AW: [sw-l] Learn SignWriting by Videophone ;-)

[nemery at U.WASHINGTON.EDU]

sounds very cool!  I have heard of people teaching native Alaskan languages to people in
different locations in Alaska with videophones - it makes perfect sense for signing!  (And i think
there is a project in the Seattle area where Deaf teachers and storytellers sign to Deaf kids in
classrooms by videophone - maybe Howie Seago works on it?)

anyway, Val, another option for signing and dealing with speaking into the phone - my friend
has a cordless phone with a headset, just little earpieces and a little mike that fit on the head,
and she does all kinds of things with her hands while talking on the phone.

very sorry to hear about the changes in Denmark.

Nancy

On Mon, 9 May 2005, [iso-8859-1] Stefan Wöhrmann wrote:

> Hello Valerie,
>
> thanks for your wonderful descripion of the scene - ha - I can imagine what
> it looks like and what you would have felt like with this handicap of a one
> handed signer ...
>
> Stefan ;-))
>
> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: owner-sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
> [mailto:owner-sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu] Im Auftrag von Valerie Sutton
> Gesendet: Sonntag, 8. Mai 2005 18:38
> An: sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
> Betreff: Re: [sw-l] Learn SignWriting by Videophone ;-)
>
> SignWriting List
> May 8, 2005
>
> Learn SignWriting by Videophone continued...
>
> Yesterday, May 7, 2005, was our first SignWriting presentation by
> videophone! There were good and bad points, and some of the bad can be
> fixed quite easily, now that I understand it better.
>
> How did it work?
>
> 1. The technicians at the school gave me their IP address (broadband
> internet connection address). I then programmed that IP address into my
> videophone, so I could call them.
> 2. We did a quick test run together about an hour before the class
> started, and I thought all was in order, because at the time of the
> test, the interpreters could hear my voice, and they could see me
> signing, and I could see their computer screen and I could see where
> they were on the computer....
> 3. So we hung up and then I called them exactly at 1:10pm in the
> afternoon.
> 4. I sat in front of my TV set. I had to made sure that I was not on a
> chair with wheels, because if I moved, by accident, they would not be
> able to see me, so I had to position my chair just right.
> 5. Kevin, the Deaf teacher, started by introducing me, and I could see
> him clearly because he was standing in front of their camera lens. Then
> he panned the room for me, so I could see 30 students sitting at their
> desks!!! Everyone waved hello! That was really amazing!
> 6. But after that it started to get complicated, because there were 2
> interpreters. We decided they would sign while I voiced, but then
> suddenly the audio became jumpy...the picture was PERFECT...but I did
> not have a good audio....I needed a better microphone and they could
> not always hear my voice clearly...So I ran and found a normal voice
> telephone and hooked it to the videophone and held the receiver to my
> ear and spoke into the phone and suddenly the interpreters could hear
> me fine...so the telephone acted as a microphone...but then it was hard
> for me to sign when I wanted to, because I had to hold the phone to my
> ear...
>
> But now I see that the D-Link videophone company has microphones and
> other equipment that I could purchase to make this experience
> better...so I will not let the audio be a problem again...
>
> Normally, with my Deaf friends, I use no audio at all...This is only a
> problem when we are trying to teach a group of people with
> interpreters...
>
> More next message...
>
> Val ;-)
>
>
>
>
>