Discussion: Assistive Technology and the Deaf Learner

Assistive technology in deaf learning

There will almost certainly be a need for sign language interpreters when assisting deaf learners.  However, there are some areas where assistive technology is making it easier for deaf learners to learn at the same level as other learners with limited intervention.

Some of the assistive technologies that are most prevalent in educational settings now are FM systems, which amplifies the voice of the teacher into a headset that a deaf learner can connect directly to a hearing aid.  Recently, there has been considerable advancement in real-time closed captioning which can be used in online videos like this one by clicking on the “CC” button at the bottom of this YouTube screen.  This auto-generated closed captioning has also been integrated with web conferencing applications such as Zoom and Google meet.  

All of these technologies provide instant educational assistance to a deaf learner at minimal cost.

References

Castelo, M. (2020, March 30). Using Assistive Technology to Empower Students with Disabilities. EdTech. https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2020/03/using-assistive-technology-empower-students-disabilities-perfcon

BigHack. (2020, April 8). Best video conferencing apps and software for accessibility. BigHack. https://bighack.org/best-videoconferencing-apps-and-software-for-accessibility/