Deafworkmate is a standalone deaf awareness mLearning package developed for hearing people with d/Deaf colleagues. Deafworkmate will introduce you to Deaf Culture, British Sign Language and other forms of non-verbal communication. Deafworkmate is available for free as a website, mobile web application and as a hybrid mobile app on Google Play and Amazon Appstore. You can see a demonstration of the hybrid app below.

I also filmed a new demonstration of SignAssess Mobile for you, this time on Nexus tablet, again this video demonstrates very well the timeline-specific video comment/feedback feature of SignAssess.

Hope you like it.

Cheers, Chris.

In the demonstration video you can see how a user can access a list of SignAssess assignments from a tabbed interface within the app instead of the LMS, navigate between different assignment submissions, and then select a submission which has multiple timeline-specific video comments attached, in this case sign language production correction.

You will then see how the individual comment videos are identified to the user as animated icons attached along the video timeline at the specific point where the correction is required (Chosen by the sign language tutor). When the video playhead reaches a point where a comment is placed it becomes selectable to the user as a video thumbnail. The user then taps the thumbnail to toggle between the assignment video and the comment.

The assignment comment playout feature of the app brings assignment feedback accuracy, one of the most important features of SignAssess as a teaching and learning platform, to smartphone and tablet users.

Hope you like it.

Cheers, Chris.

The Assignment Builder is one of the best features of SignAssess, empowering the educator to quickly construct sign language based assignments on the fly without the need of any specialist technical skills and without lengthy preparatory work. In the Assignment Builder video below you can see how videos are added to an assignment using the video file picker. The file picker accesses multiple video repositories simultaneously and can be configured to use shared or private repositories, allowing videos to be shared between users/organisations or be of restricted use, for example a repository of examination videos.

Cheers, Chris.

I have however begun duplicating one of the most important SignAssess features for the mobile app, timeline specific feedback. The timeline feedback feature in SignAssess allows the educator/learner to attach analysis or comments to the timeline of an assignment submission at a particular point. This facilitates precision feedback which is a key component of formative assessment.

Of course when developing the feature for a mobile app there are immediate challenges including the reduced physical space, adjusting to portrait and landscape device orientations, reduced CPU and memory compared to desktops and, unless carefully managed, the potential to punish the handset owner by using significant amounts of data handling multiple streams. The functionality is not yet complete enough to offer a demonstration but you can see some pictures below demonstrating how the feature is evolving, hopefully I will have a video to show you shortly.

Before I go, one new piece of news in the related field of mobile apps and sign language learning. I have recently published a free simple British Sign Language fingerspelling app named FingerSpell to GOOGLE Play and Amazon Appstore. I developed the app over a year ago as an evaluation of the FlashBuilder IDE for mobile development and never imagined publishing it as it is a very basic app, a 1 hour app if you will. However I do think it could be useful as a fast and simple teaching aid so have published it for free, the app includes all 26 letters in pictorial and video forms and is ideal for classroom activities or for learners to practise their fingerspelling between lessons. When I get time I will add the left-handed alphabet too, the app is only available for Android but can be downloaded from Play or Amazon Appstore so can also be enjoyed on the Kindle Fire.

Hope you like it.
Cheers, Chris.

My presentation concluded with a short demonstration of SignAssess Mobile, an app I am going to be working on through the Summer and hope to launch in the Autumn.  SignAssess Mobile allows users to access SignAssess assignments deployed inside a learning environment directly from their smartphone or tablet.  Users can review assignments, receive assignment feedback and will eventually be able to record assignments from within the app itself.  You can see below a short video demonstrating the mobile app.

That’s about it for this post, I am shortly taking some vacation time so won’t be posting again until late August or September, hope you have a great Summer.

Cheers, Chris.

A mobile playout interface for a SignAssess video gallery was included in a post a few months ago as a SignAssess Mobile prototype but I have scrapped it and begun building the app from scratch.

SignAssess Mobile allows users to access SignAssess assignments deployed inside a learning environment (e.g. Blackboard, MOODLE) without having to physically navigate the learning environment using a device browser. Using a native mobile application for iOS and Android operating systems the user can browse the assignments deployed across courses using a simple tab interface. Users can review assignments, receive assignment feedback and will eventually be able to record assignments from within the app itself. You can see below an image of 3 views from the app showing a list of assignments, list of submissions and a submission video in landscape device orientation. I am going to demonstrate the app at the ICCHP conference and plan to launch the app along with SignAssess 3.0 this Autumn in time for the next academic year. Will keep you posted through the Summer on how the app is developing and include some simulations.

Also, this month I published a free British Sign Language lexicon app named MobileSign. MobileSign includes a library of over 4000 signs accessed using a predictive search engine, MobileSign will also automatically keep a list of your recently viewed signs for repeat access later. You can use MobileSign to view the sign language videos online or store the videos on your mobile device

Cheers, Chris.

• http://www.reach112.eu
• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aupix.phone

Included in the project is the provision of online training materials for sign language interpreters who provide the relay service for Deaf people.  The proposed training package included online simulated relay-interpreting exercises.

Working with subject-matter experts I have developed a prototype of SignAssess simulating a relay-interpreting exercise.

