The distance teaching is aimed to provide Finnish sign language teaching to pupils whose mother tongue is sign language and there is no qualified teacher available in local municipality. In our experience and according to feedback, this form of study is a good alternative when contact teaching is not possible.
VALTERI CENTRE FOR LEARNING AND CONSULTING, FINLAND DISTANCE TEACHING IN SIGN LANGUAGE ANU SAVOLAINEN&KATRI RANTA Valteri Centre for Learning and Consulting, Onerva, Jyväskylä, Finland.
Valteri is a national Centre for Learning and Consulting. It supports the implementation of the neighbourhood school principle by offering a variety of services, including distance teaching in sign language, based on the national syllabus for sign language and literature. The teaching is a fee-based service to municipalities. The distance teaching is aimed to provide Finnish sign language teaching to pupils whose mother tongue is sign language and there is no qualified teacher available in their local municipality. After a pilot project in 2012, the teaching was included in Valteri's services. The number of participating pupils has gradually increased to about thirty pupils in grades 1 to 9 in about twenty municipalities. Currently, they are children who are deaf or hard of hearing, children with CI (cochlear implant) and CODA children (Children of Deaf Adults).
Pupils use a password to log into their learning environment, Google Suite for Education, on any device. They use tablets for exercises and smartphones or other devices available at home for homework. Teaching is provided to groups of 1-3 pupils through the Google Meet video communication programme, to which pupils receive a link from the teacher. The groups are based on pupils' language skills and age. Depending on the municipality, pupils study sign language 1 to 3 hours a week. In our experience, it is possible to have a genuine encounter with pupils online. Pupils benefit from studying in groups and they learn and get support in social skills. According to feedback from pupils and teachers, this form of study is a good alternative when contact teaching is not possible.
