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MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching Vol. 6, No. 2, June 2010
523
Meeting the Challenges of Deaf Education Teacher Preparation:
Innovative Practices in Online Learning
Chad E. Smith
Texas Woman’s University
Denton, TX 76209 USA
Csmith17@twu.edu
Tamby Allman
Texas Woman’s University
Denton, TX 76209 USA
tallman@twu.edu
Abstract
Bond (2000) and Scheetz and Martin (2008) identified characteristics of effective
teachers, and qualities of master teachers of the deaf. Combining those characteristics
and qualities into a single teacher of the deaf training program allows for the creation of
effective teachers of the deaf. Methods for applying the characteristics into teacher
training courses in an online format are detailed. Included are suggestions for promoting
effective learning strategies in online environments. By combining effective pedagogy
and innovative technology, online learning can clearly be an effective tool for the delivery
of teacher of the deaf training content.
Keywords: distance education, Web-based training, Internet, hearing impaired,
technology training, educator, special education
Introduction
In the two decades since the advent of the World Wide Web (WWW), online learning has rapidly become
an integral component of the college experience. Teacher of the deaf preparation programs have followed
suit in their use of the Internet in training pre-service teachers. Web-based classrooms create an
accessible and unique environment in which to train teachers of the deaf. This article describes
innovative practices implemented in one online program.
Important Factors in Training Teachers of the Deaf
Sheetz and Martin (2008) explored the question of whether teacher of the deaf preparation programs
were preparing pre-service teachers to possess the qualities of master teachers. They identified six
characteristics of master teachers of the deaf, and a variety of practices used by teacher preparation
programs to teach students to become master teachers. The following six characteristics were identified
as describing master teachers of the deaf:
• Employing cognitive strategies
• Being up-to-date
• Having a passion for teaching
• Working collaboratively
• Demonstrating strong communication skills and
• Creating independent learners
Bond (2000) identified 13 characteristics of effective teachers. The thirteen characteristics focus on four
central themes: teaching, planning, attitude, and assessment. Those characteristics center on the
following four areas:
• Teaching: included using content knowledge, using deep representations, making use of
problem solving skills, and using improvisations.
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524
• Planning included setting up optimal classroom environments, providing high expectations for
students, and imparting sensitivity to context.
• Attitude: included promoting inquiry and problem solving skills, having a passion for teaching,
and showing respect for students.
• Assessment: included employing multidimensional perception, monitoring progress and
supplying feedback, and testing hypotheses.
While Bond identified these characteristics for general educators, the same characteristics can be
applied to effective teachers of the deaf.
Rittenhouse (2004), in a study evaluating newly trained teachers of the deaf, found that while they were
typically energetic and willing to attempt to tackle new ideas, they often lacked the skills necessary for
the successful maintenance and development of individual education plans (IEPs). He also suggested
that improvement of preparation programs for teachers of the deaf could be focused in the following
areas: 1) improving the sign language skills of pre-service teachers of the deaf; 2) improving subject
matter knowledge instead of focusing solely on language and communication; and 3) improving the
English writing skills of both hearing and deaf pre-service teachers of the deaf.
The roles of teachers of the deaf today are changing rapidly, as are the classroom settings and
demographics of the students in schools. Teacher of the deaf preparation programs in years gone by
trained teachers primarily for one of two classroom settings: residential school placements or self-
contained classrooms in public schools. However, the demographics of the children in programs for the
deaf have changed significantly. Demographics, coupled with the advances of modern technologies such
as the cochlear implants, have prompted increasing numbers of students 1) to be served itinerantly, in
rural or urban home districts; 2) to come from non-English speaking homes (Bowen, 2000); 3) to receive
assistive technologies such as digital hearing aids and cochlear implants at a younger age; and 4) to
function as hard of hearing individuals. Teacher preparation programs must adapt to meet the changing
needs of education of the deaf (Mitchell & Karchmer, 2006).
As the demand for teachers of the deaf grows, teacher preparation programs have found students less
willing or unable to leave jobs, and uproot families to pursue a teaching degree and certification.
Students who choose online or distance education programs often do so because of the convenience it
affords (Schrum, Burbank & Capps, 2007). Such students in large numbers are gravitating to programs
offered online.
