The Teacher's Roles in E-Learning

Teaching in a technology-based environment does not make faculty redundant. If anything, the teacher's role becomes more important. The article below, reproduced from Asharq Al-Awsat, sets out the roles a teacher takes on in e-learning systems.

أدوار المعلم/الأستاذ في ظل التعليم الإلكتروني

قد يتبادر إلى ذهن من يقرأ عنوان الموضوع أننا بإدخال تقنية الحاسب والتعليم الإلكتروني نلغي دور المعلم في العملية التربوية التعليمية. فالتعليم الإلكتروني لا يعني إلغاء دور المعلم بل يصبح دوره أكثر أهمية وأكثر صعوبة، فهو شخص مبدع ذو كفاءة عالية يدير العملية التعليمية باقتدار ويعمل على تحقيق طموحات التقدم والتقنية. لقد أصبحت مهنة المعلم مزيجًا من مهام القائد ومدير المشروع البحثي والناقد والموجه.

ما لا شك فيه أن دور المعلم سوف يبقى للأبد وسوف يصبح أكثر صعوبة من السابق، فالتعلم الإلكتروني لا يعني تصفح الإنترنت بطريقة مفتوحة ولكن بطريقة محددة وبتوجيه لاستخدام المعلومات الإلكترونية، وهذا يعتبر من أهم أدوار المعلم. ولكي يصبح دور المعلم مهماً في توجيه طلابه الوجهة الصحيحة للاستفادة القصوى من التكنولوجيا عليه أن يقوم بالأدوار التالية، كما جاء في بعض الأدبيات:

1. ميسر للعمليات (Process Facilitator)

إن الدور الأكبر للمعلم من خلال نظم تقديم المقررات التعليمية عبر الإنترنت هو التحقق من حدوث بعض العمليات التربوية المستهدفة في أثناء ممارسة الطلاب لنشاطهم وتفاعلهم مع بعضهم البعض، فالمعلم في نظم التعلم الإلكتروني ليس ملقنًا للمعلومات بل هو ميسر للعملية التعليمية (Educational Facilitator)، حيث يقدم الإرشادات ويتيح للمتعلمين اكتشاف مواد التعلم بأنفسهم دون أن يتدخل في مسار تعلمهم.

2. مبسط للمحتوى (Content Facilitator)

للمعلم دور معرفي، ولكن طبيعة هذا الدور المعرفي تختلف عما كانت عليه في الماضي، بحيث يكون التركيز على إكساب الطالب المعارف والحقائق والمفاهيم المناسبة للتدفق المعرفي المستمر للعلم، وما يرتبط بهذه المعارف من مهارات عملية وقيم واتجاهات بحيث تمكنهم من التعامل الصحيح مع هذا التدفق المعرفي والتقنيات المرتبطة به، لأن هذا يعين هؤلاء الطلاب على فهم الحاضر بتفصيلاته، وتصور المستقبل باتجاهاته والمشاركة في صناعته، وبذلك يتم إكساب الطلاب ثقافة معلوماتية تمكنهم من التعايش في مجتمع المعلوماتية الذي هو مجتمع المستقبل.

3. باحث (Researcher)

لا يكفي قيام المعلم باتخاذ قرارات، بل عليه تقويم جهده أيضاً، والبحث الإجرائي وسيلة تحقق هذه الغاية، كما أنه يتيح الفرصة للمعلم لاكتساب المعرفة والمهارة في طرق البحث ومنهجيته، ويكون على دراية بالاختيارات واحتمالات التغيير، كما يكسبه الرؤية التأملية والناقدة لأدائه، ولعملية التدريس في كليتها.

وهذا التوجه للبحث الإجرائي يعتبر من أفضل فرص النمو المهني المنظمة والمنهجية، فالتدريس عبر الشبكات لا يخلو من مشكلات، وبالتالي عندما يسعى المعلم تلقائياً لبحث المشكلة، بغية الوقوف على أسبابها ونتائجها متبعًا المنهجية العلمية في دراستها، فإن ذلك يعود بالنفع عليه أولاً، وعلى عملية التعليم برمتها، التي تتطلب تطويراً مستمراً، نتيجة التطور المستمر للظروف المحيطة بها.

4. تكنولوجي (Technologist)

مع التطورات التي شهدها مجال التكنولوجيا، فإن الدور التقليدي للمعلم يجب أن ينتهي أو يتغير، فهناك وفرة في المعلومات، ودور المعلم في ظل هذه الوفرة هو مساعدة المتعلمين على الإبحار في محيط المعلومات، لاختيار الأنسب، والتحليل الناقد، وتضمينه في رؤيتهم وإدراكهم للعالم من حولهم.

