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Notably, multilingual learning requires translation of the educational content. Such a process is easy when all students are on site. However, it becomes daunting to provide such translated educational content to remote students.

A common question is whether the translated educational content will become inferior to the rich cultural environment surrounding remote students.

It is worth noting that whenever students move to an institution that offers multilingual education, they get separated from their households where rich cultural orientation exists. In other words, such students get exposed to skewed cultural content that makes them accommodate the standard language of instruction.

On the other hand, remote students continue living under the influence of their culture. For this reason, there is a high probability that there can be an oversight in the standard language of instruction.

How can an institution offering multilingual distance learning overcome the highlighted challenges? It is by adopting innovative approaches. Let’s explore some of the innovative approaches that such institutions can adopt.

Periodical Re-evaluation of the Learning Strategies

Distance learning needs are unique to each student. Also, these needs keep on changing to different factors, including the need for personalized learning. For these reasons, there is a need to keep on evaluating the existing learning strategies. Such a move can identify what is working and what is not working.

Periodic re-evaluation of the learning strategies also seeks to accommodate new innovative learning approaches. Given that teachers and trainers act in the best interest of their students, it is worthwhile to be on the lookout for new strategies and approaches that can improve the current learning outcomes.

How can a learning institution achieve the periodical re-evaluation objective? One of the ways entails benchmarking. It is proactive for a learning institution to identify what is working for others in terms of the delivery of high-quality multilingual distance learning. Afterward, it can endeavor to invest in such learning strategies and approaches.

It is all about keeping tabs on the trends in multilingual distance learning. Afterward, a learning institution can evaluate the most feasible trends to adopt while considering the required resources, among other factors.

Adapting to Individual Needs

Notably, different cultures have different meanings for symbols, signs, and icons. For this reason, your multilingual distance learning approach must be accommodative to the said different cultural elements. However, the conveyed message must remain the same, given that the language of instruction is standard.

If the message conveyed becomes different to each student in a multilingual class, the outcomes of the language of instruction will be different. In return, the entire learning process will not meet its overall objectives.

The adaptation of individual needs stretches to the age factor of the students. Sometimes, junior and senior students have a hierarchical manner of understanding a conveyed message.

If you convey a standard message without considering the possibility of a hierarchical understanding of the message, there will be a misunderstanding. In return, the training or the learning session will fail to meet its objectives.

Being Proactive

Given that multilingual distance learning is a complex exercise, tutors must be proactive. In other words, they should prepare the scope of the curriculum in advance. This exercise can enable them to identify the requirements of distance learning programs.

Some requirements that you must consider include multimedia requirements, language(s), and target audiences.

There is also the need to ensure that the materials and content used during the distance learning exercise feature high quality. To achieve this objective, you must engage experts, such as the providers of education certificate translation services. Such experts ensure that your teaching content is accurate and relevant.

You should also ensure that all graphics and texts, linked documents, and interactive components are accurate. These materials must also match the intended style and tone. Other materials that require the highest level of accuracy include study guides, instructional documents, and reference materials.

Language Identification

You must identify the languages you intend to use when translating your multilingual distance learning content. This requirement calls for you to know the cultural backgrounds of your students. In return, you can identify their languages for translation purposes.

If you fail to identify the languages of your students, there is a high probability that you can fail to meet the learning needs of your students.

Use of Captions and Voice-Over

Do you know the probability of students watching videos with closed captions is always high? This aspect makes the use of captions on multilingual learning content very important.

Notably, you can turn captions on or off whenever a need arises. The move can also help to accommodate different learning styles. It is also important to note that you can use captions and voice-over to translate the learning content.

You should also transcribe all videos to make it easy for students to refer to whenever they fail to understand a video. Sometimes, a video can have a speaker who speaks fast, making it impossible for some students to hear the words. In such a scenario, transcription comes in handy to provide a student with speaker notes for reference.

Design Content for Mobile

We are in an era of smartphones. Long gone are the days when distance learning called for one to have a PC or a laptop. Nowadays, students can use smartphones to access their learning materials. For this reason, you should design your learning content with mobile users in mind.

Designing mobile-friendly distance learning content ensures that your students can access the learning content from any place. However, mobile phones have limited processing time and memory. For this reason, the learning content should not be too bulky. Instead, it should be easily accessible when using a mobile phone.

Adopt a Microlearning Strategy

Sometimes, the learning content can be voluminous to the extent that students can find it hard to follow it. To overcome this challenge, it is advisable to break the content into small sections. This move can help the students to understand the learning content in bits.

If possible, use short videos that students can understand easily. Remember, videos can also feature translated captions that make it easy for each student to understand the learning content.

Localize the Learning Content

Localization might appear as an exercise unfit for educational content. However, it is an integral exercise that facilitates an easy understanding of the learning content in multilingual settings. Remember, localization seeks to adopt local colloquialisms. In return, students learn from things they see every day.

Notably, localization can also seek to use examples that are in the area where the students stay. This move helps the students compare the learning content with things they easily understand. In return, the learning process becomes easy, and the students can achieve the intended objectives.

Use of Virtual Tools to Engage Students

Multilingual distance learning should be an interactive process. Interaction is also an important part of language development.

One of the activities that virtual tools support is student-to-student collaboration. With virtual tools, students can share documents.

One of the tools that can assist students in sharing documents is Google slides. They can also use tools, such as Padlet and Flipgrid, to share video and voice recordings. Lastly, tools, such as Chat Waterfall, can support simultaneous student chats.

Teachers can also use virtual tools to develop various interactive student activities. Some of the tools that teachers can use are Google Jamboard, Nearpod, and Book Creator.

Teachers’ Collaboration

Teachers’ collaboration is also an integral aspect of successful multilingual distance learning. There are several tools they can use to share planning documents and hold co-planning meetings. These activities enable teachers to assist each other and share ideas.

Whenever teachers collaborate when delivering multilingual distance learning, their students are the main beneficiaries. Teachers can always share strategies that work or identify the ones that do not work using several virtual tools.

Adopt Family Engagement

Families play an important role during multilingual distance learning, especially when children are involved. For this reason, teachers must identify the ideal communication channels and the best language to use when communicating with families. Quick translated messages and virtual home visits are some of the ways that teachers can engage families.

Whenever teachers engage families during a multilingual learning exercise, they make the families become true education partners.

The Bottom Line

LatinoBridge, a provider of software localization services, is a firm supporter of multilingual distance learning. We believe using innovative approaches is crucial to make distance learning successful.

Even though there are no standard approaches that can apply during multilingual distance learning, the combination of one or all approaches we have discussed can facilitate the success of the process.

Now that you know some of the innovative approaches you can apply in multilingual distance learning, it’s time to implement them and see a positive impact of the process.