Online learning continues to make important inroads in developing coursework that unites teacher
pedagogy theory and policy with field practice (Schrum, Burbank & Capps, 2007). The purpose of this
article is to address the use of innovative practices in an online teacher preparation program. The
integration of Bond’s (2000) qualities of effective teachers within the characteristics of master teachers of
the deaf posed by Sheetz and Martin (2008) form the framework of the program. This article also seeks
to address the misconception that online learning does not adequately prepare teachers of the deaf.
Currently, there are six programs in the United States which are delivering degree programs online for
those interested in becoming teachers of the deaf (DeafEd.net, n.d.).
Program Overview
The deaf education teacher preparation program discussed in this article is an established program
offered at a state-supported university in Texas. Created in 1950, it is the state’s oldest teacher of the
deaf training program. In 2000, it became evident that the existing program was becoming rather static
with enrollment ranging between 5 and 10 students per year. The demands for more teachers of the
deaf, and the university’s demands for an increase in enrollment strongly indicated that changes in
program design were warranted. There were also students who wanted to secure deaf education
certification who lived in areas where access to training programs was limited. Johnson (2004) reported
that 13 states and several U.S. territories do not offer deaf education teacher preparation programs. He
suggested that the time to implement Web-based technologies into deaf education was at hand. The
shortage of well-prepared teachers of the deaf needed to be addressed. An online teacher of the deaf
preparation program was instituted to address this need. Students can now pursue a master’s degree
and/or teacher certification over four to eight semesters, depending on their previous background,
experiences and degrees. To date the program has served students in 19 states across the nation,
Canada, and Europe. The program graduated 20 teacher pre-service teachers in the spring 2009
semester.
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525
Creating an online teacher preparation program required planning and forethought to ensure
accessibility to students with hearing loss. During early years accessibility features were limited, using
paper and electronic transcriptions of teaching videos. As technology improved, the program
incorporated software, such as Camtasia, that allows users to create captioned videos of course
presentations. Other options investigated included Accordent technology and Adobe Visual
Communicator. While the program initially focused on asynchronous learning, as investigations
continued, synchronous learning tools with the ability to use video and sign soon became a viable option.
Previous attempts at creating accessible learning tools focused on printed English texts. Wimba® and
Elluminate® both provide synchronous learning environments allowing users to present multimedia
content, video, audio, and text-based communication. Unlike previous attempts at creating accessible
media which required deaf and hard of hearing students to read printed English, Wimba allowed faculty
and students to communicate via sign language and speech in live time. For those students whose
native language is American Sign Language, Wimba offered an accessible tool. Other web-based tools
that allow hearing and deaf individuals to interact in accessible environments used by program faculty
and students include GoogleTalk and Oovoo.
Four full-time, tenure-track deaf education faculty members, in addition to two faculty members with
multiple degrees in deaf education, audiology, and/or speech pathology, offer students a wide range of
courses. Courses are offered via Blackboard® and Wimba® as the asynchronous and synchronous
online course management systems designed to meet the challenges of today’s deaf educators. The
Texas Teacher of the deaf standards and the Council on the Education of the Deaf Standards are
addressed in course work throughout the program. Consistent with recommendations within the field
(Johnson, 2004; Easterbrooks, 1999), students are strongly encouraged to take additional educational
courses in order to be eligible for regular education certification. With the exception of sign language
course work, and student teaching, all coursework is online. Students are required to take nine semester
credit hours of sign instruction at their home location at a community college or other institution of higher
education and in some way demonstrate proficiency in sign ability. The university’s online sign language
competency exam is based on the state’s teacher sign competency exam. The format of the exam is
discussed later in this publication.
Teaching content is delivered through online lectures via PowerPoint, synchronous and asynchronous
discussions, online tests, teaching projects, and electronic tools such as wikis, blogs, and podcasts. For
students whose communication preferences include sign language, new technology allows for online
lectures employing systems such as Camtasia® and Wimba®. Students create PowerPoint
presentations and model teaching videos, and post their case studies on wikis. The university
developed a working relationship with Spectrum-K12 School Solutions, which markets ENCORE®, an
online special education management system to teach the IEP process and its construction. The
partnership between the university and Spectrum K12 School Solutions was designed to teach future
teachers how to develop individualized educational plans (IEP) and to understand the IEP process, skills
that Rittenhouse (2004) identified as lacking in new teachers. The online sign language exam and the
use of Camtasia® and Wimba® to allow sign language communication are examples of addressing the
need for proficiency in sign language identified by Rittenhouse (2004).
