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 Ratings
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| Reviewed: |
Jun 12, 2001 by Teacher Education |
| Overview: |
SignWriting is very useful for Deaf children and adults in developing more precise thinking and focus in the use of sign, and improved translation abilities between languages. With SignWriting you can read Sign Language, write Sign Language, learn Sign Language, research Sign Language, read stories in Sign Language, preserve Sign Language theater, and bring Deaf & hearing people together. |
| Learning Goals: |
SignWriting is very useful for Deaf children and adults in developing more precise thinking and focus in the use of sign, and improved translation abilities between languages. With SignWriting you can read Sign Language, write Sign Language, learn Sign Language, research Sign Language, read stories in Sign Language, preserve Sign Language theater, and bring Deaf & hearing people together. |
| Target Student Population: |
Although with the complexity of the site, the most appropriate student audience is the teacher education student who has some experience with signing. The instructor could use it as a class demonstration with students without sign language knowledge. |
| Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills: |
It is most helpful if the student has some experience with sign language prior to using this site in order to gain the most from the benefits. The student who must master both sign language and sign writing will need significantly more guidance. |
| Type of Material: |
Drill and practice |
| Technical Requirements: |
Some downloadable instructions are available in PDF format, and Acrobat Reader is necessary for users. However, the same instructions are also accessible on the web. There is a trial version of the Signwriting software that can be downloaded. This runs in MS-DOS, although instructions do indicate that it coordinates with Windows and Macintosh programs. The website is in web frames, so the user?s browser must be able to support frames. A no-frames option is available, but is not always immediately apparent. The signwriting fonts can be downloaded for both platforms; however, they work best with a laser printer. |
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| Strengths: |
This website is very rich in its depth of content. Students can explore the use of Signwriting in different organizations, states, and countries. Sample lessons on how to do Signwriting are available, in addition to a library, and a how-to guide on how to do your Signwriting. The web author has also expanded into other areas of movement writing, such as DanceWriting. The site includes some wonderful children?s stories put to SignWriting that enables the more inexperienced to draw connections between a known fairytale and the symbols. The content of the website is easily accessed through an effective menu system or searchable in a number of different ways. SignWriting can help in the process of learning to sign, by providing a way to write down the new signs learned in the classroom. SignWriting also provides Sign
Language literature. Reading and writing always assists in learning any language. |
| Concerns: |
The content is immense and could easily be overwhelming to a student without instructor guidance. This is not a site that the student can examine superficially. The depth of the material on the website is both a feature of excellence and a concern for the teacher educator. Faculty who lead students to the website need to understand that it is easy to be overwhelmed by the quantity and diversity of information available. Many students, particularly undergraduates, will find the amount of information and the number of links within the site overwhelming. |
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Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool |
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| Strengths: |
The SignWriting website provides another alternative for the student and instructor to explore communication to the deaf community and will also further reinforce learning of sign language. Those students who are more visual learners are likely to connect more quickly to the content presented on the website. Students who are working with sign language will benefit from the fairy tales,
the glossaries, and the concept of how to capture signing in notational format. This site could be used in several ways. Instructors could use it as a source for an introduction to signwriting or assign it for independent study. The best use with those students who have limited knowledge of sign language would be as a part of an instructor-lead classroom demonstration/activity with a specific homework assignment for independent exploration.
General Comments: Although the focus of the website is obviously on deaf communication, signing, and SignWriting, the section on DanceWriting could have immense appeal to physical education preservice teachers. For those students with a dance background, the DanceWriting and MovementWriting sections could be a motivator for learning about different modes of communication and representation of communication |
| Concerns: |
Those with some knowledge of sign language would best use the site. Prior to use in a classroom, the instructor would need to become thoroughly familiar with the content and navigation of the site in order to facilitate learning experiences for students.
Although the site permits the instructor to use the material in a number of ways, in-depth instruction would necessitate purchasing materials from the catalog. |
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Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty |
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| Strengths: |
All links worked well and the navigation is easy and apparent to the user. At any point the user can easily return to the home page, or many of the other related links. Overall the navigational structure provided on the website is excellent. The search feature is helpful and permits the user to locate specific information. |
| Concerns: |
It is often difficult to determine what is an element that needs to be purchased, if part of the information is being revealed, but the remainder needs to be purchased,
or what is available to online users entirely. The downloadable shareware also poses some difficulty. While several years ago, the use of a shareware program in MS-DOS might have been more intuitive to some, with the heavy use of object-oriented systems and applications, students without experience with shareware programs run in MS DOS will have difficulties. The site author does indicate that a Windows-based program is in development ? users should consult that website for updates. |
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