Wednesday, May 5, 2010

All of the technology that is used in classrooms now is such a huge asset to teaching. There are a lot of different ways to use that technology and make the learning experience more interesting for the students. However, there are some limitations when it comes to using these gadgets and working with an interpreter. Smart boards in particular are a problem that I have been hearing a lot about. They are wonderful for everyday teaching, but when watching a movie using smart boards, the closed captioning does not work. This presents a huge problem for interpreters. Someone was telling me about a situation where they were trying to interpret a movie in class over which the students would be quizzed immediately after they watched it. The teacher was also talking during the movie and asking questions. The interpreter did not have enough time to sign all of the words in the movie, much less the teacher's questions and the students' answers. They had no other tv to watch the movie on, and so the interpreter just had to do her best. While this technology is great for so many things, teacher must keep in mind special circumstances that will have to be worked through. Just because we have this wonderful new technology does not mean that every classroom will be able to easily adjust to every situation.

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