sábado, 16 de abril de 2016

The Use of ICT on Languages 3

TRANSLATION 3
Translation and technology: study of UK Freelance Translators

   Demand for translation services has increased considerably over the past decade or so, exacerbated bye a number of factors, including the growing emphasis in business on globalization, the advent of the World Wide Web as an international marketing tool, the rise of the software localisation industry and the increasing opportunities for international trade

    With regard to technological developments, the proliferation of personal computers (PCs) has resulted in a widespread shift among translators from the use of dictating equipment and typists to the use of row processing software.

    The internet has transformed the way in which translators receive and deliver translation assignments, with much of this now being undertaken via electronic mail, rather tan by fax or via the conventional postal system.


Translator's workstation

    document production, managing terminology, storing and retrieving segments of previously translated text, and automated translation.

Locke cities: Budgeting, pricing, and hardware and software acquisition.

Austermühl's ‘process-orientated’ view of the translator's workstation.

‘translation as a business’ as well as translation ‘as a linguistic and cultural process’ 

Research Method
When condicting an empirical investigation ofa phenomenon, the resercher has at his/her disposal a variety of posible reserch approaches, including questionnaire surveys, case studies, laboratory experiments and action reserch.

    There is an established body of reserch literatura in which questionnaires have been used to study ICT adoption in a variety of small business contexts.

    Such studies provided a valuable source of ideas and insight to inform the design and development of the questionnaire formulated for use in this study. The questionnaire was organised into the following sections:
Translation Profile 
    Covering demographic data; details of translator training and qualifications; ICT knowledge and skills.

ICT familiarity and usage
   Covering general-purpose software, translation-specific software, other specialised software (financial management packages), web-based language resources, online tolos and communications technologies.

ICT Strategy
    Covering translators opinions and thoughts about ICT use in their translation workflow, their perceptions of translation technologies, and their approaches to business planning and strategy issues.

Attitudes towards ICT 
   The overwhelming majority of translators believed ICT to be important to support each of the various groups of activity discussed earlier, particularly for communication activities and for information retrieval activities, such as terminology identification and locating relevant background reference material.
ICT Adoption Strategies
    There was little evidence of technology being adopted ‘just for the sake of it’ or ‘just because it was there’, an approach conventionally thought of by ICT strategists as immature. For many in the sample, it seemed that their guiding principle was to ensure that ICT adoption improved their efficiency and productivity.


The use of ICT by UK freelance translators is a timely and relevant subject of inquiry, given the high proportion of the translator community now working on a freelance basis.

The results of a statistical analysis suggest that general-purpose software applications are widely used, but there is less evidence of translation-specific tools being adopted.

EDUCATION 3

Unesco ict competency framework for teachers

There is an emerging broad consensus worldwide about the benefits that can be brought to school education through the appropriate use of evolving information and communication technologies.
Schools and teachers may not be able to afford the equipment, they may lack access to the internet, or suitable materials might not be available in their own language. However, a fundamental issue is whether teachers know how to use ICT effectively in their teaching.
The way ICT is used will depend on the subject being taught.
It is important to set out the basic principles which should guide the use of ICT in teaching, and this is what the UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers (ICT – CFT) does.
It offers engaging and fast-evolving learning environments, blurs the boundaries between formal and informal education and prompts teachers to develop new ways of teaching and enabling students to learn.

Education is a central function of any nation or community. UNESCO and the UN see education as having the following aims:

Inculcating the community’s core values and passing on its cultural legacy
Supporting the personal development of children, young people adults
Promoting democracy and increasing participation in society, particularly among women and minorities
Encouraging cross-cultural understanding and the peaceful resolution of conflict, improving health and well-being
Supporting economic development, reducing poverty and increasing widespread prosperity.

The UNESCO International Commission on Education for the first 21st Century views learning throughout life and participation in the society of learning as the key to meeting the challenges posed by a rapidly changing world.
‘learning to live together’, ‘learning to do’, and ‘learning to be’
Education Reform 
The successful integration of ICT into the classroom will depend on the ability of teachers to structure the learning environment in new ways, to merge new technology with a new pedagogy, to develop socially active classrooms, encouraging co-operative interaction, collaborative learning and group work. 
The Modules 
   By crossing the three approaches to teaching based on human capacity development- technology literacy, knowledge deepening, and knowledge creation- with the six aspects of a teacher’s work- understanding ICT in education curriculum assessment, pedagogy, ICT,  organization and administration and teacher professional learning- a framework of 18 modules is created.
Understanding ICT in Education 
1. Identify the policy goals supported by the ICT-CFT Framework

2. Identify ICT-CFT Framework purpose and approaches

3. Understand the relevance of the ICT-CFT Framework in a given scenario

ICT
Select and apply basic tools
1.Given a specific learning activity, identify the required hardware and devices
2.Use the internet and browsers to support learning activities
SERVICES 3
Processes, Performance Drivers and ICT Tools in Human Resources Management
The goal of this article is to present results of a recent scientific project, focused on research of relations between personnel performance, HR-related business processes and supportive information and communication technology (ICT). The article presents resolutions of the following research questions: 
What are the main generic performance drivers, handled by HR managers? 
How can a dedicated human resources information system (HRIS) support HR managers in build-up and support of these performance drivers?
         During the last decade, a “holistic” approach to managing people in organizations, corresponding to the above presented definition, largely replaced the traditional “personnel management” concept. HR managers are no longer responsible only for “bringing people into the organization, helping them perform their work, compensating them for their labors, and solving problems that arise” as described by Cherrington (1995) or “handling, directing and controlling of individual employees, … (as well as) acquisition and retention of competent employees trough proper recruitment, selection, placement, utilization, and development” (Sison, 1981)
 PRACTICAL FEEDBACK – SURVEY RESULTS 
      In order to get a practical insight on current trends in HR management area, the research team conducted a survey among selected Czech-residing companies. Main focus of the study was the usage of ICT tools for personnel management and motivation factors related to continuous measuring of performance. Findings identified in previous chapters were, for the sake of understandability by broader audience, presented on more general terms and covered by leading questions
 Functionality provided by HRIS 
        The following graph shows the evaluation of functionality provided by HRIS – it measures the level of satisfaction the respondents feel towards the functionality provided. 
Measuring performance 
        The following graphs show some of the results of a very interesting survey section, covering personnel performance measurement and management. The first graph represents overview of general usage of performance management – expressing whether KPIs or other forms of clearly set goals are defined for individual employees.