Group items tagged

sign language in online chat rooms 

This is really interesting! I never considered how primarily speaking through sign-language might thwart opportunities in video-chatting; especially with such a great technology as Google+. Good find!

Amanda, thanks for sharing. I have a soft spot for sign language as I taught a camper years ago with a hearing impairment which resulted in me pursuing some ASL classes in undergrad because I loved being a part of that world! Accessibility is a hot topic in education and to see it being addressed in a more mainstream market makes me very excited for the possibilities!

In the USDOE Educational Technology plan, Universal Design for Learning standards require that information be presented in a way that is accessible to people with disabilities such as sight or hearing impairment. I found this article about automatic text-to-sign avatar software that would seem to be a no-brainer for anybody who is creating an eLearning experience that is primarily text-based. We have text-to-speech, which is as easy as opening a document and having a robot read the text for you. I wonder if there are any text-to-sign avatars that are available in English.

Augmented reality is bridging divide between signing and non-signing communities.

Online foreign language learning for high school students at Woodridge High. ""Either we get on the [online learning] bus or we're going to get hit by the bus", says Superintendent Walter Davis.

An article describing the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to help deaf children learn American Sign Language (ASL).