Questions
This FAQ section covers the most common questions you might have.
What is Teaching Speaking and Listening?
How do I use Teaching Speaking and Listening?
How accessible is Teaching Speaking and Listening?
How do I make the on-screen text larger?
Can I save pages to look at later?
How do I get to the Teaching Assistant/Subject leader/Teacher units?
Can I use my browser buttons like Back, Favourites and Print?
Do I need any plug-ins or viewers to use these materials, and if so, where do I get them?
I am having trouble running the videos. What can I do?
How do I install Teaching Speaking and Listening from the DVD-ROM onto the local network?
Answers
What is Teaching Speaking and Listening?
Teaching Speaking and Listening is an interactive DVD ROM which identifies the key issues of speaking and listening and offers practical guidance to address those issues, supported by video examples of classroom practice and other resources. It is an exciting and engaging flexible self-study resource to support more effective teaching of speaking and listening in the classroom.
There are three audiences for Teaching Speaking and Listening; Teachers, Teaching assistants and Subject Leaders. Each has a slightly different emphasis, with materials and guidance tailored to suit your own perspective.
Choose which version you would like to use on the opening screen. All the materials you see from that point on will be focused on your chosen perspective.
How do I use Teaching Speaking and Listening?
You can use Teaching Speaking and Listening in several ways:
With a colleague. Although you can study these materials on your own, we always think it is more effective if you can work through it with a colleague so that you can discuss the content, ideas and your responses.
In a linear way. You can work through the units and sections as they are listed.
Dip in for resources and ideas. You can use the Search facility to find resources to help with a particular need, or browse the 3 minute video clips to help you identify areas that you might like to develop.
How accessible is Teaching Speaking and Listening?
Teaching Speaking and Listening meets the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) level 1 requirements for accessibility. It is written in XHTML with cascading style sheets which enables you to control how the text is displayed, including controlling the size of text.
Where Flash is used, there is a Word document alternative version. All video is accompanied by a transcript.
We also developed the product with input from a blind user who works with young people.
How do I make the on-screen text larger?
There is a command in your web browser that enables you to change the font size of this and most other HTML-based resources.
In Microsoft Explorer, go to: View > Text size
In Netscape and Firefox, go to: View > Text zoom
Most individual screens and sections have a 'Print page' button in the blue bar at the top of the screen. This is exactly the same as printing from your browser, and will open a dialogue box for you to choose a printer and set the printer properties.
You should be able to set your printer here to print only in black and white, if you wish.
You can also print most pages using the Print command in your web browser. There is usually a button on the top bar of the browser, or it can be found under the File menu.
If you want a black and white, print-formatted version of a whole unit, there is a link at the bottom of the right-hand column on each page of a unit to a Word document version of the whole unit. You can save and print this version for use away from the computer.
Can I save pages to look at later?
All resources such as Word documents, PowerPoint, PDF, video and so on can be saved to your hard drive, a floppy disk or USB 'pen' drive. Just right-click on the link to the resource and select 'Save target as...' to save the resource.
You can also save a Word document version of each unit using the icon at the bottom right of each unit page, which is formatted for print.
The on-screen pages can also be printed out for use away from the computer. These pages can be saved, but they will be saved as HTML format and are not as easy to use or share as Word documents, PDFs and other formats.
How do I get to the Teaching Assistant/Subject leader/Teacher units?
Go back to your Home page using the home button at the top left of the blue bar at the top of the page.
You will see links, in the same position, to the other audience versions of Teaching Speaking and Listening.
Can I use my browser buttons like Back, Favourites and Print?
Yes. For most of the pages in Teaching Speaking and Listening, your browser buttons will work as usual.
If you are accessing Teaching Speaking and Listening from a DVD-ROM, then you can even bookmark pages as you can with other websites and as long as the DVD-ROM is in the same drive, the bookmarks will work.
Do I need any plug-ins or viewers to use these materials, and if so, where do I get them?
Some of the resources may be provided in Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint or Adobe Flash format. If you do not have a suitable viewer for these files please go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/
http://www.adobe.com/
http://www.apple.com/
where you can download the latest viewer or reader suitable for your operating system.
You can also use the Check setup screen to confirm that you have all the viewers and plugins you need.
To turn on JavaScript:
In Explorer, go to:
Tools > Internet options > Security
and click on 'Default level'
or go to:
Tools > Internet options > Security > Custom level
then scroll down to the Scripting section and enable Active scripting.
In Netscape, go to:
Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Scripts & Plug-ins
and enable JavaScript for Navigator.
In Firefox, go to:
Tools > Options > Web features
and enable JavaScript.
To enable cookies:
In Explorer, go to:
Tools > Internet Options...
then choose the Privacy tab. Move the slider to 'Medium'.
In Netscape, go to:
Edit > Preferences > Privacy & Security > Cookies
and enable cookies.
In Firefox, go to:
Tools > Internet options > Privacy
open the Cookies tab and enable Allow sites to set cookies.
Note: Your system may be configured to block cookies and you may be unable to over-ride this. In this case contact your system administrator.
Note: Mac users may have problems with cookies depending on which browser is installed. This product is fully compatible with Mozilla and should work with Firefox.
I am having trouble running the videos. What can I do?
The video is Adobe Flash Video format (FLV). To view Flash Video you need to have Flash installed in your browser.
To check if you have Flash intalled visit Check Setup.
To get the Adobe Flash plugin for your browser visit, http://www.adobe.com/
How do I install Teaching Speaking and Listening from the DVD-ROM onto the local network?
Installing this DVD-ROM on a network or intranet means that all your teachers can access the content across the school network. Copies of the DVD-ROM can also be made for home use, or the data can be copied onto individual machine hard drives.
To install Teaching Speaking and Listening, simply copy all the files from the DVD-ROM into a folder.
To access Teaching Speaking and Listening, create a link from your intranet to 'index.htm'. This is the first page of Teaching Speaking and Listening. Everything will work in just the same way as it would using the DVD-ROM.