“Alligator eats cookie”: Acquisition of writing and reading skills by deaf children using the microcomputer

This research investigated the effects of microcomputer technology on the acquisition of writing and reading skills in 32 deaf children between the ages of 3.2 and 8.5 years. The children used a special interface keyboard which builds in perceptual salience and animation of color pictures and graphic representations of signs from American Sign Language (ASL). The learning mechanism underlying this novel instructional system is responsive, interactional, and exploratory, reflective of the way in which most children acquire a first language. Results have demonstrated improvement in writing, reading, and general communication skills. These advances are attributed to exploratory learning -not solely programmed instruction – which allows the child to investigate at will the representation of various printed forms which relate to the child's own primary mode of communication.