ASLU: Registration
Information
Also see
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"registration
letter"
If you don't need a grade or documentation then you should not register nor pay to use this website. Most students simply use this site as a way to support a class they are taking at their local school or as a way to self-study at home.
Registration costs money and is only for those who need documentation to provide to their employer, college, school district, or other organization to prove that they have successfully completed a sign language course or to satisfy a foreign language requirement.
ASLU provides continuing education units. That is not the same as college credit. We do not award college credit. Your local school might award you credit for your participation in this program. Many have. Check with your local college or high school to determine if they will accept your work in this program for credit. Get it in writing. The ASLU transcript provides letter-grades based on test scores and completed assignments.
Whether or not you can use this private course at your local college depends on your local school. Your best bet is to talk to an advisor at your local college. He or she can help you consider various ways to get credit at your local school such as signing up for independent study at the local college and then using the ASLU course as the topic of your independent study.
For a college student, that generally means registering at your local college for an "independent study" class under some local instructor and then completing the ASLU course and then having the Lifeprint instructor send to your local instructor documentation of your having completed the Lifeprint ASL course. At that point the local instructor could award you college credit (based on independent study) for your participation in this program.What do you get if you register for the ASLU Level 1 (or Level 2) ASL course?
You get access to a qualified instructor to whom you can ask your various ASL-related questions, a syllabus explaining the course requirements, access to a series of quizzes based on the lessons, access to the receptive final exam, feedback on your final exam, evaluation of your expressive video project, and full documentation of your participation in the program including a letter grade. (Your syllabus will cover what your assignments are and how to do them, but in general as of this writing the assignments include: 15 lesson quizzes, 3 unit quizzes, an ASL or Deaf Culture related research paper, a receptive final, and a video project ).
If you feel you would like to register you should go to the registration letter and read it carefully.
If you have questions after reading the registration letter, please read through the Frequently Asked Questions pages. Also, read my response to a student's question's below.-- Dr. Bill
(William G. Vicars, EdD)
<<In a message dated 8/15/2003 10:40:36 PM Central Daylight Time, thompsonrebirth@ writes:
If I take the free lessons how much is the certificate of completion? How much does it cost if I decide to register? Do the registered classes cover more info than the free ones. How long does it take to complete the lessons and obtain the certificate? >>Reply: Let's do those one at a time:
Question 1: "If I take the free lessons how much is the certificate of completion?"
Answer: Lifeprint doesn't give certificates of completion to non-registered students who self-study the free lessons.
Lots of people self-study from this website (tens of thousands--according to the web statistics). We simply don't have time to evaluate each web user on a personal basis. So, we only provide documentation to registered, tuition-paying students whom have demonstrated to us through actual testing that they have achieved a level of competency similar to that of the college-level courses we teach during our day-jobs as college instructors.Question 2: How much does it cost if I decide to register?
Answer: Tuition per course is $483.
At the end of the course you will need to a blank disk (CD, DVD, or server upload (youtube.com etc.),-- We can still do VHS but NOT 8mm), and then record your expressive video project and pay the postage to mail it to us, (or upload it to a server). Most people just upload their video project to youtube.com though.
There are no other fees.Question 3: Do the registered classes cover more info than the free ones.
Answer: Registered students have to take more in-depth video-based quizzes. Additionally we will evaluate your expressive-project video, your receptive final, and your research paper. We will verify your completion of the quizzes. Plus you get documentation of your results, (a transcript) including a letter grade.Question 4: How long does it take to complete the lessons and obtain the documentation?
Answer: That is up to you. Most students seem to like to do two or three lessons per week and finish a course in about two months. Officially, we allow one semester (four months) to complete a course. If you need more time, that can be arranged by agreement. (But certainly no more than a year.)
If you were in a hurry, you could complete a course in about a month by doing a lesson per day plus a couple days for submitting your expressive video. If you have no other classes and are able to work on it "full time" you could do two or three lessons a day and get done in two weeks, but I've never had anyone attempt that. (According to the syllabus you have to pass the final at 70% or better, so make sure you actually take the time to absorb what you are studying.) Our recommendation is that you do at least one lesson a week. This is based on the fact that my regular college students typically do 15 lessons in 15 weeks (first semester) for Level 1, and then 15 more lessons in another 15 weeks (second semester) for level 2. Note: You can progress at whatever pace you would like for up to a semester. The way it generally works is a student keeps in touch with his or her Lifeprint instructor at least once a week to be considered progressing. To get done in a semester's time you should complete a quiz at least once a week. Near the end of each course level the student turns in a research paper, a video project (based on a script and instructions provided by the instructor). The video doesn't have to be fancy as long as you instructor can see your signs and your facial expressions clearly.
Question 5: So, you don't give credit, you just give me a letter from you that says I took your course and I received a certain grade. Why should I register?
Answer: If you don't need that piece of paper, you shouldn't register. You should only register if you want documentation of having participated in an organized continuing education experience under responsible sponsorship, capable direction and qualified instruction. ASLU offers the documentation option because many local colleges, high schools, and companies will only accept training and continuing education units from well documented credible sources. The director of Lifeprint holds an earned doctorate in this field (Deaf Education / Deaf Studies) from an accredited university (Lamar University in Texas) and has over 20 years of college-level experience teaching ASL. If you do not need testing and documentation then you save your money and self-study using the practice quizzes and other materials at Lifeprint.com. [Feel free to donate though, heh. I love you all. - Dr. Bill]Question 6: What kind of study materials are used?
Answer: The website is used as the "text" for the courses. Each course (level) consists of 15 lessons, 15 quizzes, 3 unit tests, a research paper, an expressive video project, and a receptive final. The video quizzes are provided via links to streaming videos that download to your computer's internet browser. A "unit" covers 5 lessons. The Unit 1 test corresponds to the first five lessons of the level 1 course. The quiz questions are based on the vocabulary and practice sheets from the lessons online at Lifeprint.com. Each week you should do at least one quiz or assignment to be considered progressing.
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