While debate and even controversy goes on nationwide about immigration, locally there is a fact that must be recognized.

The reality is that there are students in the Fort Dodge Community School District, regardless of where they were born, who do not speak English fluently or don’t speak it at all. And it is also a fact that the school district remains responsible for educating those students.

Teachers and school administrators have wrestled with the challenge of how to break through the language barrier so that those students can learn what they need to know to become productive members of the community. In a welcome development, they have embraced some new types of technology.

One of those technologies has the unlikely name of TimeKettles. Basically, it is like ear buds for listening to music. But these ear buds are linked to a teacher’s phone. The students who need translation service wear the ear buds and while the teacher is talking the phone translates what is being said and transmits it almost instantly to the ear buds. The student gets the information in a language they can understand at the same time that their English-speaking classmates do.

The TimeKettles are in use at the Senior High School, Middle School and a couple of elementary schools.

The other technology is called a translator hub. When someone speaks into the device, it types what is being said in another language. For instance, a Spanish-speaking student could talk into it and an English translation would appear on its screen. It works in reverse, too, so that words spoken in English would appear in Spanish on the screen.

These technologies aid the school district in its mission to educate all students.

The technologies do not, however, excuse the need for students to learn the language of the country they live in, which is English.

We applaud the faculty and staff of the Fort Dodge Community School District for finding new ways to teach the students who are considered English language learners.