Q:
How can new technologies address the special challenges faced
by students who are deaf as they learn to read and write?
A:
New technologies that make use of video and television captioning
and interactive computer media can be useful in teaching deaf
students to read and write for a number of reasons. First, the
visual nature of such technology is well suited to the strengths
that these students bring to the classroom. Second, the use of
interactive media with high-quality graphics is motivating, since
it is both easily accessible and interesting. Third, these technologies
are adaptable to the individual needs and preferences of the students.
Q:
What are the specific ways that captioned video technology
can be used in the classroom with students who are deaf?
A:
The implementation of captioned video for literacy instruction
varies depending upon the skills teachers wish their students
to develop. In order to help build vocabulary, for example, teachers
can show a captioned video, stopping the segments periodically
and asking students to find targeted vocabulary words in the electronic
text. The teacher also can ask students to relate words to the
corresponding visual images. After viewing the segment, students
who are given scripts of the captions may be asked to locate the
target words. In this way, students can quickly see the relationship
between "what they say" and "what they read." In all cases, the
teacher may work the captioning activities into the larger reading
lesson.
For
teaching writing, the teacher can ask students to view a clip
and then use personal captioning technology to write their own
English captions. Students can also translate short video stories
into written English captions, and apply those captions to the
story.
Q:
How can I use interactive video?
A:
Interactive video may be available either on videodiscs or on
computer media. Using this media, teachers or students can access
parts of a video in random order, play a video clip repeatedly
and easily, or play the clip in slow motion or single-frames.
They can also create new "compositions" by selecting, for example,
highlights of a video and playing only those scenes in sequence.
Users can also create non-linear links between different parts
of a video (allowing, for example, display of an "effect" scene
with a link to an earlier scene showing the cause). Video and
computer screen displays may also be presented simultaneously
on a single screen for an integrated activity.
Q:
What new computer applications can help teach reading
and writing to deaf students?
A:
A wide range of computer programs for literacy instruction can
help students who are deaf. Programs such as HandsOn, for example,
offer a bilingual approach to language instruction for children
who are deaf by providing access to stories in both English and
American Sign Language. Other programs for secondary level students
integrate sign language and interactive video. Electronic textbooks
such as those used in Project Literacy-HI are designed as supplements
or alternatives to traditional texts. One project at Lamar University
in Texas designed a trilingual program for Hispanic students who
are deaf, allowing students to read about Latin American culture
in either English, Spanish, or sign.
