At the end of the 2024 to 2025 school year, administrators at Old Saybrook Public Schools decided to limit students’ access to Google Translate on their Chromebooks. Many people at Old Saybrook High School, students and staff alike, have been affected by the new changes in accessing Google Translate. Google Translate offers different features such as speech, image, document, handwritten and website translation. Mrs. Reid, the OSHS ESL teacher, is one of the teachers that has been affected the most by this new change. She teaches students that are new to the English language. She states, “In this class, I help students practice speaking, listening, reading and writing in English. I also provide academic support for their other classes.” Describing Google Translate as “ a priceless tool for newcomers,” Reid claims “Google Translate has greatly affected this class in terms of helping to provide a tool for communication.” Additionally, Google Translate is used as a resource for making sure the voice of new students are heard, as according to Reid, “Google Translate impacts my relationship with my students in the very beginning because it helps us communicate with each other.”
It’s also critical to note that this change is especially impactful for students. The underlying issue regarding the ban that must truly be addressed: how can you limit a tool that, if used responsibly, dictates whether a student can fully engage with and understand what is happening in their class? All in all, this limitation of features has raised a variety of questions about the ethics of translation tools, while impacting the OSHS community as a whole.
