I started this project with a few resources in mind that I wanted to test out. This week was the first time where I was feeling stumped as to what resources I was going to use. Thank goodness for the internet! I found a website that lists and describes six resources to learn American Sign Language. As I was reading, I became interested in the ASL University, however as I continued to read, I realized that it may be a little too advanced for where I am at in my learning. Instead, I decided to try Start ASL because it teaches more of the basics in vocabulary and grammar. The…
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ASL Nursery Rhymes
Last week I felt like I made some tremendous strides towards my goal of learning enough American Sign Language to be able to have an introductory conversation with someone. This week I decided I would have a little fun and try to learn a nursery rhyme in ASL. I thought that this would be a fun way to engage a class in learning because I could make learning a song a tactile activity. This was an enlightening experience in my lack of understanding for ASL. I planned to utilize YouTube again this week because I felt it should be as easy as searching for ASL nursery rhymes. I tried this…
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Digital Citizenship
I do not remember there being a lot of discussion around digital citizenship throughout my education. In fact, I do not recall hearing that term until I was in university. I grew up in a small town so I got to be a part of technology beginning to be implemented into our schools. I started my primary education with a computer lab which was later dismantled to be turned into another classroom. This marked the switch to laptops. Even though we had laptops we often did not use them in class. Looking back, it seems like my teachers were unsure how to incorporate this technology beyond having us type a…
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Practicing a Conversation using ASL!!!
This week I used two new technologies. I used Movie Zilla to record my video. I loved this program! I found it very easy to use and I loved that you can record videos right through the application. Before this one I downloaded a couple other video editing programs and they are just meant for you to edit previous recorded videos. This might work for some people, but I found it nice not to have to transfer video clips from my phone to my computer. Another amazing feature was that you can record your screen, your webcam, or just audio. My only complaint is that because I do not pay…
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Documenting ASL Journey Using Technology
Hello! This week I explored YouTube to learn some more ASL while also exploring Zoom as a recording platform. In the end I also got to try my hand at uploading something to YouTube on my own as opposed to an editing app doing it for me. I originally planned to test a Chrome extension for screen recording, however I became hesitant to add it because I use my laptop for important emails and things like banking. It felt uncomfortable to add an extension that is meant to record your screen when I though about the fact that I would never really know if the recording has stopped when I…
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ASL Grammar
This week I have utilized Instagram as the focus of my exploration into American Sign Language. I find this to be a really interesting resource, however one does have to be cautious when using this just like any resource. It is important to be weary about the people and pages that you choose to follow. There are hearing people that share information about ASL on this site. While this is not necessarily a bad thing it is important to note that these people may not completely understand the signs that they are sharing. They may not recognize the key features of a sign that go beyond just the hand movements.…
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Digital Climate and Participatory Culture
I feel that a shift in how we view schooling and education has already begun. I would say that the pandemic acted as a catalyst for this. We were forced to utilize the technology we had available to us for a sense of connection. While this is typically what the internet and social media is used for, we needed it more at that time than ever before. Wesch notes that this phenomenon has occurred before as people began to feel a loss of community throughout history such as when women began to enter the workforce and had less time to connect with one another. As time went on it became…
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The Importance of ASL Being Recognized as a Language
This week I started my American Sign Language journey by exploring the ASL Bloom app. This was interesting because I discovered that you only have access to three courses before you are asked to register for an annual subscription. This was extremely disappointing because the app opens by saying that its intent is to share ASL with a larger audience. I did expect that they would want you to subscribe to open more courses at some point, however seeing the number of possible courses there are to take it is disheartening to know that they only allow you to access three of them for free. With all of that being…
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The Role of Technology in my Life
Being born in the early 2000’s I feel lucky because I have gotten to experience major growth in the technology field. When I was young, I did not have access to a lot of technology. I had a TV, a land line telephone, and a Nintendo Wii. With that being said, my time on these devices was limited and not something that I consider to be a major portion of my childhood. At the time children did not have tablets or cell phones of their own. As time has gone on, I have gotten to see a rise in the everyday access to technology and the amazing strides that technology…
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Introduction to Learning Project
I had trouble deciding what I wanted to focus on for my leaning project. I was tossing around learning to play the ukelele that I got for Christmas last year, learning to crochet, or learning American sign language. Ultimately, I have decided to learn ASL because it is the topic that I have been interested in for the longest amount of time and I feel that it will have the greatest impact on my career as an educator. I started to become fascinated with ASL when I got into a show called Switched at Birth in high school. If you are not familiar the show it is about two girls…