Drape's Takes

Hello Google,

When I mentioned that I hoped that you took the idea of translation bots one step further, this is pretty much what I had in mind:

Please note:

• I have written in English while Jorge has written in Spanish.
• I have chosen my language using the pull-down menu.
• I can see what language my friend is speaking, but am not troubled with the clutter caused by multiple translations of the same content.
• An optional "View untranslated conversation" button might also be a good addition - both providing an exchange similar to what you currently have in place and limiting the phrases that might be lost in translation, given that a person can read the foreign language but prefers to type in his/her native tongue.

Again, one small step for Google, but one giant leap for mankind - or at least those of us concerned with international communication.

Have a nice holiday season,

Darren

Technorati Tags: google googletalk international edubloggerworld education technology

Wow. Two new additions to Google's arsenal have tremendous potential for educational conversation.

1. Google Reader added the new "Friends' shared items" feature.

Now I'm not only able to see what educators around the world are reading, but I'm also able to discover a number of new-to-me great writers. Here's a list of a few gems I've found via my friends' shared items:

• David Armano - Amazing post about Twitter and Tipping Points (two of my favorite subjects)
• YPulse - Great summary of the newly released PEW study by a blogger that focuses on Generation Y
• Derek Wenmoth - Informative post that details a new addition to Google Talk (see below)

Again, if it weren't for my newly acquired ability to easily view my friends' shared items, I would have missed these (and other) great posts.

What I Want For Christmas That Would Drastically Improve The Experience:

• Inline commenting on my shared items. If I were able to attach a brief comment to each of the items that I share, then further meaningful conversation could easily take place - and in a very non-intrusive way. Simple for Google to implement, here's to the hope that they do.

For those interested in a quick-start guide to this using this feature, I highly recommend John Pederson's well-crafted Google Reader - Because Sharing Is Caring. John's guide will teach you not only how to get up and running, but how to avoid looking like a N00b.

Quick note: If you share with me - I'd love to share with you. Please see the comments for my Google Talk information.

2. Google Talk now includes 23 different language translation 'bots'.

Each of the bots is named using two-letter language abbreviations as "[from language]2[to language]@bot.talk.google.com". The supported language pairs are: ar2en, de2en, de2fr, el2en, en2ar, en2de, en2el, en2es, en2fr, en2it, en2ja, en2ko, en2nl, en2ru, en2zh, es2en, fr2de, fr2en, it2en, ja2en, ko2en, nl2en, ru2en, zh2en. So, for French to German translation, talk to fr2de@bot.talk.google.com. While this addition really only serves as an easy-to-access translation dictionary, the potential for future uses is amazing.

What I Want For Christmas That Would Drastically Improve The Experience:

• I can see it now: Google takes these "translation bots" one step further. You type your message in English and your Chinese-speaking friend reads it in Chinese. Again, this seems like a relatively small step for Google to take that would literally transform the way our world chats. Very exciting!

In conclusion, I'm very pleased with (and thankful for) the new collaborative features that Google has added to the tools that have already revolutionized the way we do things. How about you?

• What do you like about what Google has done and what does your Google Holiday wish-list look like?

Quick update: Google has granted my second Christmas wish. Albeit much more cluttered than I had hoped for, you actually can type your chat in English and have your Chinese-speaking friend read it in Chinese - all using the Group Chat feature. Here's how I learned about it:


Image Source - John Pederson

Technorati Tags: google reader international education technology

I am very pleased to announce that Renaud Boisjoly has successfully created the first translation of Pay Attention into a language other than English (or at least the first of which I've been made aware). The French translation (high quality, H.264) can now be downloaded here - as well as embeddable versions on YouTube and TeacherTube.

As you may or may not know, the files that were used to create the original presentation can also be downloaded - a helpful nugget of information that Renaud learned after creating his translation. To be perfectly honest, I hope that this translation becomes the first of many, and have consequently provided the original files for use. In that light, you may also be interested in the work of Claude Almansi. Claude has been kind enough to provide (back in July) accurately timed sub-titles to Pay Attention using an online service called Mojiti. You may view the result here - and ultimately, change the subtitles to a foreign language.

