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Summary: Using Networked Multimedia to Improve Educational
Access for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students
Anna C. Cavender
Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
cavender@cs.washington.edu
Educational technology has the potential to better include deaf and hard of hearing
students in the academic mainstream. This research involves development and
testing of a classroom platform for deaf and hard of hearing students to access
remote interpreters and captioners, avoid visual dispersion, and facilitate
interaction in the classroom.
Introduction
Entering mainstream universities (at all levels) involves extra challenges for people
who are deaf and hard of hearing: skilled sign language interpreters and captioners
with advanced domain knowledge can be difficult to find; multiple visual channels of
information in the classroom can be difficult to juggle; and collaboration inside and
outside the classroom is often strained due to language barriers.
Classroom technology research is currently improving educational experiences for
all students and this creates opportunities to better include deaf and hard of
hearing students. Wireless networks, data projectors, and portable computing
devices can allow remote interpreters, support sharing and capture of instructional
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