9/9 :~: 9/26 :~: 10/3 :~: 10/7 :~: 10/31 :~: 11/7

To maintain confidentiality, pseudonyms are used for all participants in the transcripts, with the exception of myself. 

Patricia--Kathrine--Ryan entered _Room1. Time:Fri Oct  3 12:54:54 2003

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>hi Amber. i'm going to just gather some resources on my desktop while we wait for the rest of the group.

Amber>>sounds good

*+**** Faith entered Room1. Time:Fri Oct  3 12:55:49 2003

Faith>>hi

Faith>>happy friday:)

*+**** Hope entered Room1. Time:Fri Oct  3 12:57:35 2003

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>same to you, Faith.  it's a nice fall day. 

Amber>>and a nice one

Hope>>hello everyone.

Amber>>hello Hope

Faith>>indeed

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>hi Hope.

Amber>>what did everyone think about the readings/resources ?

Hope>>I thought the reading were good

Faith>>pretty straight forward

Amber>>Hope how so

Faith>>and informational

Faith>>giving examples of no, low, and high tech AT

Hope>>reading examples help you understand and can relate to them.

Amber>>and we will find that there are MANY within each of these categories

Faith>>right..the anecdotes were helpful..

Amber>>what about the QIAT

Faith>>esp of the boy with difficulty reading..

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>the qiat is a very important document, in my opinion.

Hope>>helpful to have guidelines

Amber>>Tricia how so?

*+**** Grace entered Room1. Time:Fri Oct  3 13:02:04 2003

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>specifically, the quality indicators for administrative support is such an important element.  the document provides an easily accessible reference for administrators.

Grace>>hi, i was logged on for about 2 minutes but didn't see you. Then, went to room 2

Hope>>hello

Faith>>and the QIAT self evaluative matrices are helpful

Amber>>good--I aalso wanted to show the common errors section that clearly indicates although each of you might walk away with suggestions, ideas etc.. unless they filter down (or Up) and with all stakeholders it doesn't get far

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>so, the guidelines are not just coming from a professional development staff member, they are coming from Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling at what I assume is a well-respected department at University of Kentucky. However, the research section of the online resource is lacking substance. 

Amber>>hello Grace we are just starting and talking about the readings QIAT

Grace>>ok

Hope>>so what happens to the students that have a disability, but not severe?

Hope>>what would be considered not severe?

Amber>>disability is still a disabilty --as long as the person has a voice and knows who and where to go

Amber>>Tricia the QIAT is not used at nationally as the SETT framework--but I wanted to

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>can you please point me to the common error section?

Hope>>page 6

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>thanks.

Hope>>you are welcome

Amber>>post up front what things can go wrong during implementation so that when we reach in class case studies where you have to choose strategies and devices--understand if it is a good choice or bad

Hope>>the answers could be mis-answered or mis-interpreted

Amber>>Tricia in the QIAT reading they are found at the end of each section discussing what and why things go wrong

Amber>>what about the SETT framework

Faith>>provided a standard set of questions to look at various situations..

Grace>>I liked the way they divided into 4 parts: student, environment, tools and tasks

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>yes, i see thank you.

Hope>>I agree with Faith

Amber>>ah yes--this is a commonly used framework (on a national level) and the one that MD uses

Faith>>very easy to apply to our case study

Grace>>each component of the framework is extremely important

Amber>>classroom teachers and AT teachers are to use this--although I do not every remember being told this when I was in the classroom

Grace>>who is responsible for informing the mainstream teachers in the school

Faith>>right.. i was never told anything about AT when i was in the classroom

Grace>>or ESL teachers about this framework

Grace>>

Amber>>it also shows how choices have to made on a variety of levels and this is why general classroom teachers (not just sp ed) need to know more information in order to make wise choices

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>Faith, how long ago were you in the classroom?

Faith>>just 2 years ago

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>the document is dated august 2003

Amber>>as they see the students under different circumstances and times of day etc... trends that might appear and go unnoticed if only a one person show was calling all the shots

Faith>>wasn't mentioned in new york or louisiana

Amber>>tricia what document?

Faith>>and not the specific document.. just dealing with AT in general

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i agree with Amber, classroom teachers and special ed. teachers should be better informed. the qiat consortium document.  you sent the url to me.

Grace>>but the SETT framework was first introduced in 1995, I beileve

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i see they've been working on it since 1998, but if it seems to me it has been work in progress.

