The true success of our technology is only realized in the ways that schools utilize it to enrich their language programs and to provide more opportunities for students to communicate in a second language.
We are happy to introduce you to a few of the many educators that have integrated our technology into their curriculum and are seeing the benefits.
K – 12
Gelmis Cole
Spanish Instructor
Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School, MO
"The lab creates proficiencies that you just can’t achieve in a regular classroom. It makes the learning experience better, easier, neater." Download the Learning Profile
Jim Buoye
District Supervisor of World Languages
Northern Valley Regional High School (NVRHS)
"The language lab supports the 21st century skills approach to learning with the emphasis on students being able to successfully communicate in the target language. The motivation behind getting the Virtuoso™ language lab was to give students an opportunity to be recorded, to give teachers the ability to review those recordings, to assess them, and to give the students feedback." Download the Case Study
Kelly Vaughn
World Language Teacher
Farmington High School, CT
"The Sony Virtuoso Language Lab Technology has helped us differentiate our lessons in order to help all our students meet language standards. The varieties of functions available using this software keeps students on task and working both independently and in groups as well as gives the teachers the ability to monitor and give instant feedback. "
Amy Mason
French Teacher
Warren Township HS, IL
"Incorporating the use of the Virtuoso technology into the curriculum has resulted in more spontaneous
conversation and less rote question and answer activity between paired students. I'm using a variety of activities and doing more
and that’s because the lab is so easy to use." Download the Case Study
Teachers Amy Mason and Dominique Geocaris talk about their lab:
Mark English
Head of Modern Foreign Languages
North London Collegiate School
"A digital language lab is now no longer an optional extra in modern languages teaching, nowadays it's absolutely essential. Modern languages exist in a precarious state in lots of institutions, and using a digital language lab is a way to really take advantage of new technology in a way that gives very clear, pedagogical educational benefit, developing teachers' skills and also developing the right kind of language learning skills in students."
Joshua Gleason
Spanish Teacher
Hopkins School
"My language lab is a crucial tool for conducting interpersonal activities efficiently and effectively. In language classrooms, interaction between students provides more valuable practice and instruction than almost any other activity." Download the Case Study
Why a Sony Digital Language Lab?
West Springfield HS in Virginia explains how their Digital Language Lab benefits their students. Click here to see the video.
Meghan Zingle
Spanish Teacher
Glastonbury High School, CT
"The Sony digital language labs give
students more opportunities to practice their
interpersonal skills in the target language.
Students are comfortable with computers
and headsets. My students love
the lab. When I pair them up, they work
together and focus on their partner and
just the task at hand. Nothing else distracts
them." Download the Case Study
Martha McMahon
Technology Coordinator
John Burroughs School, St. Louis, MO
"Everything has been PERFECTION - we LOVE LOVE LOVE the lab. ;-)"
Jeffrey Mozdzierz
Director of Educational Technology and Information Systems,
Rochester Community Schools, MI
"Thanks for your help with the AHS language lab, your customer service is second to none!"
Scott Shorton,
Head of Department
Narangba Valley State High School, AU
"Students and staff are now working with a level of excitement and intensity, coupled with increased collaboration that we have not seen before"
Dawn DeVere Hill
ANA Language Project Coordinator
Hannahville Indian Community, MI
"Actual grades have improved since the lab was installed. Students seem to be retaining more because of the continuity - one concept flows to the
next and there is order to the way students are taught." Download the Case Study
Michel Salazar-Linden
Supervisor of World Languages
Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School - Rumson, NJ
"The kids and the staff love it. This staff is so creative, and our teachers are creating fascinating activities such as podcasts and webquests which
are energizing this language program beyond anything that we could have hoped for."
Rosanna Perez
Instructional Specialist, International Languages
Northside ISD, TX
"High quality teachers and well functioning language labs together make for a winning
combination in helping students be successful on AP testing day."
(AP World Languages Testing of 400 Students)
Vincenza Graham
Chair, Foreign Language & ESL
Roslyn Public Schools, Roslyn, NY
"The lab has given students the opportunity to self-reflect and assess their language skills by listening to their own voices,
their peers and real life access to media and music. All of these contribute in improving not only our AP scores but all of the
foreign language classes that we offer at the middle and high school level." Download the Case Study
Mary Morris
Head
St. Helen's Girls School Northwood - UK
"Numbers of pupils wishing to take up language learning has significantly increased to the point where we have now equipped a second multi-media
suite and are working to create a multi-media teaching environment across the whole school. We have also found that the use of multi media teaching
is having a profound effect on the engagement of pupils in other core curriculum subjects: History, English and Classics are just three areas our
Sony Virtuoso™ and Soloist® software is finding new and vibrant applications."
