AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE COURSES MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE BRIGHTSPACE PLATFORM
VHS Learning used D2L's Brightspace platform and courseware to develop a new series of ASL courses, harnessing D2L's cutting-edge video tools to help students and teachers from the hearing and deaf communities interact and gain new cultural perspectives.
Kitchener, Waterloo, June 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global learning leader D2L announced today that its long-time partner, VHS Learning, is celebrating tremendous success with their new American Sign Language (ASL) course.
“At VHS Learning, we’re proud to add ASL 3 for the 21-22 school year with the help of technological innovations in D2L Brightspace,” says Storie Walsh, VP of Technology, VHS Learning. “Functionalities like the Video Note tool — which allows rich discussion asynchronously and instructor feedback — have a profound impact on our learners."
VHS Learning, a nonprofit empowering schools with leading online learning programs, recently celebrated its 25th year helping schools expand curriculum and provide engaging learning experiences for students. The nonprofit, which serves middle and high school students in 66 countries and partners with more than 700 schools around the world, has a unique collaborative teacher-led program featuring high levels of student support, interaction, and engagement. VHS Learning used D2L's Brightspace platform and courseware to develop a new series of ASL courses, harnessing D2L's cutting-edge video tools to help students and teachers from the hearing and deaf communities interact and gain new cultural perspectives.
When students in the U.S. pick a language to learn at school, ASL has become one of the most popular choices. VHS Learning decided to build an innovative set of online ASL courses, using the Video Note™ tool in the D2L Brightspace platform to let students and teachers create video recordings of themselves signing answers to questions and engaging in asynchronous, signed discussions. The first-year course (ASL 1) proved instantly popular with students, as enrollments filled multiple sections within a month of its launch. To date, 780 students have completed VHS Learning’s online ASL 1 course. Now in its 3rd year, VHS Learning is offering 20 sections of the first-year course, and enrollments are climbing for ASL 2 and ASL 3 as well.
“As we prepare for our annual Fusion conference this month, we’re celebrating our customers and the ways in which they are changing the world,” says April Oman, Senior Vice President, Customer Engagement at D2L. “Our goal at D2L is to reach every learner. It’s what drives and motivates us and we’re thrilled to be working with VHS Learning to power the next level of ASL. We want to go one step further beyond reaching all learners and create the best learning experiences possible. Our work with VHS Learning is helping students master ASL to communicate with the Deaf community – and that’s amazing.”
Learn more about D2L’s work with VHS Learning, here.
ABOUT D2L BRIGHTSPACE
D2L Brightspace is a cloud-based learning platform built for people who care deeply about student success.
It makes it easy to support exceptional student experiences in the classroom or fully online, to build meaningful connections with parents, and gives teachers tools they’re going to love. D2L Brightspace is worry-free with 99.99% reliability. It’s highly accessible and looks beautiful on any mobile device, making it easier for teachers to reach every learner and for every learner to reach their full potential. D2L Brightspace has been built for every grade level and supports non-readers.
D2L Brightspace has won multiple industry awards, including the best K-12 learning platform for the last two years in a row. To learn more, visit D2L for K-12.
ABOUT D2L
D2L is transforming the way the world learns – helping learners of all ages achieve more than they dreamed possible. Working closely with clients all over the world, D2L is supporting millions of people learning online and in person. Our more than 950 global employees are dedicated to making the best learning products to leave the world better than where they found it. Learn more about D2L for K-12, higher education and businesses at www.D2L.com.
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