By TwoCircles.net staff reporter,
New Delhi: The Multimedia Language Lab of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) was launched in 2007 with an aim to enhance language skills of its students. Situated in Dr. Zakir Husain Library at JMI campups, the Lab is part of the university?s Faculty of Humanities & Languages.
The Lab, funded by the UGC under XIth Plan equipment grant of Rs. 41 Lakh, is meant for thirty students and one teacher. The total cost of the Lab was Rs 53 Lakh. It comprises thirty three computers. The basic platform software to run the language contents is called Smart Class Symposium developed by Robotel.
Initially, the Lab has software for English content only. The Lab was inaugurated in 2007. Two batches of thirty students were trained in the session 2007-08. One batch was of Certificate in Tourism and Travel Management and another batch was of Diploma in Tourism and Travel Management. The Lab has received applications from other centres within JMI such as the Center for Jawaharlal Nehru Studies and Department of English. But due to lack of funds and faculty, such customised training may not be provided. There is a plan to expand the Lab in terms of the language contents and resource persons, so that the growing demand for training in various languages can be met.
Some features of the Smart Class Symposium include class presentation, group presentation, student pairing & conferencing, individual student support, media activities and interactive help. High quality audio/visual or multimedia materials can be distributed live (without content duplication) to any or all students from almost any A/V source ? including VCRs, CDs and DVDs. Teachers are able to discreetly monitor student activities even when students are working with live video content. Exercises comprising audio, video, text and image content, support student activities listening, recording and writing. Teachers are also able to link text files ? containing questions or fill-in-the-blanks quizzes with all exercises.