
JANUARY 2014
The Lamas de Abade School from La Coruña has a new Roycan Language Laboratory
The public school Lamas de Abade, Santiago de Compostela, has recently installed a Roycan Language Laboratory integrating the EasyLab system to its computer classroom. The Principal, D. José Miguens, the President of the parents association (A.M.P.A.), some members of the mentioned association, and D. Indalecio Cabana, Regional Head of Education on behalf of the Department of Education of the Xunta de Galicia, attended to the inauguration.
The computer classroom has been converted into a Language Lab with a small investment since due to EasyLab, with a simple installation of hardware and software, the existing computer equipment offers a great range of interactive functions for the learning of foreign languages.
The center has 400 students and teaches kindergarten and primary. It is an example of how, nowadays, a school, with no pretentiousness, can have advanced technology and offer a high quality education in accordance with the times.
After the installation and after a few days of work in the new Interactive Classroom, we had a meeting with the Director Mr. Miguens, so that we could know their impressions:
How many students use the classroom and what class level are they from?
All the students from all the class levels, from 3 years old to 12 years old, use the Language Lab.
How did the idea of installing this technology on the computer lab to have a Language Lab come up? Why did you choose Roycan?
I have always believed that it is essential for a school to have a Language Laboratory. I think it is essential to have this kind of technology in order to improve their oral communication skills in a foreign language.
I ran a language school in the 90’s and we were interested in ROYCAN products. Even then, they were friendly and professional and they had a unique technology in the market. Unfortunately, we couldn’t acquire the Language Lab at that time, but from that first contact, I have been watching the progress of the company and the evolution of its technology. That’s why as soon as we had the chance to acquire a Language Laboratory, we thought immediately in Roycan.
Recently, we had an economic opportunity and we got in touch with them in order to install it. Simply, we liked ROYCAN as a brand-name: we analyzed different proposals and Roycan offered us a better and more reliable product, though it was not the cheapest price of all what we consulted.
Regarding funding, have you been granted?
No, the funding has completely been the school issue. The investment has been made by means of the school budget.
Do they use the classroom exclusively as a Language Laboratory or also to teach other subjects?
We use it to teach all the subjects. So far, we have decided that all the class levels use it to learn English for one hour a week, at least. And the rest of the time it is being used to teach other subjects, although we will always give priority to the English learning.
Do the teachers find Easylab easy and intuitive to use? What about the students, are they more motivated to work with EasyLab?
Well, we are starting and we have recently started to work with it, but during the training we sorted out some doubts and it is very user-friendly. It has been thought to be used for teachers, although it takes practice to know it in depth.
For students, no doubt, it is very easy to use. They have adapted very well. Those who have already worked with the Language Lab, they love it, because they are a generation who are used to use this kind of technology in their daily routine.