Talk 16

 

Scratch: A new Arabic Stratch sub-community
Daleel: An Arabic Encyclopedia for science and technology
Web Arabia center: Developing, promoting, and enriching the web with Arabic content

by Dr. Mohamed Adel Serhani

Web Arabia center is created to conduct and coordinate efforts of translating existing web contents into Arabic as well as creating new web contents in Arabic. The aim is to enrich the web with Arabic resources for children in U.A.E and in the Arab world. We deliver a body of Arabized content from prominent Web source repositories. We also build a virtual library and an archive system, tailored for children education using Arabic language and employing new innovative multimedia technologies to digitize content in a child-appealing and entertaining fashion. The proposed framework also facilitates non-Arab speaking children to learn the Arabic language, values and culture, to eventually use the pervasive nature of the Internet as civilization encounters, where people from different nations meet and learn from each other. Web Arabia Center will oversee projects initiatives that aim at creating and exposing Arabic contents over the internet.

Brief descriptions of projects WAC has initiated are stated hereafter:

• Scratch: WAC has collaborated with Media Lab at MIT to translate scratch software and website into Arabic this project is almost completed. To have an idea of what has been achieved please have look at the following link (http://scratch.uaeu.ac.ae/)

• Daleel: it is an initiative to develop an Arabic encyclopedia similar to the open encyclopedia called Wikipedia (http://wikipedia.org) and howstuffworks website http://www.howstuffworks.com, Daleel will be a reference guide where experts can be approached to upload pertinent articles related to diverse area of specialization such as science, technology, internet, telecommunication, etc.

• TMS: Translation Management System: TMS is developed to automate the translation procedures, guide and manage the translation workflow, and allow coordination between managers, translators and content verifiers. TMS will be used to feed other projects that translate existing resources into Arabic.

• Arabic YouTube: We are currently carrying out the development of an online Multimedia library to host multimedia content in Arabic similar to YouTube library.

Audience: Experts in Education, Educational consultant, Representatives of the Ministry of Education in U.A.E, Students, Parents

 

 

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