SERVICE LEARNING

What is it?

It is a three-stage service learning program that offers mediation services to the community using internet based communications technologies. These mediation services would be offered by blind and deaf students after being trained by students from the host college. InternetBar has submitted, and had approved, a proposal to Bentley College to run this program. Bentley is ideal because of its technological capabilities and its close vicinity to the Carroll Center for the Blind where we have formed a partnership with their technology department (http://www.carroll.org/technology ). InternetBar hopes that this pilot will open the doors to running similar programs at other institutions and help to improve the job-placement ratings of its deaf and blind participants.

Why it's Interesting:

Some of the major communication barriers often discussed in regards to online communication are the inability to see the facial expressions of the person you are talking to, and the inability to hear the tonal cues. It is easy to see then how these two groups of people (the deaf and the blind) who have already overcome these two communication barriers would be able to function so well as communication facilitators in the online environment. It would also elevate their chances of job-placement in the technological era while helping regular people to also bridge the digital divide.

Get Involved!

To give us feedback on this pilot project, or to suggest a partnership or alteration to our proposal please contact us at mail@internetbar.org with the subject line "service learning" and let us know what you're thinking. If you are a vendor who would like to offer technology, toolkits, or other resources to the program please contact us at gillneer@internetbar.org with the subject line "service learning vendor".