My name is Casey R. Weber. I am Deaf. I'm a senior with a double major in English and Deaf Studies because I want to become an English teacher for Deaf high school children. I will be graduating in spring 2010. I'm the eldest of my siblings in the family. I was born and raised in Orange County, California. I look forward to learning from not only from Professor Kent Baxter but also from you, my fellow classmates, as I know you have a lot to share with us as potential teachers of tomorrow. :-)
Answering the questions from our first homework prompt:
1) What role you feel media technology should play in teaching, at any level?
The media is extremely influential in teaching our children--as well as adults--in various levels. For example, George Veditz, a very well-known Deaf advocate for American Sign Language (ASL) rights, filmed himself in 1913 via ASL. He expressed that ASL is "God's noblest gift," and "as long as we have Deaf people, there will be sign language." This triggered the Deaf community to speak up for their rights, but simultaneously--with precise knowledge in regards to history of oppression--they kept their cool.
Until 1960, William Stokoe, an ASL linguist, broke down the linguistic properties of ASL. He discovered that ASL had various linguistic elements in the same level as English. Thus, countless videos, pictures, and even books were made to celebrate the "discovery" of our language in its entirety. We are also getting vlogs--known as "video blogs"--so the Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing can sign to the camera to those who read vlogs.
More and more Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people began to realize the value of the Deaf culture. Countless debates were triggered especially in regards to how we should educate our Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing children. In today's world, it is very complex due to controversies ranging from whether children should have cochlear implants to how audism--a term simply meaning that the hearing people think Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing people are a problem within the general society--is influential in the society as a whole.
2) Have you witnessed any particularly effective or ineffective uses of media technology as a student?
I took many classes via WebCT. In one instance, I had a professor who signed the lecture in a podcast while I was at home in comfort. To be honest, I questioned the effectiveness of this type of media technology in terms of responsibility. I preferred to come to class (maybe because I'm old-fashioned) because this helped me to work hard for what I have earned.
Now, if there is much comfort, will it stimulate my learning process? If so, how much will I be able to learn from this? If I were to sit on a hard, uncomfortable chair and desk at a school taking notes of the same lecture, does it really stimulate how I learn? The answer directs me to this: it depends on how motivated you are. In addition, I personally think the media world is working too hard for us students. In my humble opinion, I think it is our responsibility to decide what's best for us to stimulate our learning experience in terms of media technology.
