OTTUMWA — The Ottumwa School Community District is one of the only school districts in the country implementing new English language translation technology.
The district is currently using translation earbuds created and manufactured by Timekettle Technologies to help English language learner students translate what teachers are speaking in English into their primary language in real-time. The earbuds temporarily help ELL students while their classroom teachers help them learn the English language. The earbuds support 40 languages and 93 accents.
The Ottumwa School Board heard from Mike Stiemsma, special education director, and Alex Qin, co-founder of Timekettle, at their meeting Monday. Qin traveled from his home country of Shenzhen, China, to speak with the board.
“Communication is connection,” Qin says. “It’s not about the translation itself but about connection, where you make people communicate and connect.”
According to Stiemsma, there are currently 1,090 English language learner students enrolled in the district, and these students speak 43 languages other than English. Of the 43 languages spoken by ELL students in the district, 11 of them are supported by the earbuds. That accounts for about 66% of the district’s ELL students, Stiemsma says.
Currently, the district uses 70 earbud sets in middle school and high school classrooms, with 70 more on the way.
The Timekettle earbuds were demonstrated to the board by high school ELL student (name) and his English as a second language teacher, Leah Hallgren. (Name) is from the Democratic Republic of Congo and speaks multiple languages. He is currently in the process of learning English.
According to Hallgren, it takes about one to two years for ELL students to develop a spoken English language.
“I cannot tell you how cool and exciting this is … When you have students who are trying to learn academic language … like exponent, words like those, the research says it takes up to five to seven years,” she says. “I know that personally, because I went through that journey myself.”
The earbuds are not only used to teach students the English language but help them better understand the district’s curriculum and academic content.
“This is specifically to help with the content, and when I say content, I mean your math, your history. These kids can go up to upper-level science classes now because it’s not necessarily that they can’t do skill, they may just not have the word,” Hallgren says.
According to Landon Allen, director of technology at Ottumwa Schools, the earbuds were initially created for the tourism industry — not schools. However, Allen reached out to Timekettle to explore utilizing the earbuds in the district.
“We have had a really great relationship with Timekettle getting started, and what you’ll hear is that this has evolved. The product has continued to evolve based on the feedback that Ottumwa Schools is giving,” Allen says. “Their new line of product hasn’t been around too long, but we have the most amount of devices of any school district in the United States with this particular model … We’re really deploying this at a mass level.”
“We are so excited that Ottumwa is the first and only massive deployment of these devices to empower the teaching experiences between teacher and the students,” Qin adds.
In other news:
— The board received a key financial indicators report from John Berg, chief financial officer of Ottumwa Schools. According to Berg, Ottumwa was ranked in the top three for rate of student growth last year. Due to an increase in enrollment this year, the district is projecting a similar, if not higher ranking next year. Additionally, Berg says Ottumwa has never experienced an annual 200+ student growth or had certified enrollment above 5,000 students. Based on projected enrollment and state supplement aid for 2023, Ottumwa is slated to receive $1.5 million of new funds.
The board received an update on the district’s Student Apprenticeship Program. Brad McCloskey, assistant superintendent, Allen and two students participating in technology apprenticeships shared their success with the program.
— The board received an update from the district’s Reconsideration Committee. McCloskey presented the committee’s recent review process and decision to keep the book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” when it was brought to the district’s attention earlier this spring.
— The board approved the new total purchase price for furniture at Gateway Learning Center in the amount of $244,099.77. The board originally approved a total purchase price of $223,351.56 in May. The new price includes the final group of furniture for the space, other items to use in the outdoor commons area and additional offices not included with the original quote.
— The board approved the purchase of a 2019 Ford Transit T-350 from Cassill Motors for $52,127. The vehicle will be used for student transportation for activities and athletics.
Emily Hawk is the associate editor of the Ottumwa Courier and the Oskaloosa Herald. She can be reached at ehawk@ottumwacourier.com.
from
https://clarkcountynewsnow.com/ottumwa-schools-leading-country-in-new-language-technology-ottumwacourier/
No comments:
Post a Comment