Language laboratories for a new generation
What is Study 1200 and how does it work?
From the company that has brought you language labs for over 50 years, Study 1200 is quite simply
the most advanced software language laboratory ever.
The biggest differences between Study 1200 and the old language labs of the past are;
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No cassette tapes – all media is now in the form of CD, MP3, Podcasts, and Digital Radio – to name
but a few!
Student learning is not limited to the amount of time that they can be timetabled to use the language
lab as the software can be installed all across the school and even on student laptops and PCs for
home study.
There is no longer the need for bespoke language lab furniture. The solution is just software
combined with PCs, Laptops and headsets. The students can even be wireless. Any room or laptop
trolley can become a language lab in seconds.
Several rooms at the same time can be used as a language lab – our unique licensing system allows
you to have the software in many rooms at the same time – wherever it is needed.
If we once again compare the language labs of the past with Study 1200 you can see that whilst
some of the principles remain the same, things have moved on for the better.
The teacher used to have a push-button control panel and
a cassette recorder. To listen to a student you pressed the
numbered student button and to talk to them you pressed
Intercom. You would insert a cassette and then press
TRANSFER to play the audio to the students and leave
them with a copy of that audio to work at their own pace.
The students had their own cassette recorder and a blank
cassette.
If we compare this to the Study 1200 –
The teacher has a software interface and access to the
entire shared network and internet resources – could be
MP3, documents, web pages, pictures, videos etc…. To
listen to a student you click on the named student icon
and to talk to them you click Discuss. You can send
students a file of any type by simply adding that file to the
PLAYLIST and they will then all have individual control of
that material to work at their own pace.
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Language laboratories for a new generation
Students have their own software interface and save work to their home drive, USB pen stick and/or
email work home.
Study 1200 is therefore the same as any other software application - to use it you simply need to
open the application. The only difference is that the teachers open a different program from the
students.
The Study 1200 teacher application
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Usually only installed on the teacher PC(s)
Launched by selecting the All Programs – SANAKO –
Study – Tutor
Your network manager may well have placed the
application in the folder for Languages or Modern
Languages – please check with them.
The Study 1200 student application
 Launched by double-clicking on the system tray icon at the
bottom right of the student screens – see below.
The student and teacher software are then constantly “talking” to each other in the background
such that the teacher can monitor, guide and focus student learning as and when required.
How long will it take me to learn how to use the language lab?
Study 1200 is like any other desktop application such as Microsoft Word or Internet Explorer in the
sense that learning the basics does not take very long at all. For example to learn how to listen,
monitor and talk to individual students will take minutes. If we take the example of Word then to
learn how to type a letter and print it out takes minutes. However, to learn how to create an
automatic table of contents or use a macro takes significantly longer to learn. The advice therefore
is;
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Start with the basics such as monitoring, talking to and handling out files via the playlist
Build your repertoire with those classes that you trust and will allow you to make a few
mistakes
Share knowledge with your colleagues and help each other – share best practice
Use this manual as a reference and make use of the Sanako online videos and resources
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Language laboratories for a new generation
We look forward to helping you and you are not on your own. There are many thousands of users
all around the world and in order to help this fast growing community we would strongly
recommend that you take a look at the following online sites – all are free and all will help you to
further your training.
http://twitter.com/#!/SanakoUK
A great way to hear from fellow teachers for tips and tricks
http://www.youtube.com/user/SanakoUK?feature=mhee
Lots of videos showing you and your students how to use the software
http://misc.sanako.com/blog-uk/
Lots of free resources, downloads and discussions for Sanako products
http://thelanguagepoint.com
Lots of free resources, downloads and discussions on language learning
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