Dr. Neil Hair

One of the all round frustrating issues surrounding the provision of online learning is the limitations the medium places on hearing impaired students. Streaming video has to be captioned so that it is inclusive, audio bridges between students is considered discriminatory and entire classes have to adopt text based communication as the primary means of learning. The end of this conundrum may at last be in sight. Washington University has developed a system of streaming sign over limited bandwidth. This is likely to represent a paradigmatic shift in the ways in which deaf students can be part of and party to a richer forum of communication. With this technology in place deaf students will be able to request signers who can interpret in situ live conversations between students using regular tools such as breeze live or Web-ex. Of course this wont help those students who are part of the wider cultural shift towards captionists and cochlear implants as the preferred means of communicating, but it's a step in the right direction.