Description:
This session will describe the essential elements of projects designed to help local school districts identify critical issues and specific actions that will improve their systems for the provision of assistive technology devices and services. A variety of AT Teams projects will be discussed. The session will look closely at actions that can be taken to support the development of a vision for local district AT teams, their operation and their support of ongoing services for students who need AT and AIM..

Additional Details:  The most effective systems of AT service provision are customized to the needs of local districts and building level teams.  No particular service model will always work for every school district because services of AT teams are affected by district size, location, available resources, the expertise of district personnel and the systems of support that are available from other agencies.  Instructional leadership, as it applies to AT and AIM can help to plan and shape services that are best designed to meet the needs of each education agency and the students served by that agency.  Providing effective AT services requires a school district perspective to address assistive technology with a focus on consistent and equitable services for every student.

Instructional leadership begins with a vision of what quality educational services should look like. Effective school administrators develop a vision jointly with educators, parents, students, and other community stakeholders and set a course of action that helps the agency move toward that vision. Part of the vision for any assistive technology program is the vision of how assistive technology (AT) devices and services and accessible instructional materials (AIM) can be offered in an effective, legal, ethical, and cost efficient manner for all students who need them.

This session will describe a series of projects that have been designed to help local school districts identify critical issues and specific actions that will improve their systems for the provision of assistive technology devices and services. These projects have been offered a variety of states and in school districts that are large, small, urban and rural.  Resources and support materials for the AT Teams projects will be shared.

The presenter will share experiences in working toward the development of AT teams and identify the commonalities in team projects.  The session will look closely at actions that can be taken to support the development of a vision for local district AT teams, their operation and the improvement of their ongoing services for students who need AT and AIM.  The session will also discuss factors important to the sustainability of local AT Teams.

Speaker Biography:
Gayl Bowser’s work as an independent consultant focuses on the integration of technology into the educational programs of students with disabilities.  She is the former Coordinator of the Oregon Technology Access Program (OTAP). Ms Bowser provides assistive technology consultation, training and technical assistance throughout the United States and internationally. Gayl has co-authored numerous publications about assistive technology services and is a member of the leadership team of the Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology (QIAT) Consortium.  She teaches online classes and webinars.  You can learn more about Gayl on her blog at http://www.integrateat.com.

Learning Outcomes:
As a result of this activity, participants will be able to:

1. Participants will be able to identify three essential elements of an AT team’s project designed to build local capacity to provide AT services.

2. Participants will be able to identify three to five possible goals for teams participating in a project designed to build local capacity to provide AT services.

3. Participants will be able to identify four activities that they can use in the development of an AT team’s project designed to build local AT capacity.

 

Additional Information: http://www.atia.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3628

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CEUs
This activity is offered for up to 0.2 CEUs (1.5 hours of instruction).

To register for CEUs, click on the link below to download the Evaluation and Learning Assessment Form, complete the form, and save the file using this file name model:

2011-ATIA-Webinar-AT11-WEB06-Supporting.rtf.

Then send the file as an email attachment to ceus@aacinstitute.org. If any difficulty is encountered in using this form, write to ceus@aacinstitute.org to request an alternative file format. In the body of the email, include:

Name
Assistive Technology Role (SLP, OT, family, etc.)
State (if USA), Province (if Canada), or other country

Download Evaluation and Learning Assessment Form now.

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Certificates are sent as .pdf email attachments.