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Skype helps students communicate with deaf

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By MEGAN HUSSEY

Tribune correspondent

Published: November 1, 2009

LAND O' LAKES - About 155 sign language students at Sunlake High School are communicating each week with students from the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine - from their classroom here.

The students see and sign each other with the use of Skype technology: a computer program that enables communication through video and blog-style message blocks.

"There are more deaf people in the world than you know, and we need to know how to communicate with them," said 18-year-old Sam George, a senior at Sunlake High. "And by Skyping, you get the first-hand experience of communicating with them. It's not like learning from a DVD. You can communicate with these people and see how they feel."

Sunlake American Sign Language teacher Rhonda Leslie introduced Skype into her class this year after seeing fellow Sunlake teacher Lauren Pantoja use the technology in a reading class.

"I thought that Skyping would help both my students and the St. Augustine deaf students with second language acquisition," she said. "They can expand their vocabulary, enhance social interaction and develop respect for deaf culture."

Under Leslie's supervision, her students sign with St. Augustine students, exchanging basic information such as their names and grade levels; they chat about their lives and study the sign language translations of common words and symbols.

When students have difficulty communicating through video, they can enhance their learning by typing messages.

"I pick up new signs, and they pick up new words," said junior Desiree Daluz, 16. "Also, this way we can see their facial expressions as they're signing."

"We're learning to build a real-life conversation through Skyping," said senior Madison Zimmerman, 17.

Using Skype adds a realistic dimension to the learning experience, said Marissa Wohlferd, 17.

"There are always differences between the way deaf people sign and the way we, as sign language students, learn to sign," the Sunlake High senior said. "This way we learn the differences, and they sign faster than we do."
Skype allows a growing number of students to communicate with one another, said Melodie Oleson, a media specialist at the school.

"Skyping is today's version of pen-pal correspondence," she said. "It allows for immediate feedback with a visual element and the interchange of personalities and cultures."

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