Visual Enhancements: Improving Deaf Students' Transition Skills Using Multimedia Technology

Abstract

The very nature of deafness demands a visual orientation for the student to access information. Over the past 20 years, educational multimedia technology has developed at a rapid pace, from Beta and VHS videotape to CD-ROM and DVD. Recent developments in technology provide considerable potential in delivering high-quality visual access to information and multimedia instruction for deaf sign language users that was never before feasible. This article identifies a variety of considerations in using multimedia products to instruct the deaf learner and describes the pros and cons of a using a variety of media in the context of several multimedia projects.