والتكنولوجيا تسهم في تغيير الطرق التي يتدرب من خلالها المعلمون، وكذلك طرق تعليم الطلاب، والمطلوب عمله هو القيام بدور فاعل من جانب القائمين على إعداد المعلم لإحداث هذا التغير.

5. مصمم للخبرات التعليمية

للمعلم دور أساسي في تصميم الخبرات التعليمية والنشاطات التربوية، والإشراف على بعضها بما يتناسب مع خبراته وميوله واهتماماته، فهذه الأنشطة مكملة لما يكتسبه الطالب داخل قاعات الدراسات الصفية أو الافتراضية، سواء أكانت أنشطة ثقافية أم رياضية أم اجتماعية إلى غير ذلك من الأنشطة التربوية، وعلى المعلم أن يسهم بدور إيجابي في الإشراف على بعض تلك النشاطات.

6. مدير للعملية التعليمية

في التعليم التقليدي يمارس المعلم دوره في ضبط نظام الصف والإمساك بزمام الأمور في كل ما يحدث داخل الصف، أما في نظم التعلم الإلكتروني فالمعلم مدير للعملية التعليمية بأكملها، حيث يحدد أعداد الملتحقين بالمقررات الشبكية، ومواعيد اللقاءات الافتراضية على الشبكة، وأساليب عرض المحتوى، وطرق التقويم وغيره من عناصر العملية التعليمية.

والمعلم الذي يقوم بدوره القيادي في الفصول الافتراضية يجعل منها خلية عمل بفاعلية واقتدار، سواء كان ذلك على المستوى الفردي أو الجماعي، فيكرس اهتمامات الطلاب لتحقيق الأهداف المنشودة، ويأخذ بيدهم طيلة الوقت للعمل الجاد المثمر.

7. ناصح ومستشار

من أهم الأدوار التي يقوم بها المعلم هو تقديم النصح والمشورة للمتعلمين، وعليه أن يكون ذا صلة دائمة ومستمرة ومتجددة مع كل جديد في مجال تخصصه، وفي طرائق تدريسه وما يطرأ على مجتمعه من مستجدات، فعليه أن يظل طالباً للعلم ما استطاع، مطلعاً على كل ما يدور في مجتمعه المحلي والعالمي من مستحدثات، حتى يستطيع أن يلبي احتياجات طلبته واستفساراتهم المختلفة، ويقدم لهم المشورة فيما يصعب عليهم، ويأخذ بيدهم إلى نور العلم والمعرفة.

منقول من جريدة الشرق الأوسط

https://sites.google.com/site/modernteachingstrategies/the-roles-of-the-teacher-in-e-learning

Learn how to process your translation and revision work critically and constructively

My new upcoming online training course (short course) ....!
To be facilitated on Proz.com.

Here is the course description:

Description

Experienced translators may do their translations intuitively and quickly than a novice or student translator. However, it is not often that translators may find the appropriate jargon and words to use to justify their choices or write conscious and justified comments in their revised or translated assignments? A professional (translator or reviser) may be asked by clients or colleagues at work to do so. Hence, it seems a valid point to add the critical thinking issue to translator competence.

Besides, having that ability may enhance professional status and earn you respect since you become a thinker as well as negotiator and text engineer. This course will take you to that stage and guide you through to think critically when you process your translation, do post-editing or revision work.

Learning objectives

At the end of this course students/participants will be able to :

• Identify and judge critically the text typologies in English and Arabic and problems that may arise in the translation process due to conventions of those texts and other contextual factors in both languages;
• Write in the proper genre and style of the text you translate into;
• Justify your choices in translating the text (for yourself and for others if you were asked to). Your choice remains relative, since nothing is absolute in the real world. This means that there are always many answers to the same problem...
• Revise consciously and constructively the translations or assignments you have been given based on insights from both theory and practice.

The link to the course/workshop..

http://www.proz.com/translator-training/course/2929-learn_how_to_process_your_translation_and_revision_work_critically_and_constructively

The Human Factor in Translation Programmes

Is strengthening students' linguistic and translation skills enough for a quality translation curriculum? And what do employers actually want from a graduate translator?

