American Sign Language for Library Staff: Level 2 (Brand New eCourse!)
Asynchronous eCourse beginning Monday, November 30, 2020 (6 weeks of lessons; Participants will have a total of 12 weeks to complete course materials)
Instructor: Kathy MacMillan, NIC, M.L.S.
Cost: $250.00 (discounts available for American Library Association members and bulk registrations); Estimated Hours of Learning: 30 (Certificate of Completion available upon request)
Level up your knowledge of American Sign Language (ASL) along with your library’s services to deaf and hard of hearing library users. Designed to provide more in-depth learning, practice, and feedback for those who have completed American Sign Language for Library Staff Level 1, this course will use readings, multimedia resources, online discussion boards, and hands-on assignments to introduce more ASL vocabulary, grammar, and culture topics relevant to the library setting. Instructor Kathy MacMillan is a librarian and ASL interpreter and will provide individualized feedback via a video project customized to your learning goals. You will also have the opportunity to participate in two live online class sessions to interact with the instructor and peers. The live sessions will be recorded for those who do not attend.
This 6-week, asynchronous online course will introduce more American Sign Language vocabulary and grammar appropriate for use in a library setting and place that information within a linguistic and cultural context to aid participants in improving library services to patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing. Each week will focus on a different aspect of library services and will take approximately 5 hours to complete.
Please note that ALA Publishing eLearning Solutions eCourses on learning American Sign Language focus on library-specific vocabulary and Deaf Culture topics. Even if you have taken a conversational ASL course elsewhere, we recommend that you begin with American Sign Language for Library Staff Level 1 (called Basic American Sign Language for Library Staff in past iterations), as it covers library-specific vocabulary not usually taught in community ASL courses.
This eCourse can also be purchased as part of the American Sign Language for Librarians eCourse Bundle.
Sign Language for Children in Storytime or in the Classroom: A Practical Guide eCourse
Asynchronous eCourse beginning Monday, January 18, 2020 (6 weeks of lessons; Participants will have a total of 12 weeks to complete course materials)
Instructor: Kathy MacMillan, NIC, M.L.S.
Cost: $250.00 (discounts available for American Library Association members and bulk registrations); Estimated Hours of Learning: 30 (Certificate of Completion available upon request)
American Sign Language is most commonly used in storytimes for babies, but the applications can go much further. In this 6-week eCourse, expert Kathy MacMillan explores the benefits of signing with all children. In addition to learning basic American Sign Language (ASL) vocabulary appropriate for use with children in library and classroom settings, you will also learn to teach stories, songs, and other activities that incorporate ASL. MacMillan provides you with a linguistic and cultural context to help make your programming more accessible.
A few of your assignments will be to create videos of yourself signing, so that you can get direct feedback from the instructor.
Please note that this eCourse can also be purchased as part of the American Sign Language for Librarians eCourse Bundle.
Reviews
“Sign Language for Children in Storytime or in the Classroom: A Practical Guide is one of the most well-organized and rewarding professional development courses I’ve taken. I really appreciated the topics covered and all the additional tips the instructor contributed to the discussion forums.”
“Your methods for teaching, quizzing, and giving feedback for assignments were more responsive than any ecourse I’ve taken so far (on this site or in grad school!)”
“Kathy MacMillan was an outstanding teacher, and I would highly recommend this class to my colleagues.”
“This course was appropriately named. It was practical and extremely informative.”
Storytime Stuff 