Bridges - AT for IT Workshops
February 19th and 20th, 2009
Kim Mitchell (top) and Cindi Johnston of Bridges Canada
Kim Mitchell from Bridges Canada provided an informative and extremely useful overview of Assistive Technology to public and private school Information Technology staff. These IT personnel learned about the technical support issues around installing, upgrading, and supporting assistive technology in the schools.
Over the years the complexity of IT infrastructure in the schools has grown immensely. IT personnel have to deal with concerns arising from internet access, email, and network security among many other issues. When a student requires that their assistive technologies access school computers and networks it becomes an issue that the IT department often has to deal with. Without an understanding of what assistive technology is and what it does, it is often difficult for the IT personnel to determine how best to allow access to their systems.
In Kim Mitchell’s presentations in Vancouver and Victoria she led the participants through an overview of many of the major software programs that SET-BC provides to students. They learned about the technicalities of installing, upgrading, and supporting assistive technology in schools. Participants shared perspectives, explorations, troubleshooting and protocols on how assistive technology such as Kurzweil, Clicker 5, Classroom Suite, and Boardmaker were supported. Participants especially appreciated learning about the new Bridges Wiki where information about upgrades, patches, and troubleshooting will be regularly updated.
Online registration is required to view the Bridges AT for IT Wiki.