SimboWika: A Mobile and Web Application to Learn Filipino Sign Language for Deaf Students in Elementary Schools

The communication between deaf and hearing people is hard especially when you consider the lack of technology and knowledge on language that the deaf people use. The population of the Philippines is increasing and so are the deaf people. The communication gap between these people are also expanding. English is the commonly use language by most people with hearing disabilities. American Sign Language (ASL) is considered as a renowned sign language in the Philippines but this is not the official language of the country. Most Filipinos are not aware of the existence of Filipino Sign Language (FSL). This is an American Sign Language-inspired and designed specifically for Filipinos. Deaf students in one elementary school in Manila were confused in learning Tagalog words because the sign language that had been established back then was American Sign Language (ASL). With this drawback, the researchers aimed to develop “SimboWika”, a mobile application to help the deaf students in elementary schools to learn Filipino Sign Language. It provides illustrations to practice FSL and assess student's learning. The teachers can also keep track of the student's progress using its web application. Based on findings, the SimboWika app got a Very Satisfactory result from the users and technical evaluation.