us: Students learning foreign languages actively engage in the four basic tenets of learning - reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Through their projects and assignments, students build an ever-growing corpus of cultural knowledge and language skills that prepare them for the greater global community.
  3. We will create experiences that empower students to succeed: Students directly communicate, interact, and engage with non-English speakers by using their knowledge and skills learned in elementary and intermediate language courses.