Faith>>right... and updated in 2002

Amber>>oh the document might be 2003 but versions of the matrix have been around for awhile but SETT has been around forever

Hope>>so how many teachers do you think do not use it?

Faith>>has anyone else used any of these frameworks in a classroom setting?

Amber>>QIAT or SETT

Grace>>i haven't taught in a public school

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i have not used the frameworks.  they are new to me.

Faith>>even at the university level..

Amber>>Qiat probably very few  probably something pased along to PD, administrators and or dept heads to pass along

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i will use them now!

Amber>>the SETT is the framework and is being used aggressively in schools now

Grace>>i will ask the inservice teachers in my classroom

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>interesting.  i'd like to see SETT in action.

Faith>>right.. thinking back to Grace's example of the student in her classroom with the documented disability..

Grace>>yes, i agree with tricia

Amber>>in action?  it is the framework that IEP's are now used to develop

Faith>>this framework could have been useful then

Amber>>some IEP forms use this as a mechanism to collect the data

Grace>>is it possible to see SETT in action? Do you know anybody who is actually using in, Amber?

Amber>>the IEP forms that teachers fill out--many are based on this frameowrk

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>"some" iep forms, so it doesn't seem to be a standard yet.

Amber>>they ask the same questions or have boxes for you to check off

Grace>>I also would like to see a sample IEP, an actual one that is being used

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>and has the iep changed as a result of the sett?  or were the two similar anyway?

Amber>>Grace did you get a chance to visit the site that showed IEP forms

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>Grace, you have mentioned before that you'd like to see a sample iep.  the comparison is of interest to me too.

Amber>>some had examples of case studies and the forms filled out to show how to do

Grace>>yes but the site doesn't have any samples, does it?

Grace>>It has the forms

Amber>>Tricia I think the SETT has caused the forms to be modified

Faith>>there was a link to one filled out..

Grace>>on the learning diabilities online site??

Faith>>Houghton Mifflin.. see "understanding the IEP process"

Amber>>Grace and Tricia yes you had to scroll done to examples or something like that I'' try to find and send the link location

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>that's good.  sett has had an impact on planning and program evaluation, i suppose.

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i have a link to an iep, too.  i was waiting for the appropriate week.

Faith>>com

Grace>>II saw the parent form and student form on that site, I will check again

Amber>>Hope what did you think about the case study exercise?

Amber>>tricia send the link we will add to the resources

Hope>>I thought it was good to analyze it on the outside and then see what the answers were from Josh and the evaluators

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i will, when i find it:)

Amber>>others what did you think about the case study

Hope>>it was very useful as a parent

Faith>>we pretty much came up with the same ideas for how to help him..

Faith>>the links you sent us go into great depth..

Faith>>the interviews are great to read..

Hope>>it was interesting to see that Josh didn't really see himself as disabled

Amber>>do you think you would have come up with same suggestions if you had been asked to do it cold ie. what if I gave this exercise on the first or second day of class

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>Faith, my iep example is houghton mifflin also: http://college.hmco.com/education/resources/res_prof/students/spec_ed/tools_support/iep.html

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>actually, through this case study and reading others responses, i've learned that i still have so much to learn.

Amber>>Hope--a great comment and something I think will be seen throughout other cases we explore

Hope>>good, I am glad we will read more cases

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i probably answered differently than i would have at the start of the semester, but if asked again at the end of the semester, my responses will be more extensive.

Amber>>one thing of interest is that on many occasions IEP's are based on the input of sp ed only teachers

Faith>>i agreed with tricia.. this is a good bench mark to use for our understanding

Amber>>general teachers fill out forms but do not really get involved

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>no time to get involved with iep.  iunderstand it's a time consuming process..  however, i'm not providing justification for teachers to not be involved.

Amber>>even parents and students are not really "partners" more of a come in and set down and we will tell you what we have planned

Hope>>I think after reading the in-depth cases from ldonline, that it changed some of my view points

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i think parents can be involved to the extent that they want to be involved.  if their educated on the topic, they know to get involved.

Faith>>right.. i felt like josh was lucky in this respect

Faith>>a lot of students aren't so..

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>The membership of an IEP must include: the student's parents (legal guardian or surrogate parent), at least one regular education teacher of the student, at least one special education teacher, a representative of the local education agency who is qualified to supervise specially designed instruction and is knowledgeable about the general education curriculum, an individual who has participated or can interpret the implications of the evaluations, and the student, if appropriate (Turnbull & Turnbull, 2000).

