Developing technologies for the promotion of Caribbean cultural identity

Students Abner Josué Zamora Mejía, Seyling Romero Díaz, Kevin Eugenio Tercero Rodríguez and Elsi Fabiola Brizuela Mejía, of the fourth year of Systems Engineering of URACCAN New Guinea, achieved the first place nationally in the category "Junior" of the national competition "Recognition of Research and Scientific Development", promoted by the National Commission of Scientific and Technological Research (Conicyt). This recognition will be delivered at the Andrés Castro De la Conicyt Auditorium in Managua on Wednesday, 18th of the present.

According to CONICYT, the event aims to "promote the generation, dissemination, transfer and use of knowledge in the scientific community and in society by recognizing the contribution that Nicaraguan researchers have made in the generation of new knowledge, and in the contribution in the human development of innovations derived from them, as well as in the formation of human resources".

In this sense, URACCAN students competed with the application called "Miskito Niki Niki Dictionary" (web and mobile), obtaining the first place in the category "Junior", which consists of the presentation of scientific project of greater originality and potential benefit for human and country development.

According to Seyling Romero Díaz, a member of the youth team that designed the application that emerged from the Indigenous Language class, "we saw the need for greater tools to learn the native language, since there are not many documents or dictionaries in miskitu; then we think of an application that is useful for students or people eager to learn this language."

Romero also thanked teachers Roder García and Danelia Benavides, because "they helped us a lot in drafting the document and project profile".

A necessity

For his part, Kevin Eugenio Tercero Rodríguez argues that "indigenous languages are not currently available in digital Internet translators. One point we have discovered is that teachers in the subject and students need to improve the teaching methodology and have teaching resources for students to achieve learning more interactively."

In addition, "the Niki Niki technology project will help to make learning the Miskita language more attractive and interactive by having a web and mobile application available and manipulated by the higher education institutions of the Caribbean Coast, sociologists, linguists and other professions", said Abner Joshua Zamora Mejía.

Finally, Fabiola Brizuela Mejía stated that this application "will facilitate the translation and interpretation of words from Spanish to miskito and miskito into Spanish, combining text, illustrations and audio, turning learning into a playful and didactic experience through an intuitive interface. It will be free and free for web and Android systems on mobiles for teachers and learning tools for students."

URACCAN develops educational actions relevant to the context of the Caribbean Coast and the ethnicities that inhabit it. It is also characterized by promoting among its students a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, with great humanistic sense, in order to respond to the realities and needs of indigenous peoples and ethnic communities.