While I’ve bloged on this before, here’s a story of a school actually using an online translation service to serve it’s Spanish speaking community. While I think it’s great that they are making efforts for outreach to Spanish speakers, I can’t help but wonder what I would think if I received a poor computer translated note from my teacher. Then again, maybe it’s good enough in a community with limited language resources and we all know that schools are lacking time and money… I just wonder if this is helping or continuing to perpetuate a gap between communities. Read more.

If Rosa needs a sack lunch and closed toe shoes for a field trip, the IBM software Traducelo Ahora! (Translate Now!) will take the teacher’s English note and translate it into Spanish.

If Rosa’s parents need to schedule a parent-teacher conference, they can write an e-mail in Spanish and the IBM translation software will convert it into English for Rosa’s teacher.

The Rogers School District recently received a grant for the IBM translation software access, which is worth about $20,000 per year, said Tricia Todd, director of the school district’s English for Speakers of Other Languages and migrant education programs.

“We hope this translation service will help us keep more families informed and involved in their children’s education,” said Rogers Superintendent Janie Darr.