Quality technology.Designed for the DSA.

Sonocent releases and updates for Autumn 2016

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Everyone’s talking about Sonocent

”[Since using Sonocent] I have seen a difference in Ebony. She is more focused and is doing a lot more work. She is more confident, more open. She now likes learning. It brings tears to my eyes to see her so confident.”

CherylannParent of a child with ADHD and Asperger’s

”I am writing to praise you for creating such a wonderful product. I have seen first hand the difference a piece of software like this can make to the lives of those who use it. Keep up the amazing work.”

Kur Lewis, DSA / Access to Work Tutor

”It's an utterly intuitive piece of software with a nice clean interface and a host of useful functions. Once you've used it you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.”

D Smith, Student

”It enables accurate note taking while allowing me to fully concentrate on the lecture without falling behind and missing important points.”

Paula Bayntun,Student

”It helps me bring my recordings together with lecturer notes and my own notes. As I combine them, I consolidate what I am learning and can refer to my new notes as recap or revision aids!”

Akhil Shah, Student

”It has helped me very much throughout university and I would recommend it to any student, with or without dyslexia.”

Georgina Best, Student

ContentsIntroductionpg 3 Designing study software that makes a difference

Latest software updatespg 5 Sonocent Audio Notetaker for Windows - New and improved

pg 7 Sonocent Audio Notetaker for Mac - Major update coming soon

New Sonocent product releases for the DSApg 9 Sonocent for DSA - Available now

pg 11 Sonocent DSA Mobile - Available now

Proof the software gets resultspg 13 How can Sonocent help my students?

pg 17 2016 Sonocent user survey results

Book training in our solutionsBack Free Sonocent training for assessors

About

Sonocent are the creators of Sonocent Audio Notetaker for Windows and Mac, a powerful and unique software platform that has enabled over 120,000 students take effective notes and develop core study skills. By recommending Sonocent software, you will help students with disabilities fulfil their ambitions in education and beyond.

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Designing study software that makes a difference

Like the professionals who support them, we genuinely care about making a difference to the lives of students with disabilities.

DSA students face additional barriers in their education and as such need the highest standard of support without compromise. This is why we believe any solution we create needs to hold up to scrutiny under the following criteria:

• Flexibility• Quality• Reliability• Effectiveness

Flexibility No two DSA students face the same challenges. So, to give your students the flexibility to study in the way which suits them, we are switching up our offerings for the DSA from the first week of October 2016.

Now, when you recommend Sonocent for DSA, in addition to Sonocent Audio Notetaker for Windows or Mac, your students will automatically gain access to our new Sonocent Link mobile app, developed specially for DSA students after consultation with assessors and users. With Sonocent Link your students can review full audio recordings and make further annotations and notes on their mobile device.

Turn to page 9 for more information about our new offerings for the DSA.

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Read on for more about what’s coming in Autumn 2016. If you have any questions or feedback, please do get in touch with the team directly on dsa@sonocent.com or 0113 831 4380

Quality Audio quality is front and centre of all new developments to our software.

For this reason, we have added the sophisticated Sonocent Clear Lecture™ audio processing suite to our latest update for Windows (coming soon for Mac).

This unique toolkit significantly enhances lecture recordings on playback by dialling up what students want to hear (their lecturer’s voice) and dialling down what they don’t (background noise, keyboard clicks etc.).

Turn to page 6 for more information about Sonocent Clear Lecture™.

Reliability To ensure Sonocent never fails your students, we selected the hardware for our new addition, Sonocent DSA Mobile, after conducting thorough testing in controlled environments.

Along with the Sonocent Link app, it includes a high-quality Cygnett 6000mah portable charger and an Andrea SG-100 directional shotgun microphone which reduces surrounding noise. For those students who prefer to record with a mobile device it’s a game changer.

EffectivenessOur software is loved by students (see page 17) and has been proven to raise grades*. But we believe these new releases and updates will have an even greater impact on learning outcomes.

*100% of students allocated Sonocent software at Tennessee Technological University improved their grades over a single semester

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New for DSA

You can now recommend our brand new DSA option, Sonocent DSA Mobile, featuring a top quality directional microphone and mobile battery pack.

Sonocent Audio Notetaker for Windows

This August we released Sonocent Audio Notetaker for Windows version 4.2, featuring:

Access to Sonocent Clear Lecture™, a powerful audio enhancement suiteRefinements to the software’s user interface, allowing easier access to important functions such as Extract Text from SlidesImprovements to accessibility:

• Better support for screen readers• Whitespace control• Additional voice effects • Cross-integration of Sonocent dictionaries with Microsoft Word

Designed for quality

The improvement Sonocent Clear Lecture™ makes to the clarity of lecture recordings on playback is quite dramatic. If you would us to send you some “before and after” audio files, shoot us an email on dsa@sonocent.com or call 0113 831 4380.

