Using ICT to Support Students

who are Deaf

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Professional Development and Support: Why?

• Isolation • Unique and common problems• Affirmation• Pace of change in education• Policy of integration• Parental expectations and awareness• Professionalism• Educational partnership

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Professional Development and Support: How?

Through the Internet:• Access to expertise/information• On-line courses• Chat rooms• Message Boards• Mailing lists• Sharing of resources

Other:• Support groups in education centres

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A teacher of the deaf may need:

• The facility to individualise teaching and learning materials

• New and exciting ways of learning to motivate students

• Administrative tools to help with planning, record keeping etc.

• What else?

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A Deaf Student

Two specific areas of need:

• Acquisition of language

• Development of a communication system

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A Deaf Student

• Has difficulty in acquiring language in the same way as the hearing student and may have a poor vocabulary

• May have difficulty in developing a communication system

• May have difficulty learning at the same rate as hearing students

• May have a below average reading age and have difficulty coping with text books written for their chronological age

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A Deaf Student

• Will need much reinforcement

• Very often has low confidence and/or self esteem

• May have memory problems

• May have difficulty with writing

• May need extra support in class and extra time spent on a topic

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A Deaf Student

• May have difficulty moving from the concrete to the abstract

• May not seek assistance when needed

• May have difficulty expressing ideas

• May have difficulty keeping track of what everyone says in a class discussion

• May have difficulty socialising with hearing peers

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Memory Triangle

•Most people remember

Lecture

Reading

Hearing

SeeingDemonstration

Watching a videoSeeing it done

Giving a talkGroup work

Project workCross-curricular work

Teaching others

5%

10%

20%

30%

50%

70%

90%

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Memory Triangle

Lecture

Reading

Hearing

SeeingDemonstration

Watching a videoSeeing it done

Giving a talkGroup work

Project workCross-curricular work

Teaching others

5%

10%

20%

30%

50%

70%

90%

COMPUTER

•ICT facilitates Active Teaching and Learning Methods

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Memory Triangle

Most people remember:

• 10% of what we read (difficult if the deaf student has literacy problems)

• 50% of what we see and hear (a problem for deaf students)

• 90% of what we do (can benefit deaf students a great deal)

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Common types of ICT use

• Teaching tool• Learning tool• Administrative tool• A source of educational content• A collaborative tool• A medium of communication• A student’s functional aid (assistive

technology)• A medium of creative expression

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How can ICT help the teacher?

• Facilitates individual instruction

• Facilitates individual learning

• Facilitates provision of additional support in mainstream classes

• To vary teaching methods and add variety to lessons

• Can be used as a source of professional development and support

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How can ICT help the teacher?

• Reinforce basic skills

• Design programs to meet the needs of students

• Facilitates communication

• Locate resources

• Assessments

• Record keeping

• Preparation of notes

• Research

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How can ICT support deaf students?

• Opens up new methods of communication for deaf students

• Very visual medium-pictures and animations

• Not dependent on the spoken word

• Can extend the use of language and reinforce vocabulary

• Can extend the understanding of concepts

• Allows deaf students to access information thus increasing confidence, independence and self- esteem

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How can ICT support deaf students?

• Facilitates independent learning and collaborative learning

• Promotes active learning

• Allows students to work at own pace and level

• Allows students to produce high quality, professional looking work

• Students may more readily accept feedback from a computer than teacher

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Types of ICT

• Educational software

• Interactive resources

• Software for communication (e.g. voice recognition)

• Technology for speech synthesis (e.g. Dynavox)

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Types of ICT

• Interactive white boards

• Digital cameras

• Videophones, videoconferencing

• Text messaging, email, Internet

• Laptops, portable writing devices

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Software / ICT Resources

Watch for:

• Sound dependency

• Compatibility with listening devices

• Appropriate visual presentation

• Use of icons / captioning

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Where can ICT help?

• CD-ROM and multimedia software – both commercial and “home made” to provide access to visual information

• Reinforce language, vocabulary or concepts

• Word processors and predictive software programs to help develop writing skills

• Presentation software to visually display information for projects, web pages, etc.

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Where can ICT help?

• Presentation of information in new ways to organise thoughts – planning and organising programs, spreadsheets, databases

• Communication technology to facilitate communication between deaf and other students

• The Internet has transformed the lives of many deaf people by allowing access to information and by facilitating communication