A slightly technical blog entry.
At the school where I work we use digital dictaphones to record learners in the classroom and to record pronunciation models. These are then transferred to a computer to be played back through headphones or larger speakers. Often, we then convert these audio files to mp3 format to compress them. These are then attached to emails which are sent to learners who have finished their courses and gone home or still in the school and can access them using their own laptop computers.
The conversion to mp3 format has always been an issue since it involved an extra step that teachers needed to learn. The software we used was freeware that was sometimes unstable or not very user-friendly.
The latest version of the Digital Voice Editor software that Sony packages with its IC recorders is now available. It can convert directly to mp3 as you transfer audio files from the device to the computer and is compatible with Windows Vista. If you are using this type of recorder you can download the software here.
If you are not using digital recorders yet, you can learn more from chapter 7 of Blended Learning and from up-date number 2 to the book which can you can download from Macmillan’s website.