Thursday, 29 November 2012

Interpreter Training Goes Online: A Conference Worth Watching

An interesting online conference is coming up: Innovative educational approaches to interpreter training: integrating technology and active pedagogies (IATIS). The topic is timely, and so is the format.

Why the topic matters

Technology, and blended, online and distance modes of training, are an emerging phenomenon in translator and interpreter education. With globalisation and changing work patterns in the translation and interpreting industry (immigration, shifting demographics, digital natives, the e-generation), it makes sense to rethink our existing pedagogical and educational models.

Why the format matters

Note that the conference is delivered on the Blackboard platform, which saves a great deal in airfares and hotels. I hope more conferences and discussions among translation and interpreting scholars, teachers, students and practitioners adopt this kind of virtual video-conferencing format.

In online education, encounters of this type enhance collaboration and the exchange of experiences and practices, and that yields better and more efficient results for the whole community. Some universities already run their doctoral seminars as live video-conference meetings.

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