Technology in Interpretation

               Results:  Interpreter's Survey- Question #4

 

 

Question #4: Listed below are computer skills that we are currently teaching in our interpretive courses.  On a scale of 1 to 5, please rank these skills based on their importance to an interpretation job.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          

            The fourth question again asks participants to make a value decision.  The participants were provided with a list of skills taught in the two technology training modules.  They were then asked to rate each skill based on how important it would be to an interpretation job.  In essence, the instructors wanted to determine if professional interpreters and supervisors valued the skills being taught in the training modules.  The results would provide a general overview of skills that the participants believed were most important. 

            Each skill was rated on a ranking continuum, with 5 being skills that were essential to an interpretive job and 1 being skills rarely needed on the job.  All of the responses for each skill were averaged together and reported.  The results are included in the chart above.

            The results from this question were very encouraging.  An importance rating of 3 would have been about average, where half of the participants believed it was a more important skill and half believed it was a less important skill.   Overall, every skill was rated as having an above average importance (higher than 3) except for large-format printing and laminating (2.5), which was not actually covered in any great detail within the training modules. 

            Skills with the highest importance ratings included “navigating and working in the Windows environment” (4.2) and “learning page layout software to create posters, brochures, and other publications” (4.0).  Other skills that were rated as higher than 3.5 included understanding the role of computers in interpretation (3.9), knowing the basic parts and terminology of computers (3.8), using digital cameras (3.8), and learning graphic editing (3.5).  Using scanners (3.4) and creating PowerPoint presentations (3.3) were considered less important skills than the others.

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For More Information, contact:

Jim Buchholz
Schmeeckle Reserve
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
(715) 346-4992
jbuchhol@uwsp.edu
All pictures and text are copyrighted by Jim Buchholz, 2002.  No part of this website may be duplicated without written permission of the author.