Articles by JILLIAN WINN

This week is Deaf Awareness Week!

This week is Deaf Awareness Week!

By Jillian Winn
Tuesday, September 25, 2012

This week, September 24th to 30th, is Deaf Awareness Week. Deaf Awareness Week, also called International Week of the Deaf (IWD), is celebrated annually and ends with International Day of the Deaf on the last Sunday of the week.  Deaf Awareness Week is celebrated by national and regional associations of the deaf, local communities, and individuals worldwide. The purpose of Deaf Awareness Week is to increase public awareness of deaf issues, people, and culture.  Activities and events throughout Deaf Awareness Week ...
Using Signing Savvy to learn sign language

Using Signing Savvy to learn sign language

By Jillian Winn
Sunday, August 12, 2012

Signing Savvy is a great resource to use when learning sign language – whether you are taking a class or just trying to learn on your own.  Using Signing Savvy while taking a class When you are taking a class, you can use Signing Savvy as a sign reference, build your own wordlists related to what you are learning in the class, and practice your vocabulary using the flash cards and quizzing features.  Like using a textbook, Signing Savvy is a great ...
Kaos Signing Choir and Deaf Percussionist Evelyn Glennie are highlights from the Olympic Opening Ceremony

Kaos Signing Choir and Deaf Percussionist Evelyn Glennie are highlights from the Olympic Opening Ceremony

By Jillian Winn
Sunday, July 29, 2012

What was our favorite part of the Opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic Games? It had to be the Kaos Signing Choir for deaf and hearing children and Deaf Percussionist Evelyn Glennie. Kaos Signing Choir for Deaf and Hearing Children If you saw the opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympic Games, you probably caught the children in pajamas singing and signing the British national anthem, "God Save the Queen."  The children were from the Kaos Signing Choir for deaf and hearing ...
A perspective on deaf education: Dr. Joseph Valente's

A perspective on deaf education: Dr. Joseph Valente's "Hearing the Unheard"

By Jillian Winn
Monday, May 7, 2012

Our recent blog article on Education Options for Children that are Deaf or Hard of Hearing covered the various educational options available. We did not specify any one option as being "the best" option because every child, family, and situation is different and education is a very personal decision. However, one of our suggestions was to connect with deaf adults who can provide advice based on their own education experience. We found a TEDx video by Dr. Joseph Valente that talks about ...
The Hammer movie delivers inspirational true story

The Hammer movie delivers inspirational true story

By Jillian Winn
Monday, February 20, 2012

The Hammer, a movie based on the life of the first deaf NCAA Wrestling Champion and UFC Fighter Matt "The Hammer" Hamill, was released on DVD a few weeks ago. The DVD cover says, "the inspirational true story," and it was just that… whether or not you are interested in wrestling, sign language, or deaf culture, the movie is an inspirational story about overcoming challenges and working hard to make your dreams a reality. And if you are interested ...
Quizzing Enhanced with Fill-in-the-Blank Option

Quizzing Enhanced with Fill-in-the-Blank Option

By Jillian Winn
Monday, February 6, 2012

We have enhanced the Signing Savvy quizzing feature to add a "fill-in-the-blank" question type in addition to the two multiple choice question types ("match meaning to sign" and "match sign to meaning"). The new "fill-in-the-blank" question type is a particularly good way to test your fingerspelling recognition skills (as discussed in the previous blog post, FINGERSPELLING……that dirty BIG four-teen letter word!). Quizzing yourself on word lists is a full member feature. All users can sample the quizzing option on the ...
Link to Us

Link to Us

By Jillian Winn
Sunday, September 25, 2011

Want to link to Signing Savvy? If you think Signing Savvy is a great resource and want to recommend it to others, we would love for you to add a link to us on your website or blog! We've created the link to us page to help make it easy for you to add a link on your website to Signing Savvy by just copying and pasting the desired code into your site. We have provided our official description, buttons ...
A look at signing family members: The sign of the day theme from the last week

A look at signing family members: The sign of the day theme from the last week

By Jillian Winn
Wednesday, September 21, 2011

You may have noticed a theme across the signs of the day in the last week. We asked our Twitter followers for suggestions for the sign of the day and someone suggested we try week-long themes. Although we will not be using a theme every week for the sign of the day, we thought it was a great idea to start incorporating a theme occasionally. We choose family members for our first sign of the day theme, from Wednesday, September ...
Update to Android Mobile App

Update to Android Mobile App

By Jillian Winn
Monday, September 12, 2011

We just updated the Signing Savvy Member App on Android to version 1.2. The new app resolves an issue that was making it difficult for some users to login to the app. The issue was that Android was auto-correcting what you typed as a password (thinking it was just regular text). The updated app no longer auto-corrects (changes what you type) on the password field. We also made a few additional bug fixes in the app. ...
Update to Mobile Apps

Update to Mobile Apps

By Jillian Winn
Saturday, August 6, 2011

There is a new version (v1.1) of the Signing Savvy Member App available now for Android devices. The new versions fixes several bugs that were in the initial release of the Android app (hopefully it greatly reduces the crashes)! The Android app also improves the interface layout if you are using an Android tablet, such as the Samsung Galaxy tab. UPDATE - There is also a new version (v1.2) of the Signing Savvy Member App available now for Apple iOS ...