2. Training Opportunities

One way SET-BC supports B.C. School Districts, is by providing training on the implementation of assistive technologies. School teams have the opportunity to learn new strategies for implementation, discover useful resource materials, and improve their technology skills at training sessions provided by SET-BC. Visit the SET NEWS / Upcoming Events page for information on upcoming SET-BC training opportunities.

3. Project Updates

The Emerging Braille Literacy Project for 2001/02 - SET-BC is pleased to announce the Emerging Braille Literacy Project for 2001 - 2002. This project will provide timely educational and technological support for Braille-using students who need to develop reading and writing skills in the primary grades. BC vision teachers will be able to request the long-term loan of Mountbatten Braillers from SET-BC for these students, starting in the fall of 2001. For complete project details, visit the Emerging Braille Literacy Project information page.

The Variety Club's Accessible Math Project for 2001/02 - SET-BC is pleased to announce and partner in the Variety Club's Accessible Math Project for 2001/02. This project will benefit more than one hundred students with disabilities in British Columbia who would benefit from adapted classroom instruction through assistive technology and specialized mathematics software. For complete project details, visit the Variety Club's Accessible Math Project information page.

4. Software Kudos

Word Q writing aids software - Developed at Bloorview MacMillan Children's Centre with support from the Ontario Rehabilitation Consortium, Word Q is a new writing tool for people of all ages and levels of writing ability. Word Q can be used with any standard Windows application. Its features have been carefully selected and designed to provide the user with the most benefits while ensuring simplicity. With its exceptional word prediction capabilities and effective text-to-speech feedback, writing is made easier for those who have learning disabilities or who speak English as a second language. Made in Canada.

Enter the prize draw to win Word Q.

5. Web Travel

In each edition of SET Direct, we highlight websites that inspire. Send us your favorites so we can add them to our growing list.

www.internet4classrooms.com - This website has comprehensive, quality links for K-12 Teachers to use when planning units, activities, or projects. Thousands of sites have been categorized into subject area and interest area pages. It also has some impressive On-Line Practice Modules which are designed for basic training in the most common applications, e.g. Windows/PC and Mac operating systems, Word, Works, PowerPoint, ClarisHomepage, Inspiration, HyperStudio - good for use with students and adults alike.

www.inetsupermall.com/barns_noble_online_books.htm - Barnes and Noble is a well known web bookstore. Now you can buy e-books on-line from this site. It is exciting to see e-books as one of the options now available at Barnes and Noble (the e-book tab is at the top of their page). You can buy on-line and have immediate downloads of the book for which you are searching. The site also includes information about e-book reader software. Check it out.

6. Partners

SET-BC has many successful partnerships with the community. Through our provincial network, SET-BC works with teachers, school teams, parents, community agencies, health professionals, post-secondary institutions and vendors to ensure that children with exceptional needs may independently access the curriculum through the use of assistive technology. Our community partnerships with the Canadian National Institute for the Bind, BC-Yukon Division and the BC Lions Society for Children, provide students with disabilities with direct training experiences through recreational camps.

The Variety Club of British Columbia has been a community sponsor for SET-BC projects since our program began. In 1990 The Variety Club provided a grant for augmentative communication devices for students in our North Coast Region. In 1994, the Variety Club sponsored an additional grant for equipment for students who required complex communication devices.

Over the next two school years, the Variety Club of BC and SET-BC will work together to provide access to the mathematics curriculum to over one hundred students in British Columbia. The Variety Club¥s Accessible Mathematics Project will enable classroom teachers to explore the use of assistive technology in order to create opportunities for students with disabilities to learn mathematics along with their peers.