SETDirect - September 2007

Welcome to SETDirect, SET-BC’s electronic newsletter for British Columbia educators on assistive technology events and resources. Please forward SETDirect to other people who may be interested in this information.

Upcoming Events

The beginning of the school year is a good time for BC educators to look for professional development activities. We have now published our calendar of assistive technology events for 2007 – 2008, including online training sessions, workshops, SETinstitute courses, and other activities. Just follow the link on our homepage to Upcoming Events to find out how you can register for training on Boardmaker, Clicker 5, Kurzweil 3000, SOLO, and many other topics.

Looking for Effective AT Resources?

SET-BC’s online Learning Centre is a great source for assistive technology resources for classroom teachers. When you visit the Learning Centre, you’ll find that we have updated our collection, making it easier to find practical and relevant curriculum materials for students with special needs, as well as training resources for school-based teams. You can quickly link to Accessible Books, curriculumSET and pictureSET, scroll through all of our training modules and materials, or search for specific resources that are of interest to you.

TAP Continues

SET-BC’s Technology Access Project (TAP) will continue as a pilot project in 2007 - 2008. This year any student identified in the C category (moderate to profound intellectual disability) can be considered for a technology solution as part of the normal SET-BC service delivery process. Contact your SET-BC District Partner or Regional Consultant for more information about support for students in your district, or visit our TAP webpage to learn about the research component of this project.

AAC Awareness Day on October 4th

The International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) has declared October to be International AAC Awareness Month. In Canada, we are focusing our efforts on October 4th, which is being publicized as AAC Awareness Day. This is the Thursday before Thanksgiving and ISAAC encourages you to plan something to celebrate this day and to help raise awareness of AAC issues. Some BC school districts have already planned information sessions for teachers and get-togethers for students who use AAC technologies, or are encouraging students to speak to their classes or take part in school assemblies using their technology.

CBC Radio Highlights Johnnie Charlie

In the first week of September, CBC’s Early Edition presented a new series called 'The Text Generation' focusing on the role of technology in the classroom. They interviewed Johnnie Charlie, a SET-BC student who uses a Pathfinder speech generating device to participate and communicate in class. You can listen to the interview with Charlie and his support worker, Andy Thompson, on the CBC website.

Virtual Voices Camp

Picture a summer camp… the typical kid’s scene of crazy camp songs, funny skits, campfires and adventure activities.  Virtual Voices is all very typical except for one thing…all of the campers are “cool communicators”.  They use computers or other electronic devices to communicate.  Fifteen non-verbal students from across BC gathered for five days at the end of August at the BC Lions’ Easter Seals Camp Squamish for the 7th annual Virtual Voices Camp. You’ll find photos and more information on the camp at SET Events.

SET-BC is a Ministry of Education Provincial Resource Program. We assist school districts in British Columbia in meeting the technology needs of students with physical disabilities, visual impairments, and autism.