SmartBoards and Deaf Students: Translating English text to ASL

One of the technologies that I was introduced to at the Deaf Technology Conference was the SmartBoard. WOW! I had never seen or used one of these before and was completely amazed! I attended a few different presentations and during two different ones the SmartBoard was used as part of the instruction for the presentation itself as well as used as an example of what teachers of the Deaf and hard of hearing could do with students, at all levels, in their classroom. One of the most useful tools that I was introduced to was the idea of using hyperliinks to connect "classmade" videos (video recordings of the actual students in the classroom using ASL to translate the books we are reading) to the exact phrase or word in the story, that has previously been scanned in to appear with pictured and words. The hyperlink provides a direct connection from the English language to ASL, all the while being created by the students themselves. This technology could enhance student learning by an unmeasurable amount. Showing my students how to read English by means of implementing their own signing is an innovative and very possible task! Technology like this makes me want to jump right into the classroom!