Adapting Distance Learning for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic crisis, a group of special education teachers is striving to deal with the current situation in the best possible ways to improve the distance learning experience for deaf and hard of hearing students, and to ensure the continuity of their education comfortably in the new environment during this period. This article discusses several methods recommended by the US National Deaf Center for teachers to adopt and raise awareness about, in order to prepare distance learning classrooms for their deaf and hard of hearing students, including:

Transcription

This refers to converting spoken audio into written text while speaking in virtual classrooms or by using an automated transcription tool on some communication platforms. It is known that adding visual aids improves the distance learning experience for deaf and hard of hearing students; therefore, audio companies are working with education management and development platforms to provide educational services tailored to the needs of individuals with disabilities, as transcription is considered one of the best services developed for deaf and hard of hearing students who are proficient in reading.

Some suggestions for transcription software:

1. The platform Webex:

This platform provides several options, including connecting an external transcriber to group calls, or running a secondary panel called (StreamBox) and enabling transcription on it. Using it makes it easier for deaf and hard of hearing students to view the teacher's face for lip reading, shared presentations, and transcription all on a single screen.

1. The application Streamer

A visual communication application that offers advanced services for a nominal monthly subscription, most notably audio settings that convey words with nearly 98% accuracy, alongside other features useful for classrooms, such as translation into different languages, multilingual transcription, and inserting real-time notes on the written text, with these services also protected by high privacy.

Settings to improve transcriber performance: Meeting coordinators are advised to prepare the transcriber in advance by entering teachers' names

and some important terminology to program them into the transcriber before the lesson begins, in order to avoid mistranscribing words and to improve the speed and quality of the transcriber's performance.

Automated Transcription

Some popular platforms, such as Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, offer automated transcription services. Unfortunately, the performance of these platforms is modest; however, even if the text quality is poor, it still helps deaf and hard of hearing individuals communicate.

For example, a number of deaf and hard of hearing individuals agree that Microsoft Teams is one of the video calling platforms best suited to their needs, as it offers a variety of free automated transcription and translation services for countless languages, which can be enabled with simple settings requiring no more than the click of a button. However, this service is not an ideal choice, as the linguistic quality is not good (word transcription is usually inaccurate) and there is no systematic way to input information into the transcriber and edit the text. For instance, if the teacher does not speak standard language clearly, automated transcription will be of no benefit.

Sign Language

Educational institutions can utilize a sign language interpreter and add them as a participant in the virtual classroom. Some platforms provide a secondary screen feature allowing students to easily see both the sign language interpreter and the rest of the content. If this option is not available on the educational institution's online platform, it is recommended that the interpreter hold a direct video call with deaf students.

The Teacher's Role

The teacher must consider the needs of their deaf and hard of hearing students when preparing lessons and video meetings, through the following:

• Deaf and hard of hearing students may find it difficult to distinguish one voice from another in group calls; therefore, if the curriculum requires multiple teachers for the lesson or student participation, each speaker should state their name clearly before beginning.
• The teacher must turn on the camera and adjust their device to a suitable angle that clearly shows their face while delivering the lesson, making lip reading easier for their students, and non-speakers should turn off their cameras to preserve video connection quality.
• It is very important for teachers to pace themselves while speaking, as this helps deaf and hard of hearing students understand and read lips, and helps the transcriber track and transcribe speech.
• As for classroom discussions, it is important for everyone to remain muted and only unmute when participating in the discussion, in order to reduce background noise for deaf students.
• Spoken discussion content should be typed in the chat box so that deaf and hard of hearing students can read the questions, answers, and notes.

In conclusion, it is expected that we will face certain challenges in the educational process during this extraordinary period; therefore, teachers and their students should recognize the importance of raising awareness about learning methods for deaf and hard of hearing students, and take the initiative to implement best practices to overcome the challenges of remote learning.

If you are interested in technology for hearing aids, we have gathered here some suggestions from experts and the experiences of deaf and hard of hearing individuals

Click here

Sources:

Spagnola Whitney, 2020. Making online learning accessible for deaf students. Hearing like me.

.https://www.hearinglikeme.com

Al-Madina Audiology, 2019. Hearing Assistive Accessories, Al-Madina Group.

.http://almadina.com.sa

General Education Agency, 2020. Hearing Impairment Administration, Saudi Ministry of Education.

.https://departments.moe.gov.sa/

Originally published in Arabic. This English version was produced with AI-assisted translation; the Arabic original remains the reference.