Online education is becoming more common by the day. In the spirit of making education accessible to all, the internet has made it easier for academic information to reach every corner of the world. Online learning varies from free introductory courses, certificate programs, and college diplomas to fully-fledged university degrees.
With all the academic information available online, access to education is closer than ever. This article will show how translation makes e-learning content even more inclusive.
Academic Translation: Widening the Reach of Online Courses
Online learning has opened a new convenient avenue to access information. Distance is no longer a hindrance to learning. With just a computer and an internet connection, you can access lessons offered in any part of the world. Translation makes e-learning even more effective in a number of ways, as we expound below.
Makes Information Available to a Larger Audience
When you have information in one language, it’s only accessible to those who understand it. Your audience can get that much wider for every additional language you translate into. If your learning institution provides its teachings in only one language, it locks out those who speak different languages. As soon as you translate your notes, research findings, textbooks, tests, and other coursework material, you open your institution to a whole new category of students, particularly international students.
Academic information is often available in video or audio format, with lecture recordings available online for download. How can international students access this information? Here, education transcription precedes translation. For translation to follow, the audio files first need to be typed into text.
Academic content is primarily available in major languages such as English, French, German, Chinese, and Italian. Therefore, the education industry should make an effort to translate the content into less common languages for everyone to have equitable access. After all, people from smaller communities are more marginalized when it comes to education. The first step in making education accessible is getting it online. The second step is to have the information accessible in different languages; translation will help achieve that.
Helps Students Access Industry Experts
The goal is not just to provide education but to provide quality education. Sometimes, the best material in a given course exists in a language different than yours. For instance, such is the case of those students studying for a degree in medicine.
A simple Google search will tell you that the US has the most advanced medical research facilities. Information from such facilities is precious and heavily requested in the medical world. If such information is only available in English, medical students from other parts of the world will miss it. Once a translation is available, even a student in a small African town can interact with medical industry experts through their research findings.
Without translation, smaller communities are the most disadvantaged. They’ll find that there’s only limited information available in their language, heavily affecting the quality of their education. Major employers do not recognize degree certificates from certain institutions whose education quality is questionable. All these changes once we make the right academic information accessible to everyone through translation.
Allows More People to Access the Cheaper Online Education
The cost of getting an education keeps rising. Parents struggle to their limits as they seek ways to see their children through school. Thousands seek education loans, and many governments can no longer meet the demand. Education loan debts are at an all-time high. While quality education does not come cheap, the current trend is putting a strain on many families and denying education to people who really need it.
Online education has managed to significantly bring down the cost of education. Allowing students to learn remotely eliminates the cost of transport, accommodation, utilities, etc. Translating content into as many languages as possible is paramount for more people to access this more affordable online education.
Final Words
Now that we know how translation enhances online learning let’s also mention that it must be as accurate as possible to produce the best results. You may have encountered cheap translation programs available online and considered using them. They promise to translate your document within minutes, and with their fast turnaround times, they might have enticed you more than once. Before you go for this option, consider the accuracy of AI translation, as it is always on the poor side.
Translating academic content requires understanding the subject, not just translating the sentences from one language to another. For quality assurance, go for industry-specific translators that understand the relevant lingo, terminologies, abbreviations, and general subject matters.
Companies like GoTranscript provide translators specializing in different industries and language combinations. With their expert help, you should be able to make education more accessible to everyone regardless of their language. The internet has made it possible to access education anywhere, and translation comes in handy to complete the process.
