Ethical tools for interpreter education: the evolving role of free technologies in teaching and learning

Abstract

[EN]Understanding the evolution of technology has ethical implications which need to be discussed in the classroom. When devising a class, the interpreting lecturer makes intentional decisions, such as the choice of the speaker, together with the choice of format, which have an effect on the students: a form of (ethical) manipulation. One consciously selects the ethical values one wishes to transmit by presenting a video for the students to interpret, proposing an exercise in critical thought by constructing collective knowledge in the interpreting lab or in a given school. Similarly, keeping ahead of the times (technically and ethically) requires conscious reflection and a self-critical effort on the part of the student and, certainly, on the part of the lecturer. Technologies have ethical implications and methodologies, which afford us new possibilities to work different cognitive processes present in interpreting; to automate different efforts. By defending a certain type of class format, we aim to demonstrate that the contents, the pedagogical reasoning and the philosophy behind the use of new technologies really matter, and that technology is not just about tools that are taken as a given. Questioning the quality of the reception signal may have been an acceptable argument a few decades ago when discussing technological issues, but extending prescriptive advice to academics may result in the negation of students’ perfectly understandable rights to be taught about what is already happening in their profession.