ASL System Solutions - SLCC

Challenge

The American Sign Language community has had many challenges in training individuals to interpret for the deaf community. One of the biggest challenges is to integrate and utilize today’s technology in a useful application for ASL instruction nation wide.

Today the ASL Lab at the Salt Lake Community College – Miller Campus is the first of its kind. No other lab in the county has a system solution comparable to what General Communications has integrated at SLCC. The information below explains the challenges that SLCC faced and address these issues.

For the past 20 years ASL labs around the country have been using the same type of equipment: a television with a VCR and a video recorder. This equipment did not allow for true 2-way communication and instant feedback. Thus, it was slower in preparing and training ASL interpreters.

Solutions

General Communications collaborated with SLCC ASL Department in developing a system that met the needs of instructors and students. This system would utilize today’s technology and allow users to receive immediate feedback.

Full integration of a computer, television monitor, digital video recorder, and a network server was implemented by General Communications to provide a solution not only for the SLCC ASL Department, but for the ASL national community at large.

Students now have the ability to facilitate their learning and acquisition of knowledge. The system facilitates instant feedback from lessons and instructors, allowing users to view themselves and exercise on one screen with the full audio intact. In addition, lessons can be saved as a file and saved to a server that can be accessed off campus.

This system allows the SLCC ASL Department to focus on curriculum while enhancing the learning experience. Michelle Draper, Director of the ASL Department at SLCC, says this about the system: “General Communications has developed a solution that will help the ASL education community in ways that could not have been imagined.”

Results

With a General Communications Integrated System Solution in place, SLCC has helped students become proficient in the ASL language. The system is allowing students to learn ASL faster.