New and improved

98.4% of students would recommend our software to a friend or coursemate**Statistic taken from a June 2016 survey of 735 students with Sonocent Audio Notetaker licences

“What is Sonocent Clear Lecture™?”The product of years of in-house research and development, Sonocent Clear Lecture™ is a unique suite of audio processing tools designed to optimise recordings taken in lectures on playback. Here’s what it does:

Unwanted noise removal

• Noise Cancellation: reduces background noises, including background chatter.• Click Reduction: searches for clicks in the audio (caused by key or mouse clicks) and reduces them to the level of the surrounding speech. • Low Frequency Cut: removes the “rumbly” sound you often hear on mobile device recordings and the sounds you get when touching the screen. • High Frequency Cut: removes annoying high-frequency sounds - such as the buzzing you sometimes get from the fluorescent tube lights in lecture theatres.

Timbre changes

• Thinner: reduces mid to lower voice frequencies and is useful when the speaker’s voice is a bit “boomy” for any reason - e.g. when a portable PA system is in use. • Brighter: restores the higher voice frequencies which may have been lost because of a poor microphone.

Volume adjustment

• Adjust Volume Automatically is a sophisticated algorithm which judges how much to boost the volume based on both the level of the speaker’s voice and the background noise. Its job is to set the speaker’s voice at a comfortable listening level while keeping the background noise in the background.

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This August we released Sonocent Audio Notetaker for Windows version 4.2, featuring:

Access to Sonocent Clear Lecture™, a powerful audio enhancement suiteRefinements to the software’s user interface, allowing easier access to important functions such as Extract Text from SlidesImprovements to accessibility:

• Better support for screen readers• Whitespace control• Additional voice effects • Cross-integration of Sonocent dictionaries with Microsoft Word

Coming soon for Mac

Free update for all existing users

Follow Sonocent Audio Notetaker on Facebook to be the first to hear about all new software updates

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Sonocent for DSA£99.99 exc VAT20% off standard retail price

DescriptionDSA students will now automatically receive full access to our new Sonocent Link mobile app every time you recommend Sonocent Audio Notetaker for Windows and Mac.

This means that, in addition to capturing high quality recordings and annotating with colour, text and photos in class, your students can now listen back to full recordings and colour highlight after class - all on their mobile device.

Review recordings and notes on the go with Sonocent Link for iOS and Android

Easily transfer files from mobile to Sonocent Audio Notetaker for Windows and Mac, by wifi, email, Dropbox™ and other Cloud services

New release

Now includes the Sonocent Link mobile

app

How do students get Sonocent Link?Your students simply need to download Sonocent Link from the Google Play or App Store and activate using the last four digits of their Sonocent Audio Notetaker licence key. Resellers will provide students with a simple step-by-step guide.

If you have further questions about our software or want to book a visit from an accredited Sonocent trainer, drop us a line on dsa@sonocent.com or call 0113 831 4380.

Designed for flexibility

These days, students learn not only in lectures, but through discussions with professors and mentors, seminars, tutorials, field trips, practicals and online materials. With the Sonocent Link mobile app they can capture all this spoken information with the device in their pocket and review whenever they have a spare moment.

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More infoSonocent Link features:

Never miss a thing - record in high qualityStay engaged: highlight key audio as you recordCreate super study resources - add images and text notesCreate your own Colour Keys to add depth of meaning to your projectsRecord discretely with new Glance Mode - great for interviewsNew for the DSA: Up your productivity - listen back to full recordings and colour highlight on your mobile device

DescriptionFor students who prefer to primarily record on a mobile device, there’s now the option to recommend Sonocent DSA Mobile, which includes quality hardware to form a complete mobile solution.

