Research at
Gallaudet University
2005 - 2006

Intercultural Writing Project

Status: Ongoing Begin date: October 1, 1998 End date: No set date

Description

The Intercultural Writing Project is an ongoing Learning Community which, in the Fall semester of 2005, involved English classes at Gallaudet University, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, N.Y., and LaGuardia Community College in West Queens, N.Y., plus classes of English teachers-in-training (hearing) at Talpiot Teachers College, a school for orthodox Jewish women, in Tel Aviv, Israel. The students explored two themes: the Holocaust and the Deaf Community. Deaf students at the American schools carried out projects on issues related to the Holocaust; the Talpiot students wrote research papers on issues connected to the Deaf Community. The online collaboration is based on cutting-edge technology, such as instant messaging, electronic forums, webcasts, and videoconferencing. In this course, between two very diverse groups located on different continents, the students learned about each other's culture while improving their English literacy and computer skills. During the Fall semester there were three carefully timed and orchestrated live videoconferencing events in which the groups, via video hook-up, were able to communicate directly with each other in real time (assisted by interpreters), culminating online interactions in which the students had gotten to know each other through electronic exchanges in written English.

Investigators