Kurzweil 3000 Foundations Workshop Fosters Networking & Resource Sharing

Wendy Young, training specialist with Bridges in western Canada, recently presented a full day Kurzweil 3000 Foundations workshop in Penticton. This comprehensive workshop was co-sponsored by SET-BC and Okanagan-Skaha School District (SD67). There were a total of 32 participants, including classroom, special education and vision teachers, educational assistants, speech language pathologists, and an administrator.  Some Penticton students use Kurzweil software on loan from SET-BC, others use software purchased by the district through the Provincial Software Acquisition Plan.

This workshop took place in a middle school computer lab where 30-day trial versions of Kurzweil had been loaded courtesy of Bridges, so that all participants could benefit from hands-on experience with the program.  Wendy provided a comprehensive hand-out including practice activities through which the participants worked in pairs.  This opportunity to work with a peer was seen as a very positive feature of the presentation as it allowed for networking and peer support in problem solving.

The Kurzweil 3000 program has been strongly supported in SD67 recently due to its potential in assisting students who have reading and writing difficulties as a result of physical, visual and learning challenges.  This program allows print to be imported from other computer text applications and the web, or by scanning hard copies of worksheets or texts.  Not only will the program read text, but it allows the user to abstract, highlight and utilize dictionary and spelling functions as well as to write into worksheets by typing or inserting voice notes.  Teachers can input voice or text notes for the student to facilitate reading, writing and studying.

Due to the extensive time commitment required for scanning, School District 67 has developed a centralized file of materials that have been scanned for use with Kurzweil. Registered users may access this file through the school district computer network.  Individual schools are also developing Kurzweil resource files of teacher-generated notes and worksheets, as well as e-text files that are kept on a school-wide accessible drive.  This allows support staff and students to easily access materials.  At the request of workshop participants, the School District has also developed a Kurzweil group e-mail to allow for sharing of ideas and group problem-solving.

For more information on Kurzweil, visit the websites for:
Bridges http://www.bridges-canada.com/
Kurzweil Education Systems http://www.kurzweiledu.com/index.asp
SET-BC’s Provincial Software Acquisition Plan  http://www.setbc.org/psap/