American Sign Language 2A (archived after 21-22 Sem 2)

Course Description:


This is the first course of the second year ASL courses and must be taken after the successful completion of the first year ASL courses. This course continues to focus on everyday communication in ASL by introducing students to the basic signs, techniques and culture. To help develop receptive skills without relying on lip movements of the signers, the signing videos will be all “voice off.” To develop expressive skills, students will continue to express their thoughts in signs within the given context in the lessons. Through the introduction to some of the higher ASL techniques such as classifiers and indexing, this second year courses is designed to helps students to develop an understanding that ASL is a visual language that delivers one’s ideas and thoughts using more than the individual signs. Students will continue to use various media tools including online resources, online dictionaries, a web cam and the web based audio-visual tool VoiceThread to master the content presented in the course. With the prerequisites of the first year courses, this course targets Novice-High Level of Michigan World Language Standards and Benchmarks.

• The school's computers and network must meet the required technology requirements.

• This is a limited enrollment course.

• ASL is a sign language that is different from Signed Exact English (SEE).   

Course Details:

Course Title (District): American Sign Language 2A (archived after 21-22 Sem 2)
Course Title (NCES SCED) : American Sign Language II
Course Provider : Michigan Virtual
Content Provided By : Michigan Virtual
Online Instructor Provided By : Michigan Virtual
Standards Addressed : National Collegiate Athletic Association
Alignment Document : http://media.mivu.org/mivhs/alignchart/wl/asl_2a.pdf
Academic Terms : Accelerated, Semester, Trimester, Open Entry / Fixed End
NCES SCED Code :
Subject Area : World Language
Course Identifier : American Sign Language II
Course Level : High School (Secondary)
Available Credit : 0.5
Sequence : 1 of 2

How To Enroll:

Enrollment Website : https://slp.michiganvirtual.org/
Email : [email protected]
Phone : (888) 889-2840

Students and Parents: It is important to work closely with your local school counselor or registrar to follow the school's enrollment procedures. By clicking the "Start Registration Request" button below, you will be able to notify the school of your interest in registering for the online course. However, it is the responsibility of the district or school to review the registration request and approve or deny the request. Please make a note to follow up with your school after submitting a registration request.

Start Registration Request

Additional Course Information:

Additional Cost: $0.0

Additional Cost Description:

NA

  • Greet appropriately in ASL in everyday situations
  • Initiate and maintain a short ASL conversation with socially appropriate manners
  • Exchange information with more details in everyday situations
  • Identify and explain the current social issues, the roles and perspectives of Deaf family members and the roles of local organizations
  • Present one’s thoughts and ideas in ASL in a visual presentation.