A recent study carried out here in Canada at the Université de Montréal (Echeverri, 2008) found that translation companies and government organisations employing translation students under internship schemes are very satisfied with their linguistic and other text-based skills, but find them lacking in critical aptitude, reflection and interpersonal abilities.

So, if we take these results seriously and review our programmes, what should we improve?

Objects versus people

Our research shows that attention goes, most of the time, to the objects (content, curriculum, courses) and not to the human factor (faculty and students). Yet there is ample literature calling for faculty development and training schemes (Echeverri, 2008; Kelly, 2005; Kearns, 2006), because the knowledge framework needed in a translation classroom differs from the one delivered in a language classroom.

Understanding how translation students learn, and what their learning styles are, matters just as much. We need to find out what prior knowledge students bring about translation as a profession, a practice or, as some see it, an art. A clear, explicit and accessible study plan can help here, provided it is presented to students in a way that engages them and gives them a road map for their learning path. University students are adults, and educating adults requires a certain tact on the part of the educator.

Three knowledge bases

Finally, you cannot teach a translation course well if you still need further training in any of three areas:

• pedagogy;
• content (translation-specific knowledge);
• real-world professional experience.

These three poles need to be integrated for a sound translation education or training scenario in a higher education context.

Takeaway: the human factor, rather than content or subject matter alone, is in my view the key to raising quality in translator training programmes. I welcome your thoughts.

Teaching Entrepreneurship to Future Translators: A Pilot Course Proposal

My proposal was accepted for the 10th Translation Forum at Sultan Qaboos University (6–7 April 2013), organised by the university's English and Translation Society. The abstract is below.

Forum host: Sultan Qaboos University

Abstract

Innovating in translator training: a pilot course proposal on developing professional and entrepreneurial abilities for future translators

Globalisation and technology have turned the translation market upside down. New working patterns have emerged as a result, such as tele-work, online freelancing and self-employment. This kind of practice requires a combination of academic and business competencies. Yet, as far as I know, the entrepreneurial side of our practice is not taught in university translation units or departments in the Arab world. Only a few translation programmes in the West have managed to embed such courses, usually as workshops or electives rather than core courses, even though these are precisely the competencies employers insist on in the marketplace.

Our recent review of translation programmes in the Arab world found no courses or modules addressing these new practices. The focus remains on developing linguistic skills and other cognitive abilities. In this paper I present an innovative way of embedding such a course in a translation programme, and the pedagogical approach needed to facilitate it: training students to engage in online freelancing and empowering them with metacognitive competencies that will serve them for a lifetime, for example by setting up their own business, either as a team of students (an agency or company) or as an individually owned enterprise.

NB: For logistical reasons I put the preparation of this paper on hold. I may prepare it in another context, for a different audience.

Participatory Action Research: A Method for Translator Trainers

What kind of research methodology does applied translation studies, and translator training in particular, actually need? My answer, after a semester of doctoral seminars on qualitative research in education, is participatory action research led by the teachers themselves.

The Gap Between Scholars and Practitioners

Mainstream translation studies has focused heavily on the sociological, literary, linguistic and cognitive aspects of translation, borrowing its research designs from the social sciences: mostly positivist, "scientific" methods in which knowledge is produced by "the knowers" on practitioners, whether teachers or working translators. The result has been a widening gap between theory (detached scholars) and practice (teachers and practising translators).

The research models in translation studies can be listed as follows: linguistic models (Catford, Nida, Vinay, Newmark, Holmes); communicative models (Neubert); cultural models (Steiner, Venuti, Pym, Snell-Hornby); hermeneutic models (Ricoeur); functionalist models (Reiss, Vermeer, Nord, Chesterman); psycholinguistic models (Krings, Bell); and textual models (Neubert, Shreve, House) (Cravo, 2007, p. 5).

Put the Teacher at the Centre

In translation pedagogy, I would rather centre our focus on the actors on the ground: the teacher, the faculty member. There is no need for a linguist, sociologist or cognitive psychologist to tell the teacher, or even the practitioner, the artisan, how to run a class or how to translate. I believe in the capacity of teachers to understand their students' learning needs, interpret their ways of learning and act accordingly, in collaboration with the students themselves, who must be treated as partners in the learning curve rather than passive absorbers of knowledge.

Hence I find it crucial to introduce the notion of the scholarship of teaching and learning (Shulman, 1986; Hutchings, 1999) as a way of building a culture of classroom participatory research, and so cure a long-standing plague of the translation classroom. Teachers improve their practice by researching their own classroom practice and reflecting on it (Schön, 1983). This critical approach leads teachers to:

• reflect critically on the type of knowledge they disseminate in a translation classroom;
• re-examine the type of teaching approach they use.