Includes:

• Sonocent Audio Notetaker for Mac and Windows • Sonocent Link for iOS and Android• Cygnett 6000mah portable charger • Andrea SG-100 directional shotgun microphone and adapter for mobile devices• Andrea 100 Mobile Adapter Cable

Record a full day of lectures and stay fully charged with a powerful mobile battery pack

Reduce ambient noise in lecture theatres with a high quality shotgun microphone

New release

Sonocent DSA Mobile

Special DSA price:

£129.99 exc VATStandard retail price: £170.00 exc VAT

More infoMicrophone features:

Unidirectional Shotgun Microphone with enhanced sensitivity for far-field sound receptionHighly directional polar responseAdjustable microphone tilt with rubber-padded baseCompact and lightweight for easy portability40-inch shielded cable with 3.5mm single plugIncludes a mobile adapter cable for smartphones and tablets

Battery pack features:ChargeUp Digital 6000mah portable charger in black with grey trimCompatible with smartphones and tabletsQuickly charge devices with a powerful 2.0A outputDual USB ports - share the power between smartphone and tablet

You also have the option to include a USB-SA Premium External USB Stereo Sound Card from Andrea Communications.

The USB-SA utilises high quality digital circuitry to bypass the laptop's sound system. The result: improved recording quality on many laptops and especially lower-range models.

When recommending this bundle...

Designed for reliabilityWith students’ educations at stake, you need to be confident that any solution you recommend is robust and completely reliable. So we have carefully hand picked the hardware included with Sonocent DSA Mobile. Take the portable charger from Cygnett. It includes a powerful 6,000 mAh battery, which was enough to fully charge an iPhone twice in our tests.

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Course contentKimiko’s course is delivered through lectures and tutorials. She is assessed on assignments and an independent applied research project.

Challenges faced“I record my lectures with a digital recorder to make sure everything is really clear when I listen back. But it’s hard to go straight back to the bits that I didn’t hear at the time.”

“I need to conduct interviews throughout the year as part of my research project.”

Solutions offered by Sonocent for DSA

Place your digital recorder at the front of the lecture when it starts. From your seat, record and highlight any audio that you will want to revisit with Audio Notetaker or the Sonocent Link mobile app. When home, you can swap in the audio from the digital recorder with our Audio Replace tool, keeping all the colour highlighting, slides, and text notes that you added in the lecture.

Record your interviews with Sonocent Link. In Glance Mode you can colour highlight without looking away from the interviewee - the screen will be blank, tap once to start highlighting and twice to stop.

KimikoAge: 23Course: MSc in Occupational PsychologyCondition: Hearing impairmentLecture recording preference: Sonocent Audio Notetaker on a laptopEquipment received: Sonocent for DSA + DVR

How can Sonocent help my students?Our new releases and updates for the DSA have been thoughtfully put together based on feedback from DSA Needs Assessors, AT Trainers and student users. Here are four short user cases to give you an idea of how they can help the widest number of DSA students study more effectively.

“My hearing impairment isn’t too serious. But I sometimes find it hard to catch everything my lecturer says, especially when there is background noise.”

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Course contentAisha’s course is delivered through a combination of academic learning and time spent in clinical practice. The primary means of assessment are clinical placements, essays and exams.

Challenges faced“My notes are missing lots of information, which gets me down.”

“I often forget what my mentor tells me when I am on placement, and I feel awkward asking her to repeat herself.”

Solutions offered by Sonocent for DSA

Record lectures on your iPad using Sonocent Link. Select Glance Mode to colour highlight the key moments of audio discretely with a tap.

Your tablet includes excellent inbuilt audio hardware, but we’d recommend sitting near the front if possible.

The quality of your recording will be optimised on playback with the Sonocent Clear Lecture™ audio enhancement suite. This technology will dial up the volume of what you want to hear (speech) and clean up what you don’t (background noise, scraping chairs, bangs on the desk and so on).

Record your mentor with Sonocent Link and colour highlight new terminology and important instructions. You can quickly go back to these moments later with the unlimited playback functionality. So there’s no need to worry about forgetting things and making mistakes.

AishaAge: 20Course: BSc (Hons) NursingCondition: Depression and social anxietyLecture recording preference: Sonocent Link mobile app on own iPad Mini, with no additional kitEquipment received: Sonocent for DSA

“I have poor handwriting which makes it difficult to take notes. But I’m not comfortable talking about my depression and social anxiety, so I don’t want my coursemates to see me using assistive technology.”

More infoIf you have further questions about our software or want to book a visit from an accredited Sonocent trainer, drop us a line on dsa@sonocent.com or call 0113 831 4380.

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Course contentSally’s course is delivered through lectures, seminars, workshops, debates and self-directed reading. She is starting her first year of university.

Challenges faced“I can’t write quickly enough to keep up with what my lecturer is saying. Afterwards, I have difficulty understanding what I have written.”

“I want to use my phone to record lectures and workshops. But I use other apps a lot so I worry about battery life.”

Solutions offered by Sonocent DSA Mobile

Record everything in lectures and workshops with Sonocent Link, using the SG-100 Unidirectional Shotgun Microphone to filter out some of the ambient noise. You can stay engaged and highlight important information for review in colour, with a tap.

Plus you can add photos of equations from the whiteboard right alongside the audio that relates to them.

Between breaks in lectures, you can start to review your audio on your smartphone while the material is fresh in your mind, going straight to the key moments that you highlighted. You can also make more colour highlights if something now seems important which didn’t at the time

That evening you can transfer your files into Audio Notetaker via wifi, DropBox™ or The Cloud. This is the time to add further meaning to your project in the form of audio or written summaries of the lecture material and links to reference material. That way, everything you need on a topic will be available in one project when you write essays or revise for an exam.

Keep your mobile device charged up as you record with the powerful ChargeUp Digital 6000mah portable charger. It’s slim and portable and will fit in your pocket.

SallyAge: 18Course: BA (Hons) Developmental EconomicsCondition: DyslexiaLecture recording preference: Sonocent Link on own Android smartphoneEquipment received: Sonocent DSA Mobile

“I have lots of lectures most days of the week and struggle to take good notes at the same time as listening because of my dyslexia. I’m also looking for a way to capture formulae from the whiteboard in workshops.”

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Course contentPaul’s course is delivered through lectures, tutorials and project-based group work. He is assessed on examinations, lab coursework and regular lab reports.

Challenges faced“I get anxious if I can’t follow clear processes.”

“Group discussions are hard for me. I often forget what has been said due to the pressure to contribute.”

Solutions offered by Sonocent DSA Mobile

Record everything on your iPhone with Sonocent Link. In lectures you can use the SG-100 Unidirectional Shotgun Microphone to filter out some of the ambient noise.

There’s no need to worry about your battery running out, because you can charge as you record with the ChargeUp Digital 6000mah portable charger.

Follow a structured note-taking model such as the Cornell Note-Taking System to condense your notes and embed understanding:

Revisit your project within 24 hoursType or record summaries beside or below the original recordingType keywords and questions into the software’s Reference PaneWhen revising, use the text in the Reference Pane to test your knowledge

Record group discussions on your iPhone, marking up key points with a colour key. There’s no pressure to contribute and assimilate at the same time. You can create your own Colour Key. And you can review any part of the recording after the session and later that day.

PaulAge: 21Course: BSc (Hons) Computer Science and MathematicsCondition: Asperger syndromeLecture recording preference: Sonocent Link on own iPhoneEquipment received: Sonocent DSA Mobile

“I have to take notes in lots of different scenarios, but it’s hard because of my Asperger syndrome. Staying on top of everything is really difficult and I get quite frustrated.”

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Results of the 2016 Sonocent user survey

My notes were as good as, or better, than my classmates'

I was engaged throughout my lectures

I was able to capture all of the important points

My notes were clear, structured and useful for studying from

I felt able to study independently, without help from others

I was very prepared for exams, essays, presentations and large projects

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

82% of students actively use the software’s noise cancellation tools when playing their recordings back

98.4% of students would recommend Sonocent software

78% of students use our Sonocent app for iOS and Android

Before Sonocent After Sonocent

Do you agree with these statements?

Sonocent has improved my ability to...

Does your university, college, school or lecturer record their lectures and then make them available to you?

For all lectures

For most lectures

For some lectures

For a few lectures

No, not for any lectures

Designed for effectiveness

Like you, we care about whether our software helps DSA students overcome the challenges they face. So we conduct an online user survey every year to analyse how they use Sonocent software and the impact it has on their learning. Here’s a snapshot of our most recent survey, conducted in June 2016.

We’ll soon release a white paper analysing our user survey results. Visit www.sonocent.com/resources to read the 2015 white paper

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Take notes

95%Organise my notes

92%

Preparefor exams

86%

Planwritten work

79%Express

my ideas

71%

5%

9%

12%

18%

57%

New DSA guidelines...

A plethora of recording devices...

Inconsistent HEI provisions...

Fortunately, our crack team of experienced Sonocent Associates are on hand with all the information you’ll need to confidently recommend the right kit for your students.

Get answers on:

when to recommend specific recording equipment

what to recommend if an institution has lecture capture

how audio-centric strategies can support your students

how the new releases from Sonocent will make your life easier

Request a visit from a Sonocent Associate - all training is free:dsa@sonocent.com0113 831 4380

We designed our software to make life easier for students...

But life is only getting harder for assessors!

Sonocent Associates