Interpreter Education in the Digital Age by Suzanne Ehrlich

Author:Suzanne Ehrlich
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallaudet University Press

Figure 2. An integrated model (adapted from Leeson and Nolan 2008).

Technological Context

Our case study considers two key elements of delivering blended learning: technological drivers and technical prohibitors. As mentioned before, a key driver is the development and use of video technologies to support education in the field of interpreter training. We classify this video content into (a) preexisting content, which is now digitized or awaiting digitization for integration and use (pre-2007) and (b) new content creation (post-2007).

The proliferation of digital video since the 1990s has seen manufacturers of phones, tablets, personal computers, and cameras push through small sensors, high-quality lenses, high frame rates in ever-smaller, increasingly affordable devices. In the past three decades video technology has been transformed. Historic footage of signers in Ireland and Belgium was recorded on VHS cassettes. Cameras tended to be large to accommodate a 187mm x 107mm, plastic-encased cassette yielding 60 to 180 minutes of footage. Moreover, battery packs were often large and heavy. Over time, the videotape shrank in physical size, and digital video (DV) cassettes became commonplace for amateurs and professionals alike, pushing manufacturers to design more compact, lighter, higher-quality cameras. Video capture to cassettes was time and resource intensive. Until the early 2000s, most signed footage was still recorded on VHS. As VHS players became scarce (and are now almost obsolete), conversion of VHS footage became problematic, and the most cost-effective options were to convert to miniDV and then from miniDV to compressed digital formats, often stored on a DVD or hard drive. This task, although allowing for a safe form of archiving, was still time consuming and cost prohibitive as conversion was possible only in real time. In addition, the safekeeping of VHS content was under constant threat. Despite manufacturers’ claims that VHS tapes have 10–25-year life spans, storage temperatures, eroding tapes, and worn player heads contributed to compromising the integrity and longevity of the footage. We must remember that there were no backups (just copies of copies) and that the unique footage was held and used in its original form on VHS. Then things changed. The digital era was upon us.

Since circa 2007 basic video-editing software is often shipped as part of any hardware purchase, and, coupled with this, the emergence of the apps era has generated an abundance of free tools that can fulfill the most basic of video-editing tasks. Recording on smart phones, in-built webcams direct to a storage location such as a hard drive, cloud location, or social media channel (such as YouTube or Vimeo) has stripped back the multifaceted task of creating video. Most high-end smart phones boast full-resolution HD (1080p). Advanced features like color correction, auto focusing, downscaling, and effects filters that would previously have been available only for postproduction using specialist software are now freely available for educators and students alike. Thus student lab time and self-directed learning through simulations, which may entail self-recording and vlogging (video blogging), have become both widespread and commonplace in interpreting curricula. Commensurate with this, students are more empowered to take ownership of their learning.

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