SETDirect
SETDirect is an electronic newsletter for educators on assistive technology issues and resources. SET-BC publishes SETDirect to provide current information to support the implementation of technology for students with special needs in British Columbia. If you would like to be added to the SETDirect mailing list, click here to Subscribe. If you wish to Unsubscribe from SETDirect, Unsubscribe here
January 2009 20th Anniversary for SET-BCThis month, SET-BC is celebrating 20 years of creating opportunities for BC students with disabilities. We’ve grown from a small program serving only a few dozen students in our first year, to a province-wide network providing technology, consultation, training, and resources to over 2800 students annually. Our regional and provincial teams are proud to help provide the tools and support that BC students need to participate, communicate and learn as independently as possible. We’ve seen countless success stories over the years, where students have used SET-BC technologies to overcome challenges and achieve their educational goals. We’re grateful for the ongoing support of the Ministry of Education and to our close partnerships with school districts, other community agencies, and technology companies, which allow us to support students and school teams more effectively. We’d especially like to thank our District Partners, who are key elements to our success as they work closely with our consultants to plan, organize and implement our services within each district in the province. To hear a range of perspectives on SET-BC’s 20 years of service in BC schools, you can view a short video compilation of messages from students, educators, parents, the Minister of Education, and SET-BC staff. PSAP 2009PSAP provides affordable access to software solutions for students. BC school districts have the opportunity to join SETBC provincial software licenses to acquire recommended software at preferential prices. Now they can obtain a further 15% discount on all orders submitted before Mar. 31st
Timmy Technology Disability Awareness KitTimmy Technology, the Virtual Voices Village mascot, is packaged in a teacher resource kit with the Timmy Technology Disability Awareness Program from SET-BC. The awareness program consists of 5 lessons:
The lessons are supported with a rich range of activities and materials. Still and video cameras are included with the resource, and classrooms are encouraged to add to the Timmy Technology scrapbook which travels with the kit. The Timmy Technology Teacher Resource Kit is available to classrooms in British Columbia, and may be reserved by contacting Joe Cash at jcash@setbc.org, or 604-269-2223. To check available dates, please visit Virtual Voices Village and follow the links to Timmy Technology calendar. ARC-BC Officially Launches on Schedule!With the very successful completion of the ARC-BC Pilot Project at the end of December, ten new school districts have begun accessing the Accessible Resource Centre – British Columbia. SD#8 (Kootenay Lake), SD#19 (Revelstoke), SD#23 (Central Okanagan), SD#43 (Coquitlam), SD#47 (Powell River), SD#62 (Sooke), SD#63 (Saanich), SD#72 (Campbell River), SD#85 (Vancouver Island North) and Independent Schools are now beginning plans to register users interested in obtaining alternate formats for their students with perceptual disabilities. At present, ARC-BC contains more than 875 titles with over 27,000 individual alternate format files. For more information on ARC-BC or to obtain an ARC-BC Community Application Package, please visit www.arc-bc.org. Second Year of BCUDL in Full SwingThe BC Universal Design for Learning Project is a Ministry of Education funded initiative to assist pilot school districts in implementing principles of UDL. During the fall, project leader Mallory Burton visited seven sites around the province to train new teams in UDL principles and technologies. SET-BC also partnered with the Learning Assistance Teachers Association (LATA) to sponsor Harvard educator David Rose as the keynote speaker for their fall conference, Universal Design for Learning: Reaching Every Student in the Digital Age. For more information about the BC UDL Project and a link to the archived David Rose presentation, please visit the main BC UDL website. Keep Up-to-Date with "This Week in SET-BC"
|