Amber>>the framework and also push towards IEP's (not just for disabilities any more) has changed over time

Hope>>yes his case seemed like it didn't have a lot of challenges to overcome

*-**** Grace left EDUC477_Room1. Time:Fri Oct  3 13:29:17 2003

Amber>>I think the trend is to use a framework that maintains a standard to have all parties involved

Amber>>how did Joy's overview differ from yours?

Faith>>more detailed..

Hope>>she interpreted Josh's answers very well...I would not have known what they meant

Amber>>what stuck out the most for you

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>the section on attitudes raised many questions for me that i had not considered.

Amber>>regarding Joy's input that perhaps you had not thought about

Amber>>how so? tricia

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>attitude is such a crucial part of the education of all students.  joy talks about one teacher being frustrated, and having a negative attitude about having a student with disabilities in her room.  my heart went out for the student.

*+**** Grace entered EDUC477_Room1. Time:Fri Oct  3 13:34:06 2003

Grace>>hi, i am back

Grace>>so sorry, I lost connection

Faith>>i haven't had a chance to read all through joy's input yet..

Grace>>are we talking about joy smiley reading

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>Amber, have you seen joy speak?

Amber>>the case study and the final report or overview

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>yes, Grace.  we are discussing her overview

Amber>>via online tricia only  as well as a webcast

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>ok

Amber>>related to the tools which ones DID you know alittle about?

Amber>>tools that wor strageties that were suggested by others for the case study

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>honestly, i'm a newbie when it comes to assistive technology tools.

Faith>>we are installing some into the icdl..

Grace>>in the tools for life article? I didn't read about AT tools in Joy reading.

Faith>>so i am familiar with AT tools to help kids with reading

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>there is an archived online discussion about the use of tools.

Hope>>most of the tools seem straight forward, but what is the keyboard details?

Amber>>Tricia yes  and some are very interesting ideas that I had never heard of

Amber>>Hope which thread?

Amber>>or where in chart are you seeing it  I need to see keyboard details in content

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>ah, yes, one tool i am familiar with and we have not really discussed it's potential for at is the alphasmart.

Amber>>what tools (names) did you know about

Hope>>the alphasmart keyboard

Hope>>https://www.courses.umd.edu/SCRIPT/EDUC477/scripts/student/serve_page.pl?1015600543+EDUC477_CourseOutline.html+OFF+JoshOverview.pdf+

Amber>>Hope when have you used this before

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i think the alpha smart is a low cost alternative to a laptop.  if a student has difficulty communicating verbally, the alphasmart is a portable device for personal written expression. but that brings me to PDAs.

Amber>>what about the PDA's

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>PDAs can be used for daily living skills.  i have an example if anyone is interested. 

Faith>>sure

Amber>>sI think some of the suggestions you made as a who;e are common things we all do day to day...

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>images can be stored on a PDA. the student is instructed to use the images as a guide through daily activiites.  i'm talking a student with down syndrome, or something similar.

Amber>>have peer help out or xerox off materials for student under circumstances

Amber>>tape record

Hope>>I have not used an alphasmart keyboard...I want to know more about them

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>the pda can also be a way for a student to communicate in the lunch line.  show the cafeteria lady a picture of hamburger.  that;s the meal of choice for the day.

*-**** Grace left EDUC477_Room1. Time:Fri Oct  3 13:45:36 2003

Hope>>since the Josh and the other students were learning to take notes, I think a tape recorder would work out very well.

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>pdas are multifunctional and portable, and affordable.

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>yes, Hope, a tape recorder for josh would be a good laternative to notetaking in class.  or taperecord the lessons when he was in OT.

Hope>>PDAs can be hooked up to computers to to download the info

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>yep!  pdas are the one tool i am most familiar.  i need to extend my knowledge base and i know that.

Faith>>has anyone witnessed a student using a PDA for AT?

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>boardmaker is functional, but is it becoming outdated?

Amber>>like how?

Faith>>in the classroom..

Hope>>good point I didn't think about when he was in OT

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>my colleagues and i were discussing scenarios, but no real examples of pda used as AT

Amber>>some schools like River Hill

Amber>>I have seen use but that's because all students have them

Hope>>one thing that I thought about as a tool is for Josh to learn short hand writing

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>oh, yes, i've seen pda in the classroom.  a large class in howard county, where it's possible that a student had a disability.  yes, i've been to river hill with lin storey.