What Faculty Need

For this to happen, faculty need further pedagogical and disciplinary training. Not training in the sense of a course or a workshop, but video-recording their classroom interventions and exchanging the footage with trained peers for feedback. Sitting in on a colleague's class as an observer is also desirable (participant observation as a research technique).

The big divide in many translation courses, where faculty hold different ideologies about how to design and manage a course (theoretical or practical), could be resolved if faculty engaged in a collaborative, participatory scholarship of teaching and learning, acting as both professional teachers and researchers.

Those who teach translation come from various backgrounds, yet how many were ever trained to teach translation content, skills and competencies? (Cravo, 2007). As I see it, translation is a profession, and its teaching methods should be aligned with the way professionals are trained: active pedagogies, coaching, and less didactic lecturing.

Action Research in Translation Studies

This is what the literature calls participatory action research. Stephen Corey (1953) introduced the term in education, and Stenhouse (1975) embedded it in teacher training. In translation studies only a few authors have referred to it.

In the Arabic–English literature, Basil Hatim (2001) stipulated that research should not be done on practitioners (teachers and translators) but by them. Others have similarly argued that action research (AR) is key to establishing translator education as a core field of research and enquiry. Cravo (2007, p. 11) puts it plainly:

A good start would be to have translation teachers with knowledge of AR working together and getting involved in classroom research.

My Own Direction

In my research I am working to extend this method into a technology-based environment: online learning and teaching. Such environments may yield promising outcomes for teacher-led AR in higher education. The online environment is student-centred and aims at significant learning outcomes through learning communities, which demands a very active and collaborative kind of intervention from faculty: more facilitating and monitoring than teaching.

My first participation into a TRANSLATOR TRAINING CONFERENCE using the French Language !!

Conference will be held on 8th Mai, 2013 @ the Université Laval (Quebec-Canada). 


 

On the 8th of Mai, 2013, I will be giving my first communication in FRENCH at the ACFAS conference here in Quebec (Université Laval). It is compulsory to : speak in French and present the text in the French Language. I am a bit nervous, but hey! It should be fun.

The topic I will be presenting is quite new in the field of translation teaching/training, although it has been discussed in other fields such as educational technology, distance e-learning and e-learning. It is about the migration of TRANSLATION courses' contents given by faculty in face to face classrooms into an on-line environment ( Moodle, Blackboard..etc). Research literature highlights that teaching practise in both traditional and virtual or technology enhanced environments has some similarities BUT many differences in terms of teaching approaches, technics and choice of material to address students with various learning styles and characteristics. What I will present in the conference is the conceptual part of this pedagogical operation : DESIGNING YOUR COURSE OUTLINE with clear INTENDED  learning outcomes, type of activities to operationalize these activities in collaboration with students and (last) the type of planned assessment designed by faculty to measure those intended outcomes. I will be relting in Blooms's revised taxonomy (Anderson, 2001) version,a s well as John Biggs' (1999, 2007)taxonomy of Constructive ALignment between intended learning outcomes, activities and assessments components.

All the above will be applied to the field of translator training in a university context (Higher education). I will use a Course Outline of a Translation Course called (documentary research in translation practise) given by a professor at one of the Canadian universities. I have been granted approval to use his course outline(syllabus).

*****************************************

HERE IS MY ABSTRACT (IN FRENCH)

13 h 30 - 16 h 00

Après-midi

Communications orales

Présidence/animation : Marie-christine Aubin Université York

Bâtiment – Local : Pavillon Charles-de Koninck – 1261

13 h 30

Fouad EL KARNICHI Université de Sherbrooke, FOUAD EL KARNICHI Université de Sherbrooke

Que nous apprend la conversion d’un cours en mode virtuel sur la pédagogie de la traduction?

