UC San Diego

Technology use in education is a necessary feature in language and literacy learning for students. Student are engaged with technology on a day to day basis and teachers have integrated technology within their classroom to enhance learning opportunities. For deaf and hard of hearing students, the visual component of technology has provided accessible resources for visual learning that has greatly impacted these students’ education in ways that have never been done before. This thesis puts forth a curriculum that implements a specific kind of technology known as GIFs (Graphic Interchange Format) alongside a bilingual approach to education. GIFs are digital images that are animated and play on a loop. These GIFs are able to capture ASL in a whole form, rather than an image, and also show actions clearly for the visual learner.

An evaluation plan was carried out to collect data from teacher observations, student work, presentations, and student recorded media. These monitored student performance during the curriculum. The curriculum was evaluated to show that GIFs and media supported deaf students to develop vocabulary, make connections between English and ASL, use technology as a resource, and increase their engagement. The value and uses of GIFs in the classroom are still left wide open to be expanded upon by future educators and designers. Hopefully this thesis and the curriculum included sets up a foundation for others to improve upon and develop curricula that integrates new media and technology into bilingual deaf education.