Hope>>or learn to write in a font that is similar to his handwriting so that it is legitable

Amber>>Faith the class or one of them I visited was an english class :-)

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>was it lin storey's class?

Hope>>PDAs require there short-hand type entries, right?

Faith>>oh wow.. that's great

*+**** Grace entered EDUC477_Room1. Time:Fri Oct  3 13:49:54 2003

Faith>>did all of the students have pdas?

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>no, you can hook up your pda to a keyboard.

Faith>>or just some?

Grace>>hi, i lost connection again.

Amber>>take a second and go here

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>all students had pda when i visited river hill.  some were not functioning properly, so they had to share.

Grace>>i missed all the discussions, sorry

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>Grace, i hope you are able to see a transcript.  is one available from our last chat?

Amber>>we are talking about PDA's use in the classroom and also related to AT

Hope>>good, I was thinking of my bosses' 1st PDA...he had to enter the entries with certain strokes from the pen, so it would understand it

Grace  Yilmazel-Sahin>>yes, i was able to read your messages for a while but i didn't see anything i posted

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>pen stroke is optional.  you can train your pda to understand your written strokes.

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i wonder if the external link booted you out.  that happened to me last time. i suggest openning links in new windows.

Grace>>thanks tricia

Hope>>do you use a PDA Tricia?

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>pdas also are capable of voice recognition, and video files.  think of the possiblities for AT! 

Hope>>great!

Grace>>i use one, it is very practical but didn't know that it had voice recognition

Amber>>so in summary the framework helps guide are selection...

Amber>>of devices and gagets and other extensions all which we will now take several weeks exploring

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i use pdas for a multi-disciplinary activity with a variety of objectives for preservice teachers.  too much detail for this chat.

Amber>>some of the activites-resources have video clips

Amber>>others video clips with audio so make sure you are on a good computer

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i'll need to come to work.  my home computer is on it's last leg.

Grace>>Amber, you said that this semester we will meet any visit a lab to see all the AT devices, when will that be?

Amber>>then we will toss out a couple of dates when people can go in person to see some on campus uses

Amber>>Grace  One we need to get Faith back from new zealand

Grace>>is she in NZ?

Amber>>then I am going to schedule a date were we go as a group but...

Faith>>nope.. not yet:)

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>Faith, when do you leave? when do you return?

Faith>>leave oct 31

Faith>>get back nov 9

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>how exciting!

Amber>>if time does not allow we will have drop in sessions (that;s the plan)

Faith>>sorry i missed last week.. was in chicago..

Faith>>for the same research

Faith>>saw an example of AT..

Faith>>although not the greatest one..

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i'd like to read more about the research.  perhaps you can send a url, if content is on the web.

Faith>>while observing at the National Teacher's Academy

Amber>>meaning if you are unable to ateend the set schedule I will make arrangements for you to see SOME items on your own time

Grace>>what was it?

Faith>>a 3rd grader with some sort of MS had a personal aid to type all of her notes for her..

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>Amber, i understood what 'drop in' lessons meant, but thanks for the clarification.

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i think that's a good idea.

Amber>>what was the MS like?

Amber>>I have visions of the Jetsons

Faith>>she didn't have motor control over her hands that well

Amber>>what was the robot maid on the Jetsons?

Hope>>Rosie

Grace>>sounds like similar to our Josh case study

Faith>>and not sure if she exactly had MS.. but the teacher said something about congential something or other

Faith>>she had a voice box as well

Faith>>mechanical - like

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i need rosie. at for all.

Faith>>the kids all accepted her very well..

Grace>>how did the voice box work?

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>interesting case study.  was the 3rd grader there?

Faith>>when she spoke it sounded raspy...

Hope>>that is great that the students accepted her

Amber>>Faith how did this fit into the digital library

Faith>>like the sound was mechanically driven..

Faith>>I was observing 2 of our students in their classroom

Faith>>(in our study)

Amber>>so how did she get the "sound" to work (the student

Faith>>in their class there was this girl..

Amber>>got it

Faith>>she just spoke..

Faith>>not quite sure how it worked

Faith>>but she had a tube coming out of her neck..

Faith>>i didn't interrogate ..

Amber>>oh so she spoke and it converted to text

Amber>>voice to text application

Faith>>just observed how the others in class reacