Abstract for "Leaving No AT Professional Development Need Behind!"
Leaving No AT Professional Development Need Behind!
Presenters:
Brian Wojcik, Special Education Assistive Technology (SEAT) Center Coordinator
Kirk Behnke, Senior Education Specialist, Special Education Services - Region 4 Education Service Center
Overview:
Excited about the Assistive Technology (AT) that has been purchased with the stimulus monies? Wondering how to provide sufficient quality trainings to promote the effective use of the AT? Then this session is for you! Participants will learn about a framework for constructing professional development and training activities. Participants will also learn how to use free, readily available and fee-based commercial technologies to produce and provide effective AT training and support experiences for students, education professionals and families.
Learning outcomes and content:
1. As a result of this webinar, participants will gain an understanding of a framework (TPCK) for constructing AT professional development and training activities.
2. As a result of this webinar, participants will identify at least 5 free tools that can be used to create learning objects for use in AT professional development and trainings.
3. As a result of this webinar, participants will begin to understand strategies, tools, and techniques for providing AT professional development and trainings online or at a distance.
Speaker Biographies:
As an educator, Brian Wojcik is a doctoral candidate at Illinois State University focusing in the area of assistive technology. He has been integrating technology to meet the needs of students with diverse learning needs for over a decade and a half. Brian has presented internationally on the topics of assistive technology, pre-service teacher education, technology integration, intervention and intervention assessment, UDL, and curriculum technology supports.
Kirk Behnke holds a Master's of Education degree from Temple University and a certificate in Assistive Technology Applications from the University College in Dublin, Ireland. He also possesses a credential as an Assistive Technology Professional from RESNA. Kirk is known for his development and management of the "Assistive Technology Applications Certificate Program (ATACP) for California State University, Northridge. Kirk has presented since 1989 at national AT and disability conferences throughout the US and overseas with a high concentration of accessible curriculum design in both live training and online curriculum venues regarding AT, universal design and web 2.0 tools.
