SETDirect

SET-BC Direct: November 2000

Special Education Technology-British Columbia

Welcome to SET-BC Direct, an on-line newsletter for people who are interested in issues and resources regarding the use of assistive technologies in education.

SET-BC Direct is intended to help teachers and other professionals who have questions regarding the implementation of technology for students with special needs. Subscribers may also be interested in the SET-BC program itself; our model for service delivery and the projects we develop to better assist students with disabilities.

In this issue:

1. SET News
2. Pro-D Opportunities
3. Project Updates
4. Software Kudos
5. Web Travel
6. Partners

1. SET News

The SET-BC Technical Support Centre - is now available to address and share information pertaining to technical challenges that SET-BC teams may encounter as they implement and support Assistive Technology. Visit the SET-BC Technical Support Centre and view the FAQ's page for full details.

Braille Note Training - On October 5, SET-BC held a training session for the new BrailleNote. Read about the training session and the Braille Note in SET Events.

2. Pro-D Opportunities

Visit Upcoming Events to read about Assistive technology training opportunities coming in British Columbia.

November 17, 2000
Gail Van Tatenhove Videoconference
Since 1977, Gail Van Tatenhove has been working with children and adults who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems. On November 17, 2000, SET-BC was pleased to host a videoconference in which Gail addresses the question: Is Minspeak Appropriate for Cognitively Challenged Individuals? Visit the Gail M. Van Tatenhove web site.

May 31-June 2, 2001
Odyssey 2001 Conference @ UBC, Vancouver
New Frontiers is the 4th Biennial Conference of Canadian Vision Teachers.
SET-BC will present a full day pre-conference workshop on Vision Technologies: Connecting It All.
Go to http://www.setbc.org/odyssey for more information.

3. Project Updates

Kurzweil Report - During the 1999-2000 school year, five SET-BC secondary teams with a Visually Impaired student participated in on-line lessons, e-mail discussions, and data collection activities as they explored the feature set found in the Kurzweil 3000 software.

The Kurzweil Report and recommendations were presented to the SET-BC Provincial Resource Team. SET teams can now request Kurzweil 3000 b/w scan and read software for Low-Vision users who participate in an academic program wherein independent access to print and web resources in large print format with speech support is required. See http://www.LHSL.com/education/ for more information.

4. Software Kudos

Math in a Box - Mallory Burton (SET-BC consultant, Prince Rupert) recently completed the Math-In-A-Box Resource Development Project. This project was designed to help special education teachers select math software and activities which will support specific Individual Educational Plan (IEP) goals for students. The Math in a Box Project contains information on 10 popular children's math software titles (K-3) including a skills analysis grid documenting the math skills developed in each program, and a detailed write-up for each piece of software which describes the math activities and actual math questions in each play module.

Software Prize Draw - Enter the SET Direct draw for a chance to win software that enhances learning for special needs students. You can enter to win Edmark Zoo Zillions or Carnival Countdown - titles from the Math-In-A-Box project. To enter the prize draw, email cmcavoy@setbc.org.

5. Web Travel

Two newsletters are available with articles from people who use AAC. Check these websites out - Communicating Together or Alternatively Speaking - your students may be motivated when they see publications by people who use technology as they do.

6. Partners

Tetra Light Pointer

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of Lori Sinclair (Occupational Therapist) and Roy Hamaguchi of the Tetra Society of North America, a nonverbal student is once again able to use a laser light pointer to communicate.

By directing light beams toward a communication board, students can point to words, letters or other choices. These students have found laser light pointers to be very effective for pointing. The problem was, many school districts chose to ban laser light pointers, due to misuse and the risk of eye damage.

Facing this challenge, Lori Sinclair contacted SET-BC, and problem became opportunity.

Lori had been unable to find a commercial laser light pointer that met safety standards. Through SET-BC, she obtained funding for the materials and travel of a TETRA volunteer.

At TETRA, volunteers strive for solutions! In this case, volunteer Roy Hamaguchi found a solution that will allow students to continue to use laser light pointers for their expressive communication needs. By developing a simple, inexpensive adaptation, Roy was able to reduce laser light pointer emissions (to 35 times less than current safety standards).

SET-BC is a Provincial Resource Program funded by the B.C. Ministry of Education. Its purpose is to assist school districts in British Columbia in meeting the technology needs of students with physical disabilities and visual impairments.

SET-BC Direct is copyright © 2000 by Special Education Technology-British Columbia. Excerpts used for the purposes of quotation must be attributed explicitly to Special Education Technology-British Columbia.

The information contained in this newsletter is drawn from sources believed to be reliable, but the accuracy and completeness of the information is not guaranteed, nor in providing it does Special Education Technology-British Columbia assume any liability. This newsletter is a public commentary for informational purposes only and does not represent an invitation to purchase or endorse products, and is not to be construed as a source of buy or sell recommendations.