DHHVAC / NTID CAT - 2008 Summit

Fifty leaders in the field of support service provision for postsecondary deaf and hard-of-hearing students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from across the U.S. attended the "Summit" on the campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), in June 2008. The primary outcome of this conference was a report on the current state of online remote interpreting and captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Additionally, the principals prepared a recommendation report specifying the characteristics of a multimedia cyberinfrastructure to provide remote communication support for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in mainstream STEM classrooms.

Goal:
To conduct a two day summit conference of 50 leaders in the field of support service provision for postsecondary deaf students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs. Fifteen of these experts were drawn from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and Greater Rochester Metropolitan Area.

The primary outcome was a report on the current state of the art of on-line remote interpreting and captioning. Additionally, a recommendation report was prepared that specified the characteristics of a multimedia cyberinfrastructure that provides remote communication support for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in STEM mainstreamed classrooms.

Leadership

Professor E. William Clymer, Associate Director of NTID's Center on Access Technology at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), one of the eight colleges of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), was the project PI. Clymer's background is in instructional design and evaluation, with expertise in use of technology in the education of deaf and hard-of-hearing students. He has organized four International Symposia on Educational Technology and Education of the Deaf conferences, held at NTID, and also serves as Project Manager for the Postsecondary Education Network - International, housed at NTID.

The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) is one of the eight colleges of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), providing technical and professional programs for approximately 800 deaf and hard-of-hearing students enrolled in associate degree programs. NTID also provides extensive educational access services, including interpreting, real-time captioning, tutoring and notetaking, to nearly 500 deaf and hard-of-hearing students enrolled in baccalaureate programs in the other seven RIT colleges.

Established by an Act of Congress in 1965, NTID is a model provider of technical curricula and access and support services for students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. NTID trains its faculty and staff, as well as the faculty and staff of the other seven colleges of RIT, in how to best work with deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The college is experienced in providing practical strategies that produce changes in pedagogy, curriculum and the use of support and access services to increase deaf and hard-of-hearing students' opportunities for success.

Dr. Jorge Diaz-Herrera, Dean of the Golisano College for Computing and Information Sciences, was the project Co-PI. Diaz-Herrera has a background and expertise in software engineering. He is a co-editor of Computing Curricula, a software engineering series, and has organized faculty development workshops to enhance software engineering state-of-the-practice in industry - a project co-sponsored by Carnegie Mellon University and the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Richard Ladner is a Boeing Professor in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington (UW). He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and in the Department of Linguistics at UW. After many years of research in theoretical computer science he has turned his attention to accessibility technology research, especially technology for deaf, deaf-blind, hard-of-hearing, and blind people. He co-directs the MobileASL project that is developing video compression algorithms to increase the understandability of American Sign Language video at low bandwidth and low power suitable for cell phones. He also co-directs the AccessComputing Alliance which is working on increasing the number and success of students with disabilities in computing fields, and the Summer Academy for Advancing Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Computing, a nine week program for students interested in computing careers. He is currently on the Editorial Board of the ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing. He is a Fellow of the ACM, a recipient of the 2004 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM), and a member of the Board of Trustees of Gallaudet University.

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington is one of the top such departments in the nation. It has leaders in computer systems, networking, and educational technology on its faculty. The CSE department and the DO-IT project (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) at the University are homes for the AccessComputing Alliance, which is a national program to increase the participation of persons with disabilities in computing. The University's Office of Computing and Communications is a leader in providing advanced communication technology to the university.

Constituency Groups

Six working teams representing the constituency groups (identified below) were selected and a facilitator and co-facilitator were recruited for each of the constituency teams at least nine months prior to the Summit. The facilitators were commissioned to prepare a white paper that provided an overview of the state of the art and the potential benefits and challenges of creating an on-line remote interpreting and captioning infrastructure from the perspective of their respective constituency.

At the Summit, the 50 selected leaders were divided into 6 constituency groups based on area of expertise, involvement, and experience. There were no more than 8 persons (6 national, 2 regional) in each group. Each group was responsible for discussing the benefits and challenges associated with creating an on-line remote interpreting and captioning infrastructure specific to the stakeholder population that they represent. The six stakeholder populations included:

• Students (6 national, 2 regional): Those studying in mainstreamed STEM programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels
• STEM Faculty (6 national, 2 regional): Those who teach deaf and hard-of-hearing students while utilizing the new on-line remote interpreting and captioning systems
• Coordinators of Support Services (6 national, 2 regional): Those representing the needs of undergraduate and graduate STEM universities who are knowledgeable regarding the challenges associated with providing effective and efficient delivery of services on a continuing basis
• Educational Captioners and Interpreters (6 national, 2 regional): Those with sufficient experience to represent issues of quality of service and technical challenges associated with offering their services remotely
• Educational, Linguistic, and Sign Language Researchers/Developers (6 national, 2 regional): Those with sufficient experience in deaf postsecondary education, and have a proven history of conducting meaningful research and evaluation efforts in the field of classroom communication and support and
• Cyberinfrastructure Specialists (6 national, 2 regional): Those representing cyberinfrastructure, networking, user interface, and video technologies. These individuals offered a perspective on the state of cyberinfrasturcture as it applies to the delivery of remote interpreting and captioning systems within a postsecondary environment

The lead institutions were the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and the Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, two of the colleges of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington (UW).

Visit the DHHVAC Reference Library section for 2008 Summit documents   

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