iNACOL National Standards for Quality Online Courses

Academic Content Standards and Assessments Rating Comments
The goals and objectives clearly state what the participants will know or be able to do at the end of the course. The goals and objectives are measurable in multiple ways. Fully Met These are located on the Course Syllabus and Course Info section.
The course content and assignments are aligned with the state’s content standards, Common Core curriculum, or other accepted content standards set for Advanced Placement® courses, technology, computer science, or other courses whose content is not included in the state standards. Fully Met MIWLSB, NCAA Approved, Foreign Language and Literature.
The course content and assignments are of sufficient rigor, depth and breadth to teach the standards being addressed. Fully Met
Information literacy and communication skills are incorporated and taught as an integral part of the curriculum. Fully Met
Multiple learning resources and materials to increase student success are available to students before the course begins. Fully Met Unit 1 is introductory for all ASL courses.
Course Overview and Introduction Rating Comments
Clear, complete course overview and syllabus are included in the course. Fully Met This located in the Syllabus and Course Info page.
Course requirements are consistent with course goals, are representative of the scope of the course and are clearly stated. Fully Met Must complete ASL 1A & 1B to take this course.
Information is provided to students, parents and mentors on how to communicate with the online instructor and course provider. Fully Met
Legal and Acceptable Use Policies Rating Comments
The course reflects multi-cultural education, and the content is accurate, current and free of bias or advertising. Fully Met There is advertising present on the Dr. Bill vidoes.
Expectations for academic integrity, use of copyrighted materials, plagiarism and netiquette (Internet etiquette) regarding lesson activities, discussions, and e-mail communications are clearly stated. Fully Met
Privacy policies are clearly stated. Fully Met On the MVU Main Page
Instructor Resources Rating Comments
Online instructor resources and notes are included. Fully Met All the resources to contact instructor are provided.
Assessment and assignment answers and explanations are included. Fully Met Answer keys are difficult to provide for this type of course, but it would be helpful to have a basic answer key.
Accessing Course Effectiveness Rating Comments
The course provider uses multiple ways of assessing course effectiveness. Fully Met End of class survey.
The course is evaluated using a continuous improvement cycle for effectiveness and the findings used as a basis for improvement. Fully Met MVS uses feedback from instructors to improve courses. MVS also creates an improvement schedule for courses that are aligned to new or changing standards (such as AP or CCSS), student survey feedback, and outside course reviewers' feedback.
Course Updates Rating Comments
The course is updated periodically to ensure that the content is current. Fully Met
Certification Rating Comments
Course instructors, whether faceto-face or virtual, are certificated and “highly qualified.” The online course teacher possesses a teaching credential from a state-licensing agency and is “highly qualified” as defined under ESEA. Fully Met MVS requires teachers to be Highly Qualified and possess a valid Michigan teaching certificate.
Instructor and Student Support Rating Comments
Professional development about the online course delivery system is offered by the provider to assure effective use of the courseware and various instructional media available. Fully Met In Instructor's Corner, MVS instructors have access to a variety of tutorials. the Instructor's Corner course was not visible on the review course.
The course provider offers technical support and course management assistance to students, the course instructor, and the school coordinator. Fully Met All under MVU main page and Getting Help tab.
Course instructors, whether face-to-face or virtual, have been provided professional development in the behavioral, social, and when necessary, emotional, aspects of the learning environment. Fully Met Required as part of Teacher Certification.
Course instructors, whether face-to-face or virtual, receive instructor professional development, which includes the support and use of a variety of communication modes to stimulate student engagement online. Fully Met Instructors take mandatory instruction and professional development on online teaching before they begin to teach for MVU.
The provider assures that course instructors, whether face-to-face or virtual, are provided support, as needed, to ensure their effectiveness and success in meeting the needs of online students. Fully Met
Students are offered an orientation for taking an online course before starting the coursework. Fully Met
Instructional and Audience Analysis Rating Comments
Course design reflects a clear understanding of all students’ needs and incorporates varied ways to learn and master the curriculum. Fully Met
Course, Unit and Lesson Design Rating Comments
The course is organized by units and lessons that fall into a logical sequence. Each unit and lesson includes an overview describing objectives, activities, assignments, assessments, and resources to provide multiple learning opportunities for students to master the content. Fully Met The course is very organized and precise!
Instructional Strategies and Activities Rating Comments
The course instruction includes activities that engage students in active learning. Fully Met There are many opportunities for this.
The course and course instructor provide students with multiple learning paths, based on student needs that engage students in a variety of ways. Fully Met
The course provides opportunities for students to engage in higher-order thinking, critical reasoning activities and thinking in increasingly complex ways. Fully Met There are excellent questions relating to Deaf Culture.
The course provides options for the instructor to adapt learning activities to accommodate students’ needs. Fully Met
Readability levels, written language assignments and mathematical requirements are appropriate for the course content and grade-level expectations. Fully Met
Communication and Interaction Rating Comments
The course design provides opportunities for appropriate instructor-student interaction, including opportunities for timely and frequent feedback about student progress. Fully Met
The course design includes explicit communication/activities (both before and during the first week of the course) that confirms whether students are engaged and are progressing through the course. The instructor will follow program guidelines to address non-responsive students. Fully Met There are many blog discussions about the deaf culture and tricky topics for engaging students.
The course provides opportunities for appropriate instructor-student and student-student interaction to foster mastery and application of the material. Fully Met Blog discussions and communication channels are available.
Resources and Materials Rating Comments
Students have access to resources that enrich the course content. Fully Met This is located under the Resources tab
Evaluation Strategies Rating Comments
Student evaluation strategies are consistent with course goals and objectives, are representative of the scope of the course and are clearly stated. Fully Met
The course structure includes adequate and appropriate methods and procedures to assess students’ mastery of content. Fully Met The making of videos, translations, etc. are all assessed.
Feedback Rating Comments
Ongoing, varied, and frequent assessments are conducted throughout the course to inform instruction. Fully Met There are midterms, final exams, and VoiceThread projects.
Assessment strategies and tools make the student continuously aware of his/her progress in class and mastery of the content. Fully Met
Assessment Resources and Materials Rating Comments
Assessment materials provide the instructor with the flexibility to assess students in a variety of ways. Fully Met
Grading rubrics are provided to the instructor and may be shared with students. Fully Met There are excellent rubrics within the course and readily available for assessments, essays, projects, and exams.
The grading policy and practices are easy to understand. Partially Met A better explanation is necessary for the weighting scale of grading for assessments, projects, quizzes, etc.
Course Architecture Rating Comments
The course architecture permits the online instructor to add content, activities and assessments to extend learning opportunities. Fully Met The course is designed for adding content.
The course accommodates multiple school calendars; e.g., block, 4X4 and traditional schedules. Fully Met There is semester and trimester scheduling.
User Interface Rating Comments
Clear and consistent navigation is present throughout the course. Fully Met
Rich media are provided in multiple formats for ease of use and access in order to address diverse student needs. Fully Met There are audio, video, and reading opportunities.
Technology Requirements and Interoperability Rating Comments
All technology requirements (including hardware, browser, software, etc...) are specified. Fully Met There is a clear explanation of Technology Requirements under the Course Info tab.
Prerequisite skills in the use of technology are identified. Fully Met Technology requirements such as Voice Thread are clear.
The course uses content-specific tools and software appropriately. Fully Met Voice Thread is required for this course.
The course is designed to meet internationally recognized interoperability standards. Fully Met
Copyright and licensing status, including permission to share where applicable, is clearly stated and easily found. Fully Met MVU homepage-->Students-->Getting Help-->CEMS Copyright & EULA.
Accessibility Rating Comments
Course materials and activities are designed to provide appropriate access to all students. The course, developed with universal design principles in mind, conforms to the U.S. Section 504 and Section 508 provisions for electronic and information technology as well as the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility guidelines (WCAg 2.0). Partially Met The reviewers believe so, but there is no actual documentation. This should probably be included on MVU Homepage for all courses.
Data Security Rating Comments
Student information remains confidential, as required by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Fully Met Logins are required.

Review Conducted By: Michigan Virtual
Date of Review: 07/18/2014

  • Unit 1 Getting Started – Introduction to the course, tools and media.
  • Unit 2 Weather – Various weather signs, temporal adverbs, and comparison techniques.
  • Unit 3 Health – ASL honorifics, Classifiers, and listing & ordering techniques.
  • Unit 4 Shopping – ASL numbers 100-999, comparatives & superlatives, attention seeking, and HOW-question techniques.
  • Unit 5 Family Tradition – ASL pluralization, present & absent referencing, and indexing techniques.
  • Unit 6 Community – Telling hours & minutes, location of things, frequency, and noun & verb pairs.
Term Type Enrollment Opens Enrollment Ends Random Draw Date Enrollment Drop Date Course Starts Course Ends # of Seats Course Fee Potential Additional Costs
Drop Policy Completion Policy Term Type Enrollment Opens Enrollment Ends
Students can use chat, email or private message system within the course to access highly qualified teachers when they need instructor assistance.
School Year Enrollment Count Pass Count Completion Rate Notes
21-22 406 384 94.58%
19-20 393 368 93.64%
18-19 449 426 94.88%
17-18 509 414 81.34% Enrollment data includes all enrollments (21f and non-21f) for the 2017-18 school year.
16-17 298 273 91.61% Enrollment data include all enrollments (21f and non-21f) for the 2016-17 school year.
15-16 226 213 94.25% None
14-15 173 156 90.17% Enrollment data includes all enrollments (21f and non-21f) for the 2014-15 school year.
13-14 26 25 96.15% Enrollment data include all enrollments (21f and non-21f) for the Spring and Summer 2013-14 school year.

If students are completing course work in school, the school's computers and network must be configured properly in order for VoiceThread content to be browsed, recorded, and played back properly. Browsers must be able to accept cookies from the following URL's:

  • Both http and https:// d25wzyo6b5ic8t.cloudfront.net (for browsing content)
  • Both http and https:// prod-streams-vt.s3.amazonaws.com/ (for playback of recordings)
  • Both http and https:// mivu.ed.voicethread.com/

The following links describe these and other network requirements, and how to enable cookies: 

Additionally, students will need: 

  • a webcam to record their signing assignments.
  • YouTube access is required to view some aspect of this course.

Please review the Michigan Virtual Technology Requirements: https://michiganvirtual.org/about/support/knowledge-base/technical-requirements/