By Ted Supalla and Betsy McDonald of Georgetown University
Dr . Ted Supalla will offer a Massive Open Online Course ( MOOC ) in the Summer of 2017 , entitled : Sign Language Structure , Learning , and Change . The course is free of charge and offered through GeorgetownX in association with EdX . It is self-paced and entirely online . The target audience is the signing community and other interested community and scholarly participants . It is offered in sign language with voiceover for participants who are not fluent signers . Below is an excerpt from the Global . Georgetown . edu webpage :
The Sign Language MOOC is a four-week course about the history and usage of sign language taught in sign language — with a voiceover — by Ted Supalla , a professor in the Department of Neurology and the Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery at the Georgetown University Medical Center .
“ There is a high need for a basic , accessible course delivered to signers which introduces them to the science of their own language ,” said Supalla . He adds : “ Since it will also be accessible to non-signers , my hope is that it will expose this audience to the breadth and depth of discussions in American Sign Language in the fields of linguistics and the cognitive sciences . In viewing lectures and discussion sessions delivered in American Sign Language , the non-signing public will be able to gain exposure to the rich language and intellectual capital of the American deaf community ” ( https :// global . georgetown . edu / features / georgetown-hosts-edx-global-forum-promotes-global-online-education ).
This course aims to integrate the history of ideas about Sign Language with historical and current research , using ASL as an example . Below is an example of a screen capture from a lecture , showing the format of the lecture .
Follow the progress of this course at : https :// cndls . georgetown . edu / projects / georgetownx / courses /# mooc The Power of ASL 9
Winter 2016 – Issue 4