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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
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    I need some old phones to help immigrant students translate

    I'm working in a school that has a large immigrant, asylee, and refugee population. Many of the newly arrived students are adept at using phones but not computers to translate. This is often because their home language uses a different alphabet and it is easier to type on a touch screen. Others rely on the Google Translate camera function to translate documents.

    But students aren't allowed to use phones during class...

    I took my old Android phone and set it up as a dedicated translating device and it has been a big help for several students. I'm hoping folks can donate a few older functional phones to help out. Just a couple more would make a big difference.

    -Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
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    I can still smell Poutine.
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    24,650
    I'm looking thru my old phone graveyard. I probably have at least one, if not two.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    In your Dreams
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    2,092
    I've got a couple of iPhones I can send to you.
    Seeker of Truth. Dispenser of Wisdom. Protector of the Weak. Avenger of Evil.

  4. #4
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    Sep 2008
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    Not Brooklyn
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    Thanks. PMs sent.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
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    Where the sheets have no stains
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    22,151
    I have a POS Kyocera smartphone you are welcome to.
    I have been in this State for 30 years and I am willing to admit that I am part of the problem.

    "Happiest years of my life were earning < $8.00 and hour, collecting unemployment every spring and fall, no car, no debt and no responsibilities. 1984-1990 Park City UT"

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
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    Sierra Foothills
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    681
    I have 3 old (can't remember which models) iphones I can send.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Posts
    190
    I’ve got a bunch of older iPhones, couple androids (fire, the Amazon debacle), and a nearly new (but several years old) android tablet. More than happy to donate some/all. Do you have chargers?

    How many you need and what’s your minimum condition? Don’t want to complicate your life

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
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    I can still smell Poutine.
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    24,650
    3 working Android phones shipped as per PM.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
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    Central OR
    Posts
    5,963
    I've got two iphone 6s phones you can have; let me know.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
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    Not Brooklyn
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    Thanks everyone. I'm PMing folks now. This should be enough phones. If I convince more teachers to use this strategy I'll bump this thread up.

  11. #11
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    Sep 2008
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    Not Brooklyn
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    Thanks everyone. I just PM'd everyone who posted here. This should be enough phones for now. If I convince more teachers to use this strategy (I'm working on it) I'll bump this thread up.

    The one extra phone I'm currently passing around has already made school a lot better for some Afghani girls, a couple Venezuelan girls, a boy from Congo, and a Turkish/Russian girl. All these students are refugees/ asylees who are busting ass. And there are 1000 more multilingual students in this high school...

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2020
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    Idaho
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    1,735
    Quote Originally Posted by I've seen black diamonds! View Post
    Thanks everyone. I just PM'd everyone who posted here. This should be enough phones for now. If I convince more teachers to use this strategy (I'm working on it) I'll bump this thread up.

    The one extra phone I'm currently passing around has already made school a lot better for some Afghani girls, a couple Venezuelan girls, a boy from Congo, and a Turkish/Russian girl. All these students are refugees/ asylees who are busting ass. And there are 1000 more multilingual students in this high school...

    Thanks for your efforts, ISBD. And thanks to those that sent phones.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
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    I can still smell Poutine.
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    24,650
    Hey, ISBD, how's this going? Did my phones show up?

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    The Bull City
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    14,003
    Nice work humans!
    Go that way really REALLY fast. If something gets in your way, TURN!

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    northern BC
    Posts
    31,022
    A buddy asked me where to get a used phone so I asked my son and he said " ask a nerdy techno geek friend if they want to sell one of their spares, I for instance have 2 spare "
    Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
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    I can still smell Poutine.
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    How's this going? Students able to use these for good? Or are they harvesting our info through low level recovery for identity theft?

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
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    Not Brooklyn
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    We're using them every day. Mostly for translation. Kids use the google translate camera function to translate documents so they can see English and Spanish/Arabic/French/Pashto/Dari/Kinyarwanda/Tajik/Vietnamese side by side. Teachers will also speak a sentence or two to be translated and just leave the phone on the table next for a kid so they can reference what the teacher said multiple times. In other words, it having these phones facilitates all sorts of flexible communication.

    I've also been loaning them out as recording devices for students to do interviews as part of a community research project. Just had a phone returned by a kid who interviewed his case worker as part of his project looking into how schools could better support kids in foster care. And I lent out three phone to girls from Afghanistan who will interview their family about how they felt when the Taliban resumed control of their country.

    Thanks again everyone. I appreciate the help. And if anyone's identity gets stolen it will be mine. All the phones were set up using the same dummy gmail address.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
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    Greg_o
    Posts
    2,658
    Very cool stuff, major props to all involved.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
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    I can still smell Poutine.
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    Quote Originally Posted by I've seen black diamonds! View Post
    We're using them every day. Mostly for translation. Kids use the google translate camera function to translate documents so they can see English and Spanish/Arabic/French/Pashto/Dari/Kinyarwanda/Tajik/Vietnamese side by side. Teachers will also speak a sentence or two to be translated and just leave the phone on the table next for a kid so they can reference what the teacher said multiple times. In other words, it having these phones facilitates all sorts of flexible communication.

    I've also been loaning them out as recording devices for students to do interviews as part of a community research project. Just had a phone returned by a kid who interviewed his case worker as part of his project looking into how schools could better support kids in foster care. And I lent out three phone to girls from Afghanistan who will interview their family about how they felt when the Taliban resumed control of their country.

    Thanks again everyone. I appreciate the help. And if anyone's identity gets stolen it will be mine. All the phones were set up using the same dummy gmail address.
    Thanks man. This is awesome. Very glad I could help with what was old junk to me. And this forced me to weed out the truly dead phones so I could further reduce clutter in my office. Win-win.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
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    I can still smell Poutine.
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    24,650
    Bump. School year is about over? How'd it go? Plans for phones for next year? Things like this help restore my faith in humanity.

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Dystopia
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    21,097
    I have four or five I just found in an old box of shit.
    I also have two new in box older small tablets somewhere if needed.

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