MUSCATINE, Iowa — Some students at Jefferson Elementary School are wearing earbuds in the classroom. No, they're not listening to music. The earbuds are actually helping them tune in more to their teacher's lessons.
Since the start of the school year, teachers have been using Timekettle M3 translator earbuds to communicate with their English-learning students.
"We had a huge influx this year. We have more than 10 now, students that know no English," music teacher Cole Flack said. "So being able to communicate through the earbuds, through the iPad, just opens up a whole new world."
One of Flack's third grade students is from Ukraine and speaks Russian. Flack carries around the iPad which picks up what he's saying, and through the app, translates everything he says in English into Russian in real-time.
"These students are coming out of their shells, being able to talk to the teachers, talk with their students, and just really have a good, memorable experience," Flack said.
The translation devices are in addition to the already existing English Learners services students receive. This just better keeps them up to speed in the classroom and allows them to learn in the language they're most comfortable with while they're still learning English.
Stacy Beatty has a sixth grade student, Jorge, whose first language is Spanish. She's noticed the combination of the device and his EL services is working well for him.
"We have many students, like in Jorge's position, who speak decent English, but when you get to concepts and vocabulary like science and social studies, it's much harder to translate those terms," Beatty said. "And so the fact that we have this AI technology that will do it for him, makes a huge difference in learning these concepts."
The real-time translation means that students are keeping up with their peers too. In the past, some teachers would use Google Translate, but that was a slower process. Beatty said it's opening doors for both teachers and students.
"I see him trying to use English more often, and I think that's the comfort level of hearing that direct translation," she said. "He hears it in English, immediately hears it in Spanish, and is getting that access to the vocabulary that he didn't have before."