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 Certainly
there has been a huge need for staff development in order to help
service providers develop and/or increase their knowledge of assistive
technology devices and their skills in operating and utilizing specific
hardware and software. But districts that focus only on staff development
without attention to the components of the district's capacity to
actually provide AT services will have a lot of frustrated staff
members.
Training Opportunities
Training opportunities have increased dramatically in the last
few years. Districts bring in AT Specialists for Staff Development
Days or schedule a series of training sessions on AT. Most states have either
a conference focused on assistive technology or a special education
conference that includes a strand on assistive technology. For information
on education/technology conferences, contact your state department
of education.
There is a wealth of AT information on the Internet, including
specific training on AT processes and devices. Also available is
information on AT certification programs- some of which can be obtained
through online courses.
It is important for school districts to provide a range of opportunities
for staff to pursue AT information. Some of these opportunities
are listed below.
Self-Study Book & Internet Opportunities
AOTA Self-Study series on Assistive Technology is part of
their Classroom Applications for School-Based Practice. It is available
from the American
Occupational Therapy Association.
AT the Virtual AT University (VATU@usm.maine.edu)
you can earn a certificate in AT
The Assistive
Technology Applications Certificate Program from Northridge,
CA. Offers a combination of online and face-to-face training workshops.
The Assistive Technology Training
Online Project provides a range of AT information for classroom
use.
National Conferences on Assistive Technology
The THE
Journal offers a full listing of all Education Technology
(including AT) conferences
ATIA
Conference. Sponsored by the Assistive Technology Industry
Association, this conference is being held in Orlando, FL the third
week in January.
Closing
the Gap Conference, Minneapolis, MN, held the third week
in October.
Technology
and Persons with Disabilities Conference sponsored by California
State University Northridge (CSUN), held the third week in March
in Los Angeles, CA.
TAM Conference.
Annual conference on instructional and assistive technology sponsored
by the Technology and Media Division of the Council for Exceptional
Children. It is held in various locations throughout the United
States, usually in January.
Technical Assistance
Another important need is ongoing access to technical assistance.
Sometimes that technical assistance can come from the vendor, if
the question is about the operation of a specific piece of hardware
or software. However, there are many questions that arise that are
not appropriate to ask a vendor. Questions about the many AT options
that might be available to meet a specific need are not appropriate
to ask a vendor. The vendor will obviously know their own products
better than they know any other products and should not be asked
a question that requires an unbiased answer. In addition many application
questions are not appropriate to address to a vendor who may or
may not be qualified to answer them.
To effectively provide support to individual teachers and therapists
providing assistive technology services, there needs to be a designated
contact person in each school building who will attempt to answer
questions. If that person cannot answer the question, they will
know who to forward it to within the district. Creating this tree
of support and technical assistance is a key to providing appropriate
and effective AT services.
These AT Contact people in each building also create an effective
way to disseminate information that has the potential to reach every
corner and level of the school district, no matter its size.
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