Web 2.0 Technologies in the translator training: Aulalint

6th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies. Barcelona (Spain), July 7th-9th, 2014.The dynamic nature of translator training, set as it is against a background of exponential growth in Information and Communication Technology, has channelled the ongoing research of a large number of University teachers since last two decades. Innovative teaching initiatives have been developed to review the key component of the research and teaching conducted in this context. Our main objectives has been to implement the current changes under way in the Spanish university system; introduce a new didactic model, PATT (Professional Approach to Translation Training), designed to coordinate the learning taking place in a series of core and elective course modules that ran across four years of the undergraduate Translation and Interpreting degree program; and adapt PATT model to the Web 2.0 technologies with the development of new resources (Digital library, Open Software library, Social Networks, Wikis, Blogs, etc.). This didactic model has grown during these years ever more sophisticated and the gradual testing and refinement of transparent assessment tools has enabled us to create a learning/teaching environment that draws on the most productive aspects of social constructivism to offer learners a modern, blended e-learning course environment closely attuned to the reality of the Digital Native generation through the rigorous integration of Web 2.0 interactive social networks

Ex-Post Assessment of JRC Proof of Concept Projects 2010-2015

The internal JRC Proof of Concept (PoC) programme was established with the aim of encouraging researchers to further develop and exploit innovative technologies arising from research activities, by way of transforming them into products, processes and services for the benefit of society at large as well as for the market place. The program provides financial resources for technology development activities, prototyping, and market feasibility studies. The JRC budget, thus, not only funds research to support all stages of the European level policy cycle, but also allows researchers to undertake innovative work in relation to novel, original, and proprietary technologies.JRC.I.4-Intellectual Property and Technology Transfe

Fostering Employability through Versatility within Specialisation in Medical Translation Education

The current increase of automation (Rodríguez 2017; Massey/Wieder 2018) and the emergence of new needs and forms of communication are triggering substantial changes in the translation profession, in the role of the translator and in translator education. Previous studies (Muñoz-Miquel 2014, 2016a, 2018) have shown the rich variety of tasks — beyond those traditionally considered — that medical translators perform in the workplace, including heterofunctional translation, editing, or community management. The ability to develop new skills and to adapt continuously to the changing needs of the market is one of the essential characteristics of the translator in the 21st century. That is why we consider it of critical importance that, together with specialisation, versatility is promoted in translator education. In this article, we explore the notion of versatility and propose a teaching strategy that incorporates it and can contribute to improving the employability of future translators. Specifically, we put forward some pedagogical proposals for the English-Spanish language combination that promote diversification of competences and tasks within a narrow specialisation — the medical and healthcare field — in order to provide (future) translators with the versatility necessary to respond to new demands and thus be more employable. Our approach is based on the results of surveys of professional medical translators on the tasks and roles they perform, as well as on our own teaching experience in a master’s degree programme in medical translation.&nbsp

Initiatives and evaluation of teaching-learning process in translation training

The ability to manage information and communication technologies (ICT) is a professional prerequisite for translators. The translation discipline is aware of this trend because ICTs have changed and developed the translation profession. Translation training is more than just learning a proficient command of languages, and translators must also develop other important skills – such as accessing and managing information resources. A group of teachers from various departments of the Universidad de Granada (Spain) have developed and applied a series of innovative learning projects. Translation teaching is approached in these projects from the information society perspective and the demands of the translation market. We have created and developed a ‘Professional Approach to Translator Training’ (PATT), which builds a dynamic and virtual model of translation briefs – and exposes students to real-life work environments and tasks. This teaching approach combines elements of role-play, team-based task learning, simulation, and case study. The approach uses an innovative e-learning environment which functions on a collaborative platform. In addition, we have prepared teaching tools that include: a work guide; a digital translation library; and several interactive and multimedia tutorials. These tools are intended to assess the impact of these innovations on students and determine the following: levels of expectations; capabilities as ICT users; familiarity with the range of computer applications in use; opinions regarding teamwork; and specific knowledge of the course modules involved

Smart tourist information points by combining agents, semantics and AI techniques

The tourism sector in the province of Teruel (Aragon, Spain) is increasing rapidly. Although the number of domestic and foreign tourists is continuously growing, there are some tourist attractions spread over a wide geographical area, which are only visited by a few people at specific times of the year. Additionally, having human tourist guides everywhere and speaking different languages is unfeasible. An integrated solution based on smart and interactive Embodied Conversational Agents (ECAs) tourist guides combined with ontologies would overcome this problem. This paper presents a smart tourist information points approach which gathers tourism information about Teruel, structured according to a novel lightweight ontology built on OWL (Ontology Web Language), known as TITERIA (Touristic Information of TEruel for Intelligent Agents). Our proposal, which combines TITERIA with the Maxine platform, is capable of responding appropriately to the users thanks to its Artificial Intelligence Modeling Language (AIML) database and the AI techniques added to Maxine. Preliminary results indicate that our prototype is able to inform users about interesting topics, as well as to propose other related information, allowing them to acquire a complete information about any issue. Furthermore, users can directly talk with an artificial actor making communication much more natural and closer

Digital Approaches for the Presentation of Tourist Sites with Historical Significance

This paper explores the digital approaches for the presentation of tourist sites with historical significance, focusing on the integration of cutting-edge technologies and innovative strategies. It investigates the use of virtual reality (VR), digital libraries and interactive web platforms to create immersive and interactive experiences for visitors. The paper highlights the benefits of these digital approaches in enhancing tourism, conservation efforts, and cultural understanding. Additionally, it discusses the role of digital representations in preserving both – the tangible and intangible heritage, while also promoting global accessibility, passing down the generations, volunteering and cultural exchange. Through case studies and examples, the paper showcases the transformative potential of digital approaches in presenting and safeguarding cultural heritage

Fact or Fiction

Fake news is increasingly pervasive, and we address its problematic aspects to help people intelligently consume news. In this project, we research machine learning models to extract objective sentences, encouraging unbiased discussions based on facts. The most accurate model, a convolutional neural network, achieves an accuracy of 85.69%. The team implemented an end-to-end web system that highlights objective sentences in user input to make our model publicly accessible. The system also provides additional information about user input, such as links to related web pages. We evaluate our system both qualitatively by interviewing users, and quantitatively with surveys consisting of rating scale questions. Received positive feedback indicates the usability of our platform

Simple identification tools in FishBase

Simple identification tools for fish species were included in the FishBase information system from its inception. Early tools made use of the relational model and characters like fin ray meristics. Soon pictures and drawings were added as a further help, similar to a field guide. Later came the computerization of existing dichotomous keys, again in combination with pictures and other information, and the ability to restrict possible species by country, area, or taxonomic group. Today, www.FishBase.org offers four different ways to identify species. This paper describes these tools with their advantages and disadvantages, and suggests various options for further development. It explores the possibility of a holistic and integrated computeraided strategy