Nancy Tassler
International Language Lab Director
Libertyville High School - Libertyville, IL
"We LOVE the Sony Virtuoso™ APT software. It worked great - perfectly suited to the AP®
testing methods."
Heather Wint
Spanish Teacher
Mountain Brook High School, AL
"I used Sony Virtuoso™ technology to conduct activities throughout the school year. Because of the digital format, and the ease with which
I was able to execute these activities, students had the opportunity to practice extensively prompts that are exactly like those on the AP exam.
I am convinced that our language lab helped my students achieve success!"
2007 AP Exam Results
2008 AP Exam Results
14% - 5
55% - 5
58% - 4
40% - 4
14% - 3
5% - 3
14% - 2
Jen Lin
Mandarin Chinese Teacher
Glastonbury High School - Glastonbury, CT
"My students are making great progress in their first year of study. The Sony digital language lab is used extensively to reinforce
their speaking and listening skills."
Ted Sadtler
Director, Goizueta Language Learning Center
The Westminster Schools - Atlanta, GA
"I wanted to thank you for maintaining a staff of such committed, skilled, and amiable people.
I have been thrilled with the Sony products for the last year and a half, and this experience with
your national staff reinforces what a great investment we have made." Download the Case Study
Colleges / Universities
Paul Barnes
Language Centre Manager
Bournemouth University, UK
"We have been working with SANSSpace™ over our network, with teachers and students, and find it incredibly easy and intuitive to use. SANSSpace can also be easily linked and blended into any other web space. "
Judy Tanka
ESL Instructor and Lab Coordinator
UCLA Extension American Language Center
"Students at a lower level need more practice in listening and speaking. The lab allows that, and the teacher can give individual feedback the way she/he can't in a regular classroom." Download the Case Study
Dr. Nydia V. Gregory
Department of English & Modern Languages
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
"The technology provides efficiencies in preparing students for "real-world" communication in the target language. Students are not just getting classroom instruction and interaction, because they are able to use the language program to practice listening, speaking, reading, and conversational skills on a one-to-one basis."
Paul Aoki
Director Language Learning Center
University of Washington
"Continued product development of the Sony Virtuoso software, with many new features driven by the needs of language educators and students, make it an integral part of our language program, now including ASL."
Georges Detiveaux - Language Lab Coordinator/Lead French Faculty
Lone Star College-CyFair - North Harris Montgomery Community College District
Cypress, TX
Key Benefits of the Sony Digital Language Lab..."The immediate application to the real world using the paired activity features.
It teaches students to negotiate meaning and is perhaps the most communicative of all activities. It provides the "now" aspect.
It provides real time synchronous communication with instant feedback; live real-time communication between student/student and teacher/student." Read more
Mustapha Masrour, Ph.D
Teaching Administrator and Director of both the Language Learning Center and Foreign Language Education at Hofstra University
"SANSSpace is a way of delivering data to students and other users both on and off campus. It enables a flexible way of working, allowing you to select and gather only the content you need to get started." Download the Case Study
Richard Edwards
Senior Systems Engineer
Clifton College - UK
"The lab is working brilliantly. All of the Modern Languages teachers love it....even the ones that are not very technical. We have just
finished all of our summer exams and they were all done in the lab without a single hitch. So a big thanks for all your help!"
Dr. Diane Ceo-DiFrancesco
Assistant Spanish Professor
Xavier University - Cincinnati, OH
"The system allows the students to work at a level they understand. It also provides them with the opportunity to easily interact with other students in Spanish."
Edith Paillat
Language Technology Specialist
Victoria University of Wellington, NZ
"The comparative recording capability in the Sony digital lab is an essential tool for both audio and video recording in our classes. Students are now
getting used to recording and listening to themselves, and we can hear the positive results in their fluency." Download the Case Study
Sign Language Studies
Kathy Basilotto, CI, M.Ed.
Assistant Professor
Interpreter Training Program
Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
"Ever since purchasing the Sony Soloist® software, the students in our Interpreter Training Program are able to analyze
various skills based components of American Sign Language and interpreting in order to improve upon their weaknesses and
recognize their strengths. Students are afforded the opportunity to document their progress, which in turn provides a way to
track their progress. This software allows students to create a video portfolio in order to present to prospective employers upon graduation.
The software allows the instructors to create a corpus of work that students can use to practice with in order to enhance skill development.
What is more, the software is a vehicle for instructors to use as an assessment tool in order to provide critical feedback to aid in the development."
Marlee Dyce
Professor of Sign Language Interpreting
Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD
"The software allows me to see and communicate with my students using video to video connection during class. Also, I can pair students via video to simulate interpreting situations." Watch video
