William G. Vicars, Ed.D.California State University,

SacramentoDepartment of Deaf Studies

Exploring the boundaries of teaching and how to radically improve

student access to your message.

Dr. Bill Vicars

Why was Lifeprint.com originally developed?

Many parents of deaf children express a desire to learn ASL but find themselves unable to attend traditional classroom-based ASL courses.

This curriculum was developed to make it easier for parents of deaf children to learn ASL via the Internet.

Questions to consider:

Why have traditional ASL curricula not met the needs of parents of deaf children?

What problems need to be solved by future ASL curricula?

Problem: Availability

1. Lack of class availability. Many times there simply isn’t a course available.

This is especially true in rural areas and third world countries.

Problem: Scheduling

2. Scheduling conflicts. Many parents work in the evenings or weekends. The time that is convenient for the teacher is not likely to be convenient for the parent.

Problem: Cost

3. Cost. Putting food on the table and keeping the kids clothed takes precedence over the costs involved with attending in-person classes: Course tuition, book fees, videos, gas for the car, wear and tear on the car, plus lost work hours.

Problem: Time

4. Lack of time. Driving to and from sign language classes can take up precious time that many parents simply do not have. It is difficult for parents of deaf children to carve out the large blocks of time it takes to "go to class."

Problem: Exposure

5. Limited exposure to the language model. Seeing an instructor once a week is not enough for some parents to successfully internalize new material.

Problem: Speed

6. Speed of learning. Due to diverse learning styles and abilities, instructor led multi-student courses generally progress at a pace that is too fast for some and too slow for others. This leads to frustration and increased attrition rates.

Problem: Time Frame

7. Critical time frame. The first few years of life provide a critical window of language learning. Any delay of language input during the first few years of life is likely to result in a lasting negative impact on future cognitive development and educational attainment.

Problem: Qualifications

8. Instructor Qualification: Even if a class is available, another problem arises in that the instructor may not be truly qualified and the student has no way of judging.

x

“My refrigerator has been teaching me

sign language.”

Provocative statement:

Classroom?

Complete with, internet access, digital multimedia LCD display touch-screen, built-in stereo speakers, CCD camera, and microphone.

Technology

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

Arthur C. Clarke

Future Curricula

Education programs will thrive to the extent they can provide instant, constant, and integrated access to learning materials.

Instant Constant Integrated

"There are more than 500,000 words in the English language, but a person who masters only 250 words will recognize more than two-thirds of all words shown in television captions—provided the 250 words are those that are most frequently used. Equally dramatic, a beginning reader could be taught just 10 words—the, you, to, a, I, and, of, in, it, that—and then recognize more than one out of every five words. Mastery of the top 79 words means being able to read half of all words captioned." Source: Perspectives in Education and Deafness, Volume 16, Number 1, September/October 1997

Word Frequency Research

What if we were to apply that same concept to learning sign language? 

Design lessons based on accelerated language acquisition techniques that make use of "word frequency" research.

Introduce content via a balance between "functions" (what you want to do or accomplish) and "language frequency" (what you most often say to others to accomplish those functions). 

File cabinet vs tabula rasa

“Adult Second Language Learning” is very different from “Language Acquisition of Children”

The brains of adults and children are wired differently. (Neurological pathways.)

Adults have knowledge stores and cognitive processes of categorization and organization that children do not.

Acquisition vs Learning

Children acquire a first language through thousands of hours of “natural immersion.” They rely on massive amounts of neurons to absorb language directly.

Adults learn a second language via the use of cognitive tools. They categorize, classify, and associate new information with existing information.

Some people think learning a second language = creating a separate iceberg.

The reality though is that adults have an underlying cognitive proficiency.

The Lifeprint Curriculum

Makes use of the underlying cognitive proficiency of adults

Low cost and/or free Constantly evolving: adding more video,

adding test banks, adding projector slides Easily changeable (can be updated instantly) Peer input. Feel free to suggest

improvements and changes.

Future Curricula

Students able to access lessons instantly. Any time. Any Place.

Lessons constantly available to students. Lessons can be integrated into students’ way of

life.

For example: students are able to review the lessons via the net at 2:00 a.m. on their wireless media player.

Viral Curricula

Low cost duplication

Low effort duplication

exponential dissemination

Lifeprint.com

ASL.ms

ASL.gs

ASLpah.com

Dear Bill,I just found your website and I

have to tell you how much it means to me. I am the mother of two children. My youngest is Autistic and was nonverbal for 5 years. I grew up with a love of sign language and knew just a little.

We started signing to Nicholas and teaching him some signs and his self abusive behaviors diminished and some even stopped completely. He is now 6 ½ and has been speaking for about a year.

I still use some sign to give him visual supports. I live in a very small town and the nearest class is a 2 hour drive. I was lucky enough to take 3 intermediate courses closer to home but then the teacher moved and again I am faced with no classes. That’s why your site has been so wonderful! I can’t wait to receive your book!Thank you,Bonita StoutSixes, Oregon

Future discussion topics (Dr. V)

Leverage Cost Effective HTML Gif files .mobi pda 320 x 240 Sorenson vp 200 Alpha geeks Just in Time and Print on Demand

BillVicars@aol.com