Simulating the exercise is quite complex, you have 3 different streams of video content:

1. Pre-recorded video stream of the call-maker
2. Pre-recorded video stream of the call-taker
3. Live video stream of the relay-interpreter

The interpreter is tasked to mediate the communication between the call-maker and call-taker either as a simultaneous exercise, or in the case of a consecutive exercise by controlling playback of the call-maker and call-taker to provide time to communicate the information, mirroring the handling of a call-maker and call-taker in a real-life relay-interpreting scenario.  When the exercise is complete what you end up with is 3 streams of video of different length and out of sync with each-other which then need to be synchronised for playback and analysis by the interpreter.

The software has been developed to use keyboard shortcuts to allow the interpreter to control playback of the call-maker and call-taker.  The software tracks the interpreter’s keystrokes during the exercise and then later uses this data to synchronise playback of the call-maker and call-taker streams to the interpreter stream, pausing and restarting the call-maker and call-taker streams at the same points as by the interpreter during the exercise, providing synchronous playback of the relay-interpreting exercise.  The software also includes all of the feedback and analysis tools included in SignAssess software.

The video below is a simulation of a relay-interpreting exercise using the software, the software has been branded according to the project so it may look a bit different to the other simulations on the site.

Hope you enjoy the simulation, I am not sure that more development work will be spent to develop the prototype into a production model, the need for simulated relay-interpreting exercises on the project is low and it is clear from evaluation that whilst promising the software needs significant development work, that said I thought it may be of interest to people within the industry so enjoy.

Cheers, Chris.

SignAssess 3.0 updates include improved performance for streamed audio files, improved styling of the registration interface and variable recording sizes, meaning you can now record video content in real-time at up to a 640*480 resolution.  Combined with SignAssess support for streamed High Definition content you can now enjoy a more high resolution SignAssess experience, whilst all content can be seamlessly scaled down to be used with the SignAssess analysis tools.

Please take a look at the simulation below for a sneak peek at the updates, hope you enjoy it.  I have also collated all the videos from the blog so far and added them to the videos section of this website.

Few other bits of news this month, SignAssess has been accepted for presentation at the ICCHP 2012 (International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs) conference at the University of Linz, Austria between the 9th and 13th July 2012, hope to see you there.

• More information about the ICCHP conference from the ICCHP website

Btw, I have also been re-developing a few websites this month which provide sign language e-learning and Deaf awareness training, you can find both websites at the following urls:

• http://www.signstation.org
• http://www.signstationplus.com

See you in April, Chris.

The month I’m going to introduce the SignAssess Assignment Builder interface.  The Assignment Builder allows you to quickly configure an assignment when you have deployed a SignAssess SCORM inside a learning environment.

Assignment Builder features

• Video repository file picker to choose instructional, sample and stimulus video materials to include in an assignment
• Assignment recording defaults (e.g. Video/Audio or both)
• Pre-defined assignment types (e.g. Simultaneous or consecutive interpreting exercises)
• Assignment recording length
• Number of assignment submissions allowed (Per learner)
• Assignment deletions (Learner allowed comments allowed (Per learner if assignment includes self-analysis)

The Assignment Builder interface separates assignment configuration from the SCORM package, meaning a single SignAssess SCORM can be re-used for each new assignment and not need to be re-compiled with individual assignment data.

Separating SignAssess content from the SCORM package

The benefit of separating SignAssess content from the SCORM package is also extended to the SignAssess application itself, meaning the SignAssess SCORM acts only as a container for the application stored elsewhere.  This means that any updates made to the SignAssess core-code automatically filters down to all SignAssess SCORMS deployed in the learning environment.

Next month

Next month we’ll look in more detail at the multiple private/public video repositories that support a SignAssess installation and the repository file picker from the Assignment Builder interface.

More information about SignAssess and University of Bristol Centre for Deaf Studies

SignAssess is a sign language e-learning project by University of Bristol Centre for Deaf Studies to develop learning environment software for sign language based assignments.

• www.bristol.ac.uk/deaf

University of Bristol Centre for Deaf Studies was Europe’s first academic institution to concentrate solely on research and education that aims to benefit the Deaf community.  The Centre now offers the world’s first postgraduate degree in Deafhood Studies:

• MSc Deafhood Studies – www.bristol.ac.uk/deaf/english/postgraduate/msc

Instead I have decided to write about a simple adaptation of SignAssess video capture technology for video-based website enquiry forms…SignMail.

SignMail replaces an html contact form on a website with a video capture client, users can record video messages of a pre-defined length and then submit their enquiry, accompanied with some basic contact form data.

The contact form data is posted as an email to the mailbox owner with a link to the video, the video is then retrieved using a desktop application.

SignMail has been used by the University of Bristol Centre for Deaf Studies website as an alternative to text-based enquiries since September 2009:

• www.bristol.ac.uk/deaf/signmail

In that time the Centre has received enquiries in sign languages from an international user base and by using SignMail has continued to demonstrate its commitment to web accessibility for sign language users.

Adapting SignAssess video capture technology for SignMail was relatively straightforward.  The SignAssess core-code is object-orientated, meaning it can be re-used very quickly in new applications, this combined with my experience of video streaming/encoding technology and creating Rich Internet Applications meant that SignMail could rapidly be put into production.

Technical summary

• Runtime: Adobe Flash (+10) Adobe Integrated Runtime (+1.5)
• Streaming/Encoding technology: Adobe Flash Media Interactive Server
• Authoring framework: Adobe Flash

More information about SignMail

If you would like more information about SignMail feel free to email me using the address below or the website contact form:

• signassess-cds@bristol.ac.uk