Original instructions from Claude:

So I used the video on TeacherTube in a Mojiti page, to create a "Spot Set" with a timed English transcription. The Mojiti video result is 100% redundant, but others can create their own spot set from there, then import the English one (links and instructions on the page), then translate the already timed subtitles in the "Organize Spots" part.

An alternative way of doing it is to save the spot set as .srt (link under the video), open and translate it with any text editor, then re-save it (1) and import it in a new spot set, made as above. This might be a better solution for people with a slow internet connection, or if a language teacher wants students to share the translation and do it on school computers that don't allow the use of Mojiti - or if the translator is using assistive technology with which Mojiti is not compatible (heaps of javascripts in Mojiti that don't go with JAWS, for instance).

Very well done, Renaud and Claude. Thank you for your wonderful efforts and may we all inspire others toward better teaching, regardless of their native tongue.

Technorati Tags: payattention international education technology

[Quick note: This blog post has been written by my daughter.]

My class is doing a project. We're learning about the world. We're trying to get postcards from all over the globe. I think it will be really neat to learn about places I've never been. It will be amazing to see all the beatiful sites. If you send me a postcard, I will write you back when I get the card.

You can send it to my dad's work (and then he'll pass them on to me):

Darren Draper
9361 S 300 E
Sandy, UT 84070-2998

Thank you so much!

[My take: While I'm happy to see that my daughter's teacher is thinking globally, I have to sigh because post cards are so Web 0.0. Nevertheless, I have passed my daughter's request on to you because I think that we have an opportunity here to show this teacher exactly how powerfully effective online communication can be. Furthermore, knowing my daughter, she'll gladly send you a postcard in return, post a comment on your blog, or even babysit your kids - if that's what it takes to get a box full of postcards from wonderful people around the world.]

Image Source - 1

Technorati Tags: international postcards education technology global

Exciting things are happening out there. Very exciting things.

Those of you that attended this year's EduBloggerCon "un-conference" in June remember that it was an amazing way to begin this year's NECC. Because not all bloggers were able to attend EduBloggerCon, we have created EduBloggerWorld - a Ning social network designed to facilitate connections and community for educational bloggers worldwide, serving as a first step toward future virtual events similar to EduBloggerCon.

Less than a week old, EdubloggerWorld is growing rather quickly (over 100 members in less than 5 days - with no formal advertising). Comparatively, there are more EduBloggerWorld members now (115) than there were attendees of EduBloggerCon (104) in Atlanta. Interestingly, communities within the community have also sprung up - with the creation of several groups including a Spanish bloggers group that has written several posts to the community in Spanish.

On behalf of Steve Hargadon, Julie Lindsay, and Vicki Davis, I write inviting you to join us (http://www.edubloggerworld.com/). We think this is an important step in embracing the international culture of a flattening world and an excellent way to pay attention to the world around us.

Technorati Tags: edubloggercon07 edubloggerworld international

Well it's official. Or as official as any "un-conference" can be.

I just finished a chat session with three of the smartest people I've entered a Google Talk session with. Alright, it was my first time using Google Talk, but they are pretty smart.

Julie Lindsay, Steve Hargadon, Vicki Davis, and I discussed a few of the formalities surrounding an international version of EduBloggerCon. In our discussion, we decided it would be best to allow for asynchronous communication - accompanied by occasional "live" sessions - dates and methods to be determined later. What's the name of all this madness, you ask?

EduBloggerWorld - coming to a Ning near you. Steve has done an excellent job in creating an online community in which we can all participate - the official URL of which is http://www.edubloggerworld.com/. It is our hope that this site will serve as the home and planning location for future, international versions of EduBloggerCon.

There's no turning back now.

Technorati Tags: edubloggercon07 edubloggerworld international