7/30/15 
A Virtual Learning Community for STEM Students Who Are Deaf 
Lisa B. Elliot
NTID Center on Access Technology, Rochester Institute of Technology 
U-W Distance Learning Conference, Madison, WI
August 13, 2015 
 

Objectives 
 		 ÿUnderstand barriers for students with hearing loss 
 		 ÿDescribe the online community 
 		 ÿExplore options for creating online communities on your own campus 

For Your Consideration
 How do you: 
 		 ÿRegularly communicate with students outside of class 
 		 ÿCoax shy or isolated students to participate in class discussions or activities 
 		 ÿFoster professional awareness and identity for your students or create connections between course content and real world topics 

Who We Are 
 Deaf STEM Community Alliance 
 Only Alliance specifically for D/HH students 
 Supported by the National Science Foundation, HRD #1127955 
 Multi-year project (Sept 2011- Aug 2017) 
 Now in our 4th year 
 
Campus Partners 
RIT is the lead institution for this project, with Camden County College and Cornell University as partners. 
   
Challenges Addressed by the Alliance 
 		ÿNeed to add more STEM graduates 
 		ÿBroaden participation of underrepresented groups in STEM, especially those with disabilities, and, in particular, those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing 
 		ÿCreate more cohesive cyber learning resources for students, faculty, and support service providers

Barriers to Success in STEM 
Student Preparation 
Socialization 
Accessible Media 

Goal and Objectives
  Goal: 
Create a model virtual academic community to increase the graduation rates of postsecondary D/ HH STEM majors in the long term 
 Iterative and incremental (Cockburn, 2008) 
 Iterative testing what works and revising what doesnÕt 
 Incremental building model in stages instead of all at once 

Goal and Objectives 
Objectives 
1) Document and disseminate a description of the process of creating a model VAC for replication 
2) Increase the GPAs and retention rates of D/HH students in STEM majors 

Model Infrastructure 
Google Apps for Education (Enterprise) Account 
(@dhhvac.org) 
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Virtual Academic Community 
(DHHVAC) 
    
Website 
(www.dhhvac.org) 
You Tube Video Library 
(www.youtube.com/ user/dhhvac) 

Communication Infrastructure
Google Apps for Education (Enterprise) Account 
Google + Private Community (Social Media)    
Chat (Text) 
Hangouts (Video, Text, Document Sharing) 
E-mail 

Dissemination Infrastructure 
Infrastructure Monitoring (User Analytics) 
YouTube Channel 
Enterprise Account 
Website 
Community Activity 
Videos 

DHHVAC Model Barriers & Strategies 
Remote Tutoring Remote Mentoring Using G+ Hangouts  
Remote Mentoring Peer-to-Peer Interaction Using G+ Private Community 
Socialization 
Accessible STEM Information Using Website, G+ Private Community, & G+ Public Page 
Student Preparation 
Accessible Media 

Remote Tutoring 
Photo of student receiving tutoring. Student is seen on computer screen, tutoring professor pictured sitting at his desk in front of the computer. 
 
Remote Tutoring Quick Facts 
Modeled after RIT/NTID faculty-student in-person tutoring 
Conducted over 120 synchronous sessions with 11 tutors 
Google+ Hangouts as web conferencing platform 
Chromebooks, Macs, PCs, iPads & other tablets 
On-line resources, paper/pen, whiteboards, Conceptboard (virtual whiteboard) 
Asynchronous tutoring sessions 

Synchronous Tutoring Benefits 
 		ÿSharing documents 
 		 ÿSearching & highlighting key phrases with student 
 		 ÿObserving students homework, watching for mistakes, providing faster feedback 
 		 ÿClasses with many online resources 
 		 ÿBetter accommodation to student schedules 
 		 ÿMeet multiple students simultaneously 

Google+ Hangouts: Accommodating to Schedules 
 Traditional face-to-face tutoring requires: 
 Mutual availability of both faculty member and student during normal work hours 
 Student class schedule  Student work schedule 
 Student can receive tutoring from dorm, off-campus 
 Tutor can conduct tutoring from home, office, campus or traveling (conference) 

Synchronous Tutoring Challenges 
 Digital whiteboard Unannounced changes in Google+ interface  Eye contact & turn-taking different online 

Asynchronous Tutoring Benefits 
 		 ÿProvided flexibility for travel when there were time differences between tutor and student or other schedule conflicts 
 		 ÿAllows students to process material at their own pace 

Socialization 
 Remote mentoring
  D/HH STEM professionals
  One-to-one & community
  Email, video hangouts 
 Community interaction
  Students, mentors, tutors, staff
  Google+ private community 

Socialization
This is an example of a post within the private community. 
Post 
+1s 

Additional comments 

Accessible Media
 Curated STEM Resource library on our public website: www.dhhvac.org
 Project publications and presentations 
 Relevant work by others 
 STEM ASL dictionaries (e.g., ASL-STEM Forum) 
 Links to accessible STEM resources (e.g. Khan Academy, Math for College) 
 STEM-relevant articles and videos in Google + Private community 
 

For Your Consideration
 How do you: 
 		 ÿRegularly communicate with students outside of class 
 		 ÿCoax shy or isolated students to participate in class discussions or activities 
 		 ÿFoster professional awareness and identity for your students or create connections between course content and real world topics 

Discussion 
 Which aspects of the DHHVAC would be appropriate for your campus 

Discussion 
Questions Answers! 

Contact Information 
Deaf STEM Community Alliance 
hpp://www.dhhvac.org 
OR 
lisa.elliot@rit.edu