(le résumé)

L’environnement des cours en ligne nécessite des compétences spécifiques et novatrices afin de fournir des conditions d’apprentissage significatives pour l’apprenant. Dans cette communication, en lien avec notre recherche doctorale, nous allons aborder la formation dans un environnement d’apprentissage en ligne des futurs traducteurs, en prenant l’exemple d’une formation donnée en présentiel et à distance. Plus précisément, nous allons examiner, à partir d’un syllabus, les changements au niveau pédagogique et structurel qui peuvent être effectuées pendant la migration d’un cours de sa version en présentiel en une version en ligne. Des recherches en formation en ligne nous indiquent les conséquences négatives issues de la conversion des cours d’un mode à l’autre lorsqu’on n’introduit pas de changements pédagogiques dignes du nouvel environnement d'apprentissage. Nous proposerons une analyse des objectifs du cours, des activités d’apprentissage et des mesures d’évaluation dans le plan de cours, qui sera effectuée selon le principe de l’ « alignement constructif » de Biggs (2007). Nous utiliserons aussi la taxonomie de Bloom dans sa version nouvelle publiée par Krathwohl et Anderson (2001) pour traiter des types d’apprentissages ciblés (comprendre, appliquer, évaluer, créer). Notre intention est d’adapter ces critères au contexte de formation des traducteurs dans un environnement en ligne et de présenter nos premières conclusions sur la conversion des cours en mode virtuel.

Fouad

Internship for translators....another brilliant extracurricular activity to count on!

About the internship programme as Sherbrooke University .

As part of my ongoing research activities, I visited three days ago the person in charge of placing student translators into various places in Quebec region and elsewhere ( in Canada) to gain experience and build their self concept as well as competences as future professionals. I was amazed at the way the translation industry has changed in Canada due to Globalisation and impact form technology (mainly the Internet).

In Canada, the employer No1 is the Translation Bureau (The government) due to the fact that ALL documents should be in both French and English. So, the entity did not only offer internship for students, but also : 1- recruit them ; 2- and give financial support for universities to maintain the translation programs. Recently, according to the man in charge of the SERVICES de PLACEMENT (placement services), the governments reduced the budget. Why? well! they went global as well. They started outsourcing their work to countries where translation is done cheaper...and with Quality as well ( North African francophone countries, for instance). This had obliged the internship service in all universities in Canada to seek placements for their students elsewhere (the Private sector). Here, they found another problem ! ...difficulty to find a place, especially if the internship is PAID. In Canada students get paid for their internship. For small translation agencies, this would be an overhead. So, things could not be easy as they were with the internship process with the Federal Bureau of Translation.

This means that translation programs need to be conscious of this shift and develop new contents, teaching and training methodologies and pedagogies to respond to that....BUT gradually! not too slow though!...I am aware that as long as translation is taught within a university context, it will always be behind in catching up with the industry...This is quite understood!

For sure, matching our pedagogies and course contents to respond to new working patterns in the market of translation will always be a concern for faculty....especially with the technological impact and changing working patterns in language industry (Translation, interpreting , revision...etc). It is crucial to shift our attention to develop human resources and competencies (teacher development scheme) to cope with ( in our proper rhythm as academics as well as professionals) the ongoing practises....as long as these practises are not only market bound but also EDUCATIONALLY sound...because, we are, before anything else an educational institution that empowers and builds human capacities to serve a SOCIAL PURPOSE a well as.

Fouad

A Day in a Revision Classroom at Université Laval

Last Thursday my co-director invited me to sit in on her MA class in revision and proofreading at the Department of Translation, Université Laval. There were no lectures. Instead, students led five extracurricular research activities on how revision and proofreading are actually practised in the job market.

Students doing the fieldwork

Students had carried out telephone or on-site interviews with translators and revisers working in translation agencies and companies across Quebec and Canada. It was an innovative move on the part of the faculty. I thoroughly enjoyed the three hours I spent interacting with the students and exchanging the kind of knowledge that is crucial to their development and to building a 'self-concept' as translators (Kiraly, 1995, 2000). There were about eleven students, all mature, some married with children, and all taking their studies in translation and revision seriously.

Why it matters

As a researcher, practitioner and educator, I saw how powerful an extracurricular activity can be for an aspiring translator, especially one so closely tied to the professional world. Pedagogically, it unlocks students' potential and sustains the confidence they need to persevere, complete their course and reach significant learning and performance outcomes. Once in the market, they become ambassadors for a discipline that suffers from an identity crisis and needs new leaders and voices to regain its respect and status.

What this means for the Arab world

We need practices like this in the Arab world. Our social, political and economic contexts are different, but I am confident there is a way to do it with BA or MA translation students. We must review how we train future translators, learn from other practices, and work out how they can be made to fit our own socio-economic and institutional context. The focus must always be on identifying and understanding who our students are and how they learn. Get that formula right, and we can help them achieve durable, significant learning not only during their studies but well beyond them.