Characteristics of Effective Teachers of the Deaf
Sheetz and Martin (2008) form the framework of the endeavor in the university’s distance education
program. Bond’s (2000) thirteen characteristics were integrated within the six traits of master teachers of
the deaf provided by Sheetz and Martin (2008). The individual elements of Bond’s (2000) characteristics
are summarized in italics below. The current teacher-preparation program practices are delineated as
they relate to the following six characteristics of master teachers of the deaf: employing cognitive
strategies, being up-to-date, having a passion for teaching, being collaborative, having strong
communication skills, and helping students become independent learners. Innovative technologies that
enhance the teaching and learning experiences are discussed in each section.
Trait #1: Employing Cognitive Strategies
Bond (2000) identified having high expectations, deep representations, knowledge of content, and testing
of hypothesis as characteristics of effective teachers. The teacher thinks about how a lesson worked and
adjusts future lessons based on its success.
The essence of teaching requires a deep and thorough understanding on the part of the teacher of the
MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching Vol. 6, No. 2, June 2010
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subject being taught. Each university student participates in courses devoted to teaching K-12 content
areas, as well as courses concerning literacy, language, speech, and audiology instruction. Integrating
speech, audition and language, within K-12 content areas is emphasized throughout the curriculum.
Research-based practices are integrated through the use of two core textbooks, used in each of their
university classes in addition to other course-required texts. Research from Language and Deafness
(Paul, 2009), and Deaf Studies, Language, and Education (Marschark et al., 2003) provide a foundation
for content instruction and appears in the comprehensive exam that all students take at the end of their
graduate studies. In order to be highly qualified according to No Child Left Behind, students are
encouraged to pursue additional hours in a teaching field such as history, math, science or computer
technology (No Child Left Behind, 2009).
Figure 1: Screen capture of ENCORE special education management system used to
teach the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) process in deaf education.
Video Creation for Methods and Case Studies
To determine whether pre-service teachers can effectively demonstrate the competencies required
students must create videos of themselves teaching and performing case study elements. Once created,
videos are submitted directly to instructors, posted within the course delivery system, or posted online at
a video hosting service such as www.teachertube.com.
Knowledge of Content through Technology
Distance education creates authentic opportunities for students to read and write using the content
language of each subject in the print format (Downing & Holtz, 2008). Being able to enhance complex
content with images, video and hypertext media allows instructors to delve deeply into teaching content
areas that might otherwise seem inaccessible in a text-only format. In addition to creating PowerPoint
presentations and lesson plans in their methods courses, students must also create K-12 student
examples of expected work products. Students demonstrate that they understand that content can be
delivered using both controlled reading levels and multimedia content together. An example of such a
work product is the Deaf Scientist Corner (http://www.twu.edu/dsc) which was developed by faculty and a
graduate student to demonstrate the effectiveness of incorporating meaningful multimedia content with
text specifically written on a third to sixth grade reading level.
Distance education has progressed beyond the stereotype of correspondence coursework. Members of
the faculty are able to maximize student potential and demand high performance because the technology
allows them to see their teachers-in-training perform. Online programs move beyond paper writing and
written constructions of intended teaching plans for more substantive products such as examples of
teaching lessons and assessment techniques. Using the research-based textbooks throughout the
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curriculum and the innovation afforded by technology, students demonstrate deep knowledge through the
creation of visual multimedia-based representations of both effective teaching and assessment practices.
Trait #2: Being up-to-date
Bond (2000) identified using a variety of resources as a characteristic of effective teachers.
Online students in the program have extensive opportunities for obtaining teaching experiences with deaf
and/or hard of hearing students in schools and classrooms in their own communities. Students are
expected to conduct practica and class-related projects within their own communities. Regardless of
where online students are located, the deaf education program mandates that pre-service teachers follow
university guidelines for student teaching and practicum experiences. Teller and Harney (2005) surveyed
supervisors of programs serving deaf and hard of hearing students and reported these practica and
student teaching experiences as one of the major factors affecting teaching performance. Informed by
their research, we know these experiences do affect future teacher performance, and are therefore,
carefully planned. They can be individualized and local, matching the learning experience of the student
with the unique teaching requirements of each setting and program. Students explore as many options
as possible for their observations and student teaching experiences. Students have the option of
meeting Texas certification requirements and transferring them out of state or meeting home-state
requirements.
Integrating Field-Based Experiences with an Online Community of Learners
During these in-field experiences, the network of online peers themselves becomes an invaluable
resource. As they complete field work, they share their experiences in the virtual classrooms through e-
mails, listservs, chats, Web pages and wikis. In this way, online students have shared experiences that
far exceed the limited experiences a university can offer locally. Students discuss assessments, share
current teaching resources and reflect on teaching experiences across the continuum of educational
settings, communication methodologies and regional and national borders. Online instructors can
capitalize on varied experiences and ever-changing perspectives of students across regions, programs
and borders. Research interests are developed within the realm of students’ own teaching areas and
situations throughout their coursework. As a capstone experience, students have the opportunity to
design and conduct individual research projects with faculty support that center on current issues
surrounding their own K-12 classroom environments.
Trait #3: Having a passion for teaching
Bond (2000) identified that effective teachers respect students and have a passion for teaching and
learning.
Access to Multimedia
Online students are linguistically and culturally diverse so preparation programs must address what each
of the learners experience as they participate in these new learning environments. Hannon and D’Netto
(2004) surveyed 241 online students in South Australia. Their purpose was to see if learners from
different cultural backgrounds would find online environments culturally inclusive in terms of engagement
with the content and with the learning and teaching environment. They found no significant differences
between their Australian students compared to non-native Australian students. No matter what the
subject area is, the delivery of course content is a flexible model, and is one that is not limited to text-only
approaches for students. New technologies allow for transmitting large amounts of data, and being able
to interact in a variety of formats, so that students have a multitude of learning opportunities online. With
video technology that can be posted on the Internet, there are few limitations to offering examples of
effective teaching practices by both the instructor and the students. For those students who need access
to information in formats other than text, systems such as Wimba® and Camtasia® allow instructors to
capture lectured content which can be spoken and signed, in sync with multimedia presentations. Using
this kind of resource, students can view lecture presentations repeatedly at their own convenience.
Equality within Online Environments
Bond (2000) explained teachers must appreciate the critical distinctiveness of students and use those
differences to guide decisions. Training teachers to have this ‘sensitivity to context’ is difficult to teach and
assess. Online learning allows teachers to develop this sensitivity to context because of the equality it
creates between learners. Each student is heard equally. Everyone has a voice and all students have
direct access to the information and to their classmates and instructor. With video instruction, interpreters
for the deaf students are not used for the online program. Professors sign their lectures. Unlike the face-
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to-face classroom, instructors cannot identify which students in the program are hearing, deaf or hard of
hearing. In this way, both instructors and students come to know the essential characteristics of each
member of the class without the language barriers and any preconceived beliefs or biases that might
come with the use of “labels.” Instructors typically ask students to identify themselves early in the course
and share their information with others. They are not required to identify themselves as having a hearing
loss, but are certainly welcome to do so, if they wish.
Trait #4: Working Collaboratively
Bond (2000) identified optimal classroom environments and problem-solving as characteristics of
effective teaching.
Networking via Discussion Boards and Wikis
Johnson (2004) suggested that a stronger model for deaf education teacher training programs must
include what he calls “a collaborative network” in which teachers construct new knowledge together. Pre-
service teachers in the online classroom experience this new model of a virtual learning environment and
a collaborative network with their professors and classmates. Through online discussions, video
presentations, and networking pre-service teachers are able to experience academic issues related to a
multitude of K-12 deaf education students and approaches used nationwide.
Online learning may overcome many of the challenges that teacher-training programs faced in the past.
Pre-service teachers now have instant access to experts and information that is not available locally.
While local programs are limited to experts available in the area, online programs can invite experts to
join classroom discussion boards from any place with access to the Internet.
Effective distance courses create a collaborative network that is ideal for problem-solving with other
professionals (Palloff & Pratt, 2005; Palloff & Pratt, 2007). Instructors and students interact using learning
tools with public and private access via academic wikis and blogs. Instructors and students can simulate
the team approach to problem-solving by posting case studies on a wiki within the course management
system. Classmates add their own analysis to the case study. As with the Annual, Review, and
Dismissal (ARD) meetings, a comprehensive view with multiple perspectives deepens the pre-service
teacher’s understanding of the strengths and needs of the K-12 deaf education student. Graduate
students include speech therapists, teachers of the deaf, regular education teachers, parents, social
workers and interpreters. Instructors can watch student knowledge and problem-solving being
constructed, and intervene as necessary.
Being able to 1) tap into the expertise and excitement that university online faculty have for teaching, and
2) have the hands-on experience of working with a deaf education K-12 classroom teacher throughout
their graduate career, complements teaching and learning in unique ways. Experiential, active learning
supports the web course learning. Research indicates that in addition to online interaction, flexibility and
timing, the classroom observation experience is most beneficial (Schrum, Burbank, & Capps, 2007).
Teacher candidates in online classes collaborate inside their course delivery systems, and also work in
public domains such as wikis. Wikis are available currently to graduate students on Deaf Culture, deaf
Scientists, strategies for teaching speech, Web ideas for instruction, and women and deafness. Individual
instruction regarding wikis may vary. Typically, pre-service teachers are assigned topics to explore and
promote within the wikis. Once material is posted, classmates have the opportunity to enhance and edit
that material as peer reviewers.
Trait #5: Demonstrating Strong Communication Skills
Bond (2000) identified progress monitoring, providing feedback, and testing hypothesis as characteristics
of effective teachers.
Google Talk, Oovoo, Video phones
Providing student feedback and monitoring student progress is not limited to a typical 8-hour workday.
Maintaining the standard business day office hours and ability to interact within limited on-campus
timeframes are no longer factors in online learning. Faculty office hours and interaction times can be
constructed in order to meet the needs of students. Evaluations on student progress can occur virtually
within an “any-time, any-place” mentality. Student assignments submitted electronically can have
comments/suggestions inserted directly into items providing meaningful, lasting feedback. Blackboard’s
gradebook feature allows teachers to post comments on grades and work performance so students are
able to monitor their own progress. Face-to-face communication is an option available through the use of
video-phones and Web cams. While e-mail tends to be a common method of communication between
MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching Vol. 6, No. 2, June 2010
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faculty and students, there are a number of other available options. One option the authors have explored
is using GoogleTalk® to communicate with online students. It is a free tool that is available to anyone, so
both students and faculty have easy access to it. They are able to communicate synchronously on a
nightly basis and provide feedback, problem-solve and brainstorm classroom issues as they arise.
The use of Wimba® has also become an important tool for communicating with students online.
Instructors have the capacity to communicate simultaneously in sign, text, and through the use of
multimedia such as PowerPoint. Students are able to experience firsthand the multi-layered strategies
necessary for communicating in a linguistically diverse environment. Hearing students, when
experiencing audio difficulties within the environment, may call-in to the course, and participate via phone.
Similarly, deaf students who experience difficulties with the video communication may call-in to the course
environment through a sign language relay interpreter such as ZVRS or Sorenson Relay. In order to meet
the demands of such voluminous electronic communication, it is imperative both hearing and deaf
students have effective communication skills.
Figure 2: Screen capture of Wimba classroom with video, audio, and text chatting capabilities.
Using the experiences they acquired in the electronic classroom, students must then change roles and
become teachers. They must demonstrate a high level of awareness in the interactions with their own K-
12 students. Pre-service teachers are required to teach, assess and demonstrate their understanding of
the teaching theories presented online. Pre-service teachers are asked to test ideas related to
appropriate teaching methodologies, assessment tools, and learning activities. In local school programs,
pre-service teachers have the opportunity to test hypotheses in classrooms serving K-12 students with
hearing loss.
Once in the field, those students must apply the communication skills acquired in the program to various
communication modes of the K-12 students they are serving. Texas requires all teachers using manual
communication as the primary form of communication in a classroom for deaf children to demonstrate
competency in receptive and expressive sign skills. As preparation for that test, the faculty created an
online American Sign Language competency test to evaluate students’ expressive and receptive sign
skills. The tool can be used at any point during the students’ studies when she/he feels ready to take the
test. The assessment consists of a twenty-minute interview using Oovoo (http://www.oovoo.com), an
online communication interface that allows participants to communicate via audio and video. Students are
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required to connect with a faculty member via Web cam, and are interviewed in ASL or an English sign
system of their choosing. The video conversation is captured, recorded, and then shown to a panel of
faculty who evaluate the students’ expressive and receptive skills.
Figure 3: Screen capture of Oovoo used for assessing distance education
students’ sign language proficiency.
Trait #6: Creating Independent Learners
Bond (2000) identified improvisation, problem-solving, progress monitoring and inquiry as characteristics
of effective teachers. He also indicated that the teacher gets the students actively involved in lessons
and helps them want to learn and develop a deeper understanding of issues.
Electronic Progress Monitoring and Inquiry
Scheetz and Martin (2006) recommended that teacher training programs include the criteria for National
Board Certification in their curricula. Self-evaluation and reflection of videotapes create a powerful
learning experience for pre-service teachers. Using their own videos, teachers demonstrate how they
modify their instruction to meet the needs of all learners. Unlike classroom environments with mock
teaching demonstrations in real time, online students have opportunities to go back and teach a lesson
again with substantive changes. Students in an online environment can create and evaluate multiple
teaching content videos and presentations that can be easily shared with others, regardless of the
physical distance that separates them. In addition to teachers being able to view and evaluate
presentations and teaching skills, instructors are able to gauge and monitor sign skills. By requiring
students to sign and caption videos they created, faculty insures that content is both accessible and
meaningful. By completing such technology activities, pre-service teachers of the deaf address many of
the national educational technology standards (ISTE, 2008).
Accessibility with current technology is relatively easy. Even the most basic of video creation software
such as Windows Movie Maker allows users to caption video. Captioned text that is embedded on a
video is different than printed transcripts that accompany videos. Creating printed transcripts for students
who are deaf/hard of hearing can be time-consuming and confusing to follow. Printed transcripts,
however, can be created with speech-recognition software found in word processing software such as
Microsoft Word.
The WWW allows teachers of the deaf to access, create, and modify materials to specifically meet the
unique needs of their students. For example, in content methods, to address the lack of accessible
science investigations, pre-service teachers create videos that demonstrate the scientific method.
(http://deafscientistcorner.pbworks.com). They develop science lesson plans that include biographies of
famous deaf scientists that are found online within the university website (http://www.twu.edu/dsc). Using
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technologies learned in the online program, students return to their own schools to create materials
uniquely appropriate to their K-12 students.
Reflection and Improvement through Asynchronous Learning
The asynchronous nature of some online courses and the permanence of print provide the learner with
time and opportunities for deep reflection that isn’t always part of the face-to-face classroom.
Asynchronous learning provides students and instructors the opportunity to reflect on the classroom
communication and compose their responses. Instructors who teach the same course in both face-to-face
format and online format frequently report that the discussions and collaborative problem-solving skills
among the distance learners are qualitatively different. The permanence of print and the asynchronous
nature of online learning provide time for the students to reflect and revise their responses. Distance
education instructors can continually monitor the effectiveness of their own instruction and modify it as
necessary throughout the course. Students therefore experience the evolving and interactive nature of
teaching.
Concluding Remarks
Because a wide array of materials can be transmitted via the Internet, there is no shortage of tools to be
used within the course management system. Audio and video links to multimedia found on the Internet
are just a few of the resources available to online students and faculty. Online learning environments offer
a unique perspective for training future teachers of the deaf. With the assortment of technologies, faculty
have access to teach students in synchronous and asynchronous environments with video, audio, and
multimedia elements which allow for printed, signed, and spoken delivery of content. Even institutions on
limited budgets are able to secure software such as Adobe Visual Communicator™ and Camtasia® that
allow for materials to be presented visually through sign and multimedia.
With accessible instructional strategies, faculty can successfully prepare future teachers of the deaf in
online environments. Online learning is uniquely suited for training as it allows programs to employ
instructional approaches to develop master teachers of the deaf. It allows programs to incorporate state
of the art technology, give equal access to all learners at all times, create independent learners, promote
strong communication skills among students, and create a network for collaborative learning.
Recommendations for future research include multi-faceted empirical studies of the effectiveness of
online programs training future teachers of the deaf. Such studies should go beyond the technology and
should evaluate the online delivery systems used, the process of learning online, and the course content
delivered.
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Manuscript received 2 Feb 2010; revision received 30 Apr 2010.
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