U.K Press Releases

04|August|06

MT1™ HELPS HISTORY LECTURER WITH HIS “HOMEWORK”

Proofing documents and correcting essays becomes easier and more accurate using MP3 files converted by MagneticTime’s text to speech software MT1™

London, UK, August X, 2006 –Dr. Emmett Sullivan, History lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London, has found many academic uses for MagneticTime’s (http://www.magnetictime.com) innovative software MT1™.

Royal Holloway, University of London, is ranked in the top ten of research-led Universities in the UK, and has over 7,000 students located on its beautiful Egham campus.

According to Dr. Sullivan, MT1™ has been most useful in maintaining his concentration while marking multiple essays from his students on the same topic.  “Often, I am reviewing work on the train, and will listen to an essay while having the written content in front of me,” says Dr. Sullivan. “MT1™ allows me to fully concentrate on the student’s work, and avoid distraction.”  As a result, Dr. Sullivan finds that he is quicker and perhaps more accurate in grading his student’s work, as the spoken word allows him to be “in tune” with the overall tone of an essay. 

For the upcoming semester, the History Department at Royal Holloway is asking for the electronic submission of work – which means that anti-plagiarism software can be used for the first time.  This increase in electronic submissions will allow Dr. Sullivan to use MT1™ on most of the work he receives from his students.

In the college and university environment the uses of MT1™ can be wide and varied. For example, Dr. Sullivan has reviewed a 5,000 word MA essay with a postgraduate student, using the MP3 version of the essay.

“I paused the read-back at various points to run a commentary on what the student wrote, and the postgraduate student wrote up his notes for revision as we went through the essay,” said Dr. Sullivan. “I went through the essay first, and therefore could highlight where I had concerns with the student the second time around.  I found this a much more efficient way of passing on comments, rather than having the student trying to decipher my scribbled margin notes.”

“By doing this read-back with the student, it allowed me to also highlight issues of grammar and expression to the point where the student started to cringe at the repetitiveness of his prose.  This was a far more effective way of getting the point across, rather than simply suggesting a re-write.”

The 7,000 students studying at Royal Holloway come from over 120 countries and Dr. Sullivan has for the past three years been responsible for the academic program for Royal Holloway’s Study Abroad students.

Dr. Sullivan noted a constant problem has been trying to get students who use English as a second language to review and revise their written work so that it meets acceptable 'academic' standards. “Getting them to play back an MT1™ version of their essays before submission, and asking them if the essay 'sounds right', could be a very useful way of making them close the gap between what they have written and the type of academic prose they will have been reading when preparing their essays,” he says. 

The brainchild of software engineers at MagneticTime (www.magnetictime.com), MT1™ does what nothing else can currently do – turn emails and Word documents into MP3s.  The emails are well “spoken” (in high quality speech) and can be played on portable PCs, laptops and desktop PCs in addition to mobile phones and iPods and other MP3 players.

Three versions of MT1™ are currently available: MT-iPod™, MT-Phone™ and MT-Portable™. MT1™ works with Windows 2000 and XP, and various versions of MS Word, Outlook and Outlook Express.  

In addition to Amazon.com, people can also download MT1™ at MagneticTime.com, Tucows.com and CNet’s Download.com.

For more information on MT1™ Software or to become a partner, contact Laura Bourke, Marketing Executive, email laurab@magnetictime.com.

Further information from:
email: info@magnetictime.com