SET Events highlights projects, training activities, and events in the assistive technology community.

SET-BC Consultants Provide AT Training All Over British Columbia

October 19, 2007

This past October 19th Provincial Professional Development Day was a busy one for SET-BC consultants!  Many were involved presenting or hosting workshops to support school based teams implementing a variety of assistive technologies.  Here is a sample of the training events that took place…

School District #40 (New Westminster)

Colette Massie, Nancy Webber (SET-BC District Partner), Resource Teachers, Special Education Assistants and Speech Language Pathologists participated in the “Making It Work: Effective Implementation of Assistive Technology” workshop.  With great energy and enthusiasm, the group examined specific case studies which illustrated conditions that foster or hinder successful AT implementation.  Using the workshop resource guide, the participants discussed ways to use the implementation support tools to strengthen their own district processes.  At the end of a very full and productive day, the New Westminster group were excited to share the information and tools in the resource guide with colleagues at their schools.

School District #67 (Okanagan Skaha)

Kathy Ryan facilitated a full day workshop on Clicker 5.  Twenty-eight teachers, Special Education Assistants and Speech Language Pathologists participated in a hands on exploration of how the software can support students’ literacy development.

School District #6 (Rocky Mountain)

Kathy McCauley also facilitated a workshop on Clicker 5, focusing on the ability of the program to create accessible or talking books.  School teams from Kimberley and Golden attended the hands on workshop held in Kimberley.

School District #42 (Maple Ridge)

Nedra Post facilitated an introductory Kurzweil 3000 workshop for teachers, Speech Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists and Special Education Assistants at Thomas Haney Secondary.  Participants enjoyed the hands on exploration of the software as well as the discussion about locating online training resources.

School District #57 (Prince George)

Shel Harris hosted Julie Koudys as she presented a workshop on Picture Exchange Symbols (PECs).  Resource teachers, Teacher Assistants and support team specialists attended this two day event.

School District #73 (Kamloops / Thompson)

Bruce Fraser and Fran Campbell (POPARD) facilitated a day long “Visual Supports Make and Take” workshop featuring Boardmaker.  Fran led a discussion on the use of various types of visual supports (e.g. first-then cards, consequence maps, problem solving cards and countdown strips) in the classroom.  Bruce led a demonstration and hands on exploration of Boardmaker with enthusiastic workshop participants creating visual supports for their students.  Each participant received a USB Flash Drive at the end of the day containing their own and sample boards.

SET-BC Region 1 (Vancouver Island)

SET-BC Region 1 consultants were very pleased to host Kim Mitchell from Bridges as she presented the workshop “Assistive Technology for Information Technologists (AT for IT)” in Victoria.  School District IT staff from Saanich, Gulf Islands, Nanaimo, Comox, Port Hardy and Victoria spent the day learning about installation, updating and troubleshooting AT software such as Kurzweil 3000, Clicker 5, Boardmaker, SOLO, and Writing with Symbols.  The workshop was a great forum for discussing common IT issues like network access and computer security.  As in previous years, this workshop was very well received with participants offering extremely positive feedback.

SET-BC Region 6 (Prince Rupert)

Mallory Burton led a morning and afternoon hands on workshop – the morning session focused on using Clicker 5 and the afternoon had participants exploring Kurzweil 3000.

School District #43 (Coquitlam)

John Cloutier facilitated a morning workshop on Kurzweil 3000 and then changed the focus from literacy support to communication support by leading an afternoon session on the Dynavox “V” AAC device.

In addition to these British Columbian events, two consultants from Region 1, Jane Rondow and Paul Hamilton presented a very well attended session at the international Closing the Gap conference in Minneapolis.  To an enthusiastic audience of about 180 educators, Jane and Paul presented “Free Resources from the Net for (Special) Education”.  During their presentation they highlighted SET-BC Learning Centre, pictureSET, curriculumSET and Accessible Books resources as well as various free UDL and early learning software and websites that support Math, Literacy and other subjects. 

For more information on these events, or any upcoming assistive technology workshops, please contact your SET-BC Regional Consultant.