Exploring Instructional and Access Technologies
Session Summary
(M10C)
Building a Community of ASL Signers with VoiceThread
Rosemary A. Stifter
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Video Web blogs have recently become an exciting avenue for the deaf community to share their opinions, views, and stories in their native language, American Sign Language. Weblogs, web-based community initiated conversations of posts and readers' comments, are text based. Vlogs, on the other hand, are video based communities. VoiceThread expands vlogs' video capabilities to include video comments as well as text. It's an exciting new online tool that allows deaf people with a webcam to upload videos for sharing messages and commenting on posts. VoiceThread is fully accessible for all. It is the voice of the deaf community on the Web. VoiceThread is a Web-based collaborative network that is simple and safe, enabling rich multimedia collaboration within a secure environment. VoiceThread is a profoundly approachable tool, allowing students as young as kindergarten to share narratives or as sophisticated for high school students to demonstrate their knowledge for their AP English class. The applications for deaf students in the classroom are varied, from digital stories and documentaries, practicing language skills, exploring geography and culture, solving math problems, and collaborating with other students. |