Rochester Institute of Technology National Technical Institute for the Deaf

Documenting and collecting local sign languages and creating an open-content digital library of folktales offered in an interactive bilingual format

Rochester Institute of Technology National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Christopher Kurz, an instructional/support faculty member at RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, is working with a team to provide access to literacy for deaf children in their own sign languages in the Philippines. The team is one of three finalists in a global literacy competition.

Rochester Institute of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf professor Christopher Kurz demonstrates a sign language storybook on the World Around You platform.

Documenting and collecting local sign languages and creating an open-content digital library of folktales offered in an interactive bilingual format


Project Name

World Around You

Location Implemented

Philippines

Technology Used

Assistive Technology

Competition Entered

Sign On For Literacy Prize

Reading Skill Targeted

Pre-Reading, Reading Environment

Status

Finalist

Amount Award

Up to $250,000

Collaborators/Partners

Philippine Federation of the Deaf, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde

The Challenge

Of the estimated 32 million deaf children globally, 80% do not have access to education and only 2% receive education in sign language. Without early access to language, children fail to develop social and cognitive skills at the same rate as their peers, hindering their ability to learn to read and write and isolating them from society over the course of their lives.

The Big Idea

Developing open source software that enables communities to create literacy content in local and national sign languages to be shared via an open-content digital library of folktales. Digital libraries will be viewable from any web browser, can be hosted locally on Linux-based computers and mobile devices, and remixed by individuals (including children) with simple text and video editing tools.

Blogs and Media

Research and Resources

Connect with the Innovator

Website

https://www.ntid.rit.edu/

Organization Type

University

Headquarters

Rochester, New York, USA