Even though several examples of great circle visualizations exist by now, I had not seen the code of one made with ggplot2. Both solutions offered, here using plot and here using lattice, basically loop through the great circle lines ordered … Continue reading →

This posting outlines developments in the Digital Language Lab’s iOS code sharing collaboration with the Moller Resource Centre – Statped in Norway.   Since my first blog post about the project, we have 1. successfully installed the prototype Amercan Sign Language app on iOS hardware, 2. have rewritten the code to simplify the process of adapting it for other purposes, and 3. have arranged to deconstruct the entire project in a Stanford / Norway presentation at the SWALLT (Southwest Association for Language Learning Technology) Conference on Internationalization and Global Partnerships at Arizona State University in March.

The first significant development was the successful ad hoc provisioning of the ASL Prototype App created by Cathy Haas and her students in the Language Lab.  Using Apple’s Provisioning Portal we were able to provision devices so that our App can run on actual iOS hardware, rather than just in XCode’s Simulator.  Norway had warned me in the beginning that getting an App onto real hardware was a complex process with a steep learning curve related to security certificates, device ids, and the Provisioning Portal.   To make matters even more complicated, Apple’s XCode, the  is a moving target.  Version 4.0 looked completely different from Version 3.0.  With some help from Todd and also by using Apple’s provisioning assistant, the Cathy Haas ASL Prototype made the leap to real iOS devices.  Getting our app to run on a real iOS device as opposed to XCode Simulator was an important milestone in our efforts to master iOS publishing because suddenly  we could hold our project in our hands on our own phones.

The next major step in the project came in the form of a total reworking of the code by Todd Branchflower.  Todd responded to a request for developer support, which I placed in a LinkedIn Group set up to accompany Stanford’s iOS Development Class.   Todd rewrote the code so that the alphabetical list of video items through which users scroll was self-created.  The code looks into the “video” directory and creates topic headings based on the subdirectories in this parent directory.   When these subdirectories are called  A, B, C, D, etc., the device UI shows the familiar “address book” interface.   But Todd was able to accommodate my request to allow these subdirectories in “videos” to be any string.  This allows the author to organize clips into topics and themes and to do it in any writing system.

Finally, Olle Erikson of the Møller-Trondelag Resource Centre, and I will be deconstructing what we have done over the past few months at SWALLT’s annual conference.  The theme for the conference is Language Learning Centers and Internationalization: Supporting Global Connections.  We will be demonstrating that global collaborations can yield innovative deliverables and will discuss how Open Source assumptions and commitment to Agility guided the creative process.

Joseph Kautz

Stanford ASL Instructor Cathy Haas taught this Fall in the Lab’s Language Teaching Studio.  I have wanted to work with Cathy for over ten years and wanted her experience in the Lab to be a positive and productive one.  At about the same time Cathy Haas started teaching in the Lab, I began work on the World Sign Language Project: a project for crowdsourcing a multilingual sign language dictionary based on a core lexicon of 600 Russian Sign Language signs.   The idea was to structure video commenting on the YouTube Channel such that signers around the world could post video blog replies to each gestural entry on the channel. In seeking international participants for the project, I came across a simple and elegantly designed IPhone app for Norwegian Sign Language called Tegnordbok created  by the Moller Resource Centre – Statped in Norway.   Upon downloading the App, I immediately thought that replicating such it with Cathy Haas and her students would be a great use of the Lab’s studio capabilities as well as a simple introduction to the world of iOS development and publishing.

I contacted the developers and requested permission to use their code.  Olle Erikson responded and graciously made the code available under a Creative Commons license.

I installed the iOS SDK, purchased an Apple Developer License, and started hacking my way through the code.   When it looked like this project might actually be feasible, I approached Cathy and her students with the idea  of creating an ASL prototype.  There was enthusiasm and Cathy began planning the content to be captured.  I staged the classroom for shooting video by removing tables, arranging lights, and setting up the capture cart.  Using Cathy’s list of signs,  students then took turns performing and filming each other against a portable blue screen.   The project signers were Mariel Pareyda, Zimberlyn Bolton, Melissa DeMers, Brendond Martin, and Kali Lindsay.  Cathy’s TA’s, Lydia Santos and Kevin Jordan, also volunteered to sign and did some amazing interpreting work.  In addition to signing, student, Melissa DeMers, took digital stills of the video shoot.  Alvin Addo and Melissa DeMers also created artwork to serve as the app’s icon and logo.

Lighting was the most challenging aspect of the project, but we did increase the production quality iteratively as we progressed.  Kenneth Chan and Connie Rylance both offered useful suggestions.

All of the video assets for the project were created in one to two days in Quicktime Player.

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Still art work and graphic elements were a collaborative draft process and took a little longer.   Iphone Apps have an icon and an “about” html page.  The icon Below are icon designs by Alvin Addo and Melissa DeMers.

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Sign Glossing Done in Kaltura in CourseWork

Glossing the signs was done by students using Kaltura in CourseWork.  After the video was shot in the Lab, I realized I had no way to know what the signs meant.  My lack of organization actually led to an interesting workaround; collaborative glossing.   I uploaded the clips to a CourseWork (Powered by Sakai)  Site with Kaltura enabled.  Kim Hayworth and Christine Dougherty assisted with enabling Kaltura in the Language Lab Studio CourseWork Site.  (All of the Lab’s teaching spaces have CourseWork sites.)  I then emailed Kathy’s students with screencast instructions on how to change file names in Kaltura.    Kaltura did my work for me in many ways by allowing students to gloss the signs they had contributed.  Proofing the glosses was also simplified for the instructor.  Kaltura made something hard to do, easy, fast and flexible.

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After capturing the video, adding glosses, and adding graphic elements, it was easy to create a working iPhone app that ran in iOS Simulator using the code from Norway.  Students were excited to see themselves signing in the app in Simulator view.   I have also successfully installed the pilot app on my own phone with the help of Matt Rampone of HighWire Press and Stanford Grad Student Todd Branchflower.  I will be presenting the pilot study at AsiaCALL in Bangkok in February.  We will continue to investigate over Winter Qrt and will be seeking funding sources to advance the project as a task-based service learning project.