Boosting Technology Literacy in Deaf Students

Technology in education is a global phenomenon (Knezek, 2007). In an increasingly digital world, technology is rapidly changing the way we live. The advances of technology in society has created a demand for foundational technology skills in educational systems. Schools across the nation fall in line to revamp traditional curriculums with technology. A plethora of digital learning resources for educational use have surfaced, albeit none of the resources address the needs of a bilingual Deaf student. Extensive research has indicated a lack of technology resources that are aligned towards deaf students and demonstrates a gap in Deaf education. Technology provides accessible communication solutions for Deaf people in this generation and we must teach our students to capitalize on this leverage. However, because Deaf students learn visually, instruction is best delivered through a medium where ASL is the primary language in the classroom. The bilingual approach enables students to transfer their knowledge from ASL into the acquisition of English. The approach is reinforced through technological outlets within the curriculum and promotes literacy development. The curriculum evaluation concludes that the project is effective to student learning and is ground-breaking in terms of providing a bilingual foundation towards technology integration in the classroom. By providing Deaf students hands-on experience through technological applications, they will be able to take away from what they learned and apply their newfound skills towards the future