New perspectives towards the design of a deaf-centred e-learning environment

Research done in the field of pre-linguistic deafness has uncovered specific problems in the production and comprehension of written language. Such problems can be found in most deaf communities despite the presence of rehabilitation paths, which may or may not include the use of sign language. Learning written language has proved to be a stressful activity for deaf learners, leading to de-motivation and dropping off even at early stages of the educational path. Within the Italian FIRB-VISEL1 project, we are investigating the possibility to offer a self-regulated learning environment to deaf adults. The aim is to increase knowledge of their cognitive, relational and communicative-linguistic profile considering their different linguistic and communicative backgrounds. The exploitation of innovative possibilities given by e-learning has been addressed to improve deaf people’s writing and reading skills, providing them with learning strategies to enable self-education in the field of language. In the design of such an e-learning environment we are working together with deaf researchers to ensure the development of appropriate strategies meeting the real needs of the deaf community. Theoretical bases of our work are storytelling, embodied cognition/semantics, imitation, and the construction of educational games. The objective is to create a highly immersive visual environment and recreational interfaces motivating deaf learners while interacting with the system. This paper presents the preliminary work done within the FIRB-VISEL project. It opens with an overview of the literacy problems related to deafness and the way in which information technology can intervene to overcome them. A theoretical framework will be introduced to explain the design of the educational and interactional framework of a Deaf-centered ELearning Environment (DELE), which will be introduced at the end of this intervention.