Engaging with Students and Parents in Bellevue School District in Multilingual Settings

Опубликовано 19 сентября 2019, 17:59

The Bellevue School District serves nearly 22,000 students east of Seattle, WA. The rich diversity of the student body is demonstrated by the 123 countries our students come from and the 99 languages spoken across the district. Part of Bellevue School District's vision is to affirm and inspire each and every student to learn and thrive as creators of their future world. But how does one communicate effectively with students who may still be learning a language so that they are not left behind? Further, how does one communicate with their families? How does language include or exclude families from the community, from participating in their student's education?

In this talk, I will discuss how we are using technology, specifically speech and translation technology, to engage more effectively with students and their families in education. We regularly hold multilingual parent-teacher conferences (“coffees”), and have parents attend who speak as many as a dozen different languages. Microsoft Translator technology allows us to present simultaneously to all of the parents in one session, allowing them to have access to the material being discussed, and also allowing them to communicate with educators or other parents in near real-time.

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