Hi Chris, Which reviews are you referring to? The reviews in iTunes (US store) have a lot of negative reviews - mostly referring to pricing. The app tries to sell itself as free but you have to pay an extra US$10 for the actual language pack - the free version only reverses words - pointless. This is a marketing issue. There are some reviews claiming the accuracy is not great in translation though. This is clearly embryonic technology and I showed it as something in the latest developments/'future trends' part of the talk. I personally think there is more use in something like Google Goggles - I'd expect the Google Translate services to be better than the translation technology behind Word Lens. Translations in Google Goggles are also stored locally so are better for learning purposes.
You’re in Spain, have you tried Word Lens out in the wild? Neil
Thanks for the presentation. The case studies were very enlightening. You touched on a number of very intersting points in your talk.
As you said, many people are unaware of the learning potential their mobile devices have. Many students seem to be stuck in using their mobile device as an electronic dictionary. Ocassionally, as your cases studies show, we come across a student who is more adavanced at using their device to support their language learning. This seems to correlate with their cultural background. I believe these devices will not be truly utilitised and exploited unless teachers become knowledgeable about them and icorporate them into lessons.
What are you thoughts on this? How should teachers go about incorporating them into lessons?
Thanks for your comments. I agree that the potential of mobiles will be missed by many, including many teachers. The case study of the teacher I used raised some simple but important points:
accepting mobile devices into the classroom (on the table not under the table)
accepting that learners will have valuable reflections themselves on how mobiles can be used and getting the students to share experiences
using mobile devices as referential, data collection and communicative tools within the class (using baseline technologies that eliminate platforms issues)
These are just a few obvious ideas and there are many barriers to integration. One things for certain, mobile technologies are going nowhere and will become the majority technology for accessing the internet as well as providing access to some great native applications.
Would be interesting to hear from teachers how they are integrating mobile into class.
Comments
11 March 2009
1 year 4 weeks
The reviews for Word Lens are very off-putting. What is your opinion about the value for money offered by this app?
10 March 2009
1 year 4 weeks
Hi Chris,
Which reviews are you referring to? The reviews in iTunes (US store) have a lot of negative reviews - mostly referring to pricing. The app tries to sell itself as free but you have to pay an extra US$10 for the actual language pack - the free version only reverses words - pointless. This is a marketing issue. There are some reviews claiming the accuracy is not great in translation though.
This is clearly embryonic technology and I showed it as something in the latest developments/'future trends' part of the talk. I personally think there is more use in something like Google Goggles - I'd expect the Google Translate services to be better than the translation technology behind Word Lens. Translations in Google Goggles are also stored locally so are better for learning purposes.
You’re in Spain, have you tried Word Lens out in the wild?
Neil
13 April 2011
1 year 4 weeks
Hi Neil,
Thanks for the presentation. The case studies were very enlightening. You touched on a number of very intersting points in your talk.
As you said, many people are unaware of the learning potential their mobile devices have. Many students seem to be stuck in using their mobile device as an electronic dictionary. Ocassionally, as your cases studies show, we come across a student who is more adavanced at using their device to support their language learning. This seems to correlate with their cultural background. I believe these devices will not be truly utilitised and exploited unless teachers become knowledgeable about them and icorporate them into lessons.
What are you thoughts on this? How should teachers go about incorporating them into lessons?
Thanks,
Michael
10 March 2009
1 year 4 weeks
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your comments. I agree that the potential of mobiles will be missed by many, including many teachers. The case study of the teacher I used raised some simple but important points:
accepting mobile devices into the classroom (on the table not under the table)
accepting that learners will have valuable reflections themselves on how mobiles can be used and getting the students to share experiences
using mobile devices as referential, data collection and communicative tools within the class (using baseline technologies that eliminate platforms issues)
These are just a few obvious ideas and there are many barriers to integration. One things for certain, mobile technologies are going nowhere and will become the majority technology for accessing the internet as well as providing access to some great native applications.
Would be interesting to hear from teachers how they are integrating mobile into class.
Neil