By Ling Xu

In the United States, deaf students who learn sign language must learn both American Sign Language (ASL) and English, each with its own grammatical and sentence structure. This requires extensive practice which may not be available especially at home if their parents do not know ASL. Our project, DeSIGN, focused on giving students practice with English vocabulary words and their corresponding ASL sign in a fun and interactive way.

Having built this project from an idea to a deployable tutor has been a rewarding but challenging experience. The process involved coming up with the design details of the tutor to suit the needs of the audience as well as making it feasible within the scope of the project and time. Because the domain of this project is very different from my research areas, starting the project and deciding on a design necessitated a lot of background research. From talking with faculty and students in various research areas and many discussions with Joyce (our collaborator at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf), we learned a lot and were able to apply what we learned to the tutor.

Additionally, this project has shown me that teamwork is vital to the success of a project. Working with a partner requires that both of us are up-to-date on the various parts of the project. Being able to brainstorm ideas and discuss problems has made this project much easier and allowed us to come up with more creative solutions to obstacles that have arisen. We were also fortunate enough to have the expertise and knowledge of Joyce throughout the project. Her input and feedback were invaluable in making the tutor more usable and effective as a tool.

This project has been an enriching experience for me. Applying technology to the non-traditional domain of deaf education has broadened my understanding of how computing works in society. The process of coming up with an idea and going through one software cycle has enabled me to appreciate the challenges of developing a usable application. I have been able to share this unique experience with other people in addition to having an edge regarding scholarship applications and interviews.