William G. Vicars, Ed.D.
California State University,
Sacramento
Department of Deaf Studies
Exploring the boundaries of teaching
and how to radically improve
student access to your message.
Dr. Bill Vicars
Why was Lifeprint.com
originally developed?
 Many parents of deaf children express a
desire to learn ASL but find themselves
unable to attend traditional classroom-based
ASL courses.
 This curriculum was developed to make it
easier for parents of deaf children to learn
ASL via the Internet.
Questions to consider:
Why have traditional ASL
curricula not met the needs
of parents of deaf children?
What problems need to be
solved by future ASL
curricula?
Problem: Availability
1. Lack of class availability.
Many times there simply isn’t a
course available.
This is especially true in rural areas
and third world countries.
Problem: Scheduling
2. Scheduling conflicts. Many parents
work in the evenings or weekends.
The time that is convenient for the
teacher is not likely to be
convenient for the parent.
Problem: Cost
3. Cost. Putting food on the table and
keeping the kids clothed takes
precedence over the costs involved with
attending in-person classes: Course
tuition, book fees, videos, gas for the
car, wear and tear on the car, plus lost
work hours.
Problem: Time
4. Lack of time. Driving to and from
sign language classes can take
up precious time that many
parents simply do not have. It is
difficult for parents of deaf
children to carve out the large
blocks of time it takes to "go to
class."
Problem: Exposure
5. Limited exposure to the
language model. Seeing an
instructor once a week is not
enough for some parents to
successfully internalize new
material.
Problem: Speed
6. Speed of learning. Due to diverse
learning styles and abilities, instructor
led multi-student courses generally
progress at a pace that is too fast for
some and too slow for others. This
leads to frustration and increased
attrition rates.
Problem: Time Frame
7. Critical time frame. The first few years
of life provide a critical window of
language learning. Any delay of
language input during the first few years
of life is likely to result in a lasting
negative impact on future cognitive
development and educational
attainment.
Problem: Qualifications
8. Instructor Qualification: Even if a
class is available, another problem
arises in that the instructor may not
be truly qualified and the student
has no way of judging.
Provocative
statement:
x
“My refrigerator has
been teaching me
sign language.”
Classroom?
 Complete with,
internet access,
digital multimedia
LCD display
touch-screen,
built-in stereo
speakers, CCD
camera, and
microphone.
Technology
“Any sufficiently
advanced technology is
indistinguishable from
magic.”
Arthur C. Clarke
Future Curricula
 Instant
 Constant
 Integrated
Education programs will thrive to the extent
they can provide instant, constant, and
integrated access to learning materials.
"There are more than 500,000 words in the
English language, but a person who masters
only 250 words will recognize more than twothirds of all words shown in television
captions—provided the 250 words are those
that are most frequently used. Equally
dramatic, a beginning reader could be taught
just 10 words—the, you, to, a, I, and, of, in, it,
that—and then recognize more than one out of
every five words. Mastery of the top 79 words
means being able to read half of all words
captioned."
Source: Perspectives in Education and Deafness, Volume 16, Number 1, September/October 1997
Word Frequency Research
 What if we were to apply that same concept
to learning sign language?
 Design lessons based on accelerated
language acquisition techniques that make
use of "word frequency" research.
 Introduce content via a balance between
"functions" (what you want to do or
accomplish) and "language frequency" (what
you most often say to others to accomplish
those functions).
File cabinet vs tabula rasa
 “Adult Second Language Learning”
is very different from
“Language Acquisition of Children”
 The brains of adults and children are wired
differently. (Neurological pathways.)
 Adults have knowledge stores and cognitive
processes of categorization and organization
that children do not.
Acquisition vs Learning
 Children acquire a first language through
thousands of hours of “natural immersion.”
They rely on massive amounts of neurons to
absorb language directly.
 Adults learn a second language via the use of
cognitive tools. They categorize, classify, and
associate new information with existing
information.
Some people think learning a second
language = creating a separate iceberg.
The reality though is that adults have
an underlying cognitive proficiency.
The Lifeprint Curriculum
 Makes use of the underlying cognitive
proficiency of adults
 Low cost and/or free
 Constantly evolving: adding more video,
adding test banks, adding projector slides
 Easily changeable (can be updated instantly)
 Peer input. Feel free to suggest
improvements and changes.
Future Curricula
 Students able to access lessons instantly.
Any time. Any Place.
 Lessons constantly available to students.
 Lessons can be integrated into students’ way
of life.
For example: students are able to
review the lessons via the net at
2:00 a.m. on their wireless media
player.
Viral Curricula
Low cost duplication
Low effort duplication
exponential dissemination
Lifeprint.com
ASL.ms
ASL.gs
ASLpah.com
Dear Bill,
I just found your website and I
have to tell you how much it means to me.
I am the mother of two children. My
youngest is Autistic and was nonverbal for
5 years. I grew up with a love of sign
language and knew just a little.
We started signing to Nicholas
and teaching him some signs and his self
abusive behaviors diminished and some
even stopped completely. He is now 6 ½
and has been speaking for about a year.
I still use some sign to give him visual
supports. I live in a very small town
and the nearest class is a 2 hour
drive. I was lucky enough to take 3
intermediate courses closer to home
but then the teacher moved and
again I am faced with no classes.
That’s why your site has been so
wonderful! I can’t wait to receive your
book!
Thank you,
Bonita Stout
Sixes, Oregon
Future discussion topics (Dr. V)
 Leverage
 Cost Effective
 HTML
 Gif files
 .mobi
 pda
 320 x 240
 Sorenson vp 200
 Alpha geeks
 Just in Time and Print on Demand
BillVicars@aol.com
