My Twisted Brain

Well, it’s over. I’ve seen the light at the end of the tunnel, gotten to within walking distance (thanks, dad, for that one!), seen the cows come home, and put the horses to bed. My M.A. (in Education with a specialization in Instructional Technology, for those who care) is not only within my grasp, it’s IN MY HOT LITTLE HAND!

What a ride. It started two and a half years ago where I learned how to say “Hello” in Korean, and it ended up with me creating an online learning site for learners of the Thai language. Not related to my accomplishment, you say? I say NAY! They are tightly connected.  Let me share my thoughts.

Language is often a barrier to learning, especially in higher education.  My wife, who is an English language learner, is currently pursuing a degree at a Bay Area college, and must demonstrate English proficiency before proceeding on to courses related to her major.  She understands why, since a language barrier may not only affect her learning, but may affect the ability of her classmates to learn as well, as the instructor is forced to spend more time with her.  Understandable, but frustrating and time consuming.  Her need to learn English before starting to take even her basic general requirement classes will delay her graduation by two to three years.

Now, consider services like Google’s Translate.  Copy any text block into the input box, select languages to translate from and to, and BANG, เสียงดัง, חֲבָטָה, 강, you have a fairly accurate translation.  What’s to stop these types of tools from being built into Learning Management Systems (LMS)?  Set the student’s and instructors languages in the LMS learner interface, and suddenly there is two-way synchronous or asynchronous communication between the two, even though neither speaks the other’s language.

There are, no doubt, many difficulties to overcome before something like what I’ve hinted at above can come to be.  However, need it really be that far away?  It seems to me that the pieces are there.  They just need to be assembled in a viable system.  I’m certainly not the one with the skills to do so, at least not yet, but I can’t help but see the huge opportunity that we have to provide inter-lingual, cross-cultural online learning.  From the standpoint of educating those who are educationally challenged, I see the potential as world-changing.

Perhaps my next degree will be taught by someone in Africa who speaks only Swahili…any programmers out there up to the challenge?