VISEL: E-learning, sordità, lingua scritta: un ponte di lettere e segni per la società della conoscenza

The VISEL project aims to develop a Deaf-centered E-Learning Environment (DELE) for promoting literacy skills and improving access to web-based education in young and adult deaf learners.

Our target population includes persons born deaf, or who have become deaf in early infancy, prior to the acquisition of vocal language and who, as a result, experience dramatic difficulties in achieving appropriate receptive and expressive skills in using written language.

We aim to design a DELE which can be useful for two groups of learners that must be distinguished within the population of deaf persons:

1. deaf learners who prefer to communicate in Italian Sign Language (LIS): LIS-L1;
2. deaf learners who prefer to communicate in Italian: Italian-L1.

The DELE we wish to develop takes into account:

1. the potentials deaf persons possess, and the abilities they may exploit relying on the visual modality (VISEL: Visione, Sordità, Scrittura, Segni, E-learning / Vision, Deafness, Writing, Signs, E-learning);
2. relevant differences between deaf as compared to hearing learners that may significantly influence deaf learners' use of E-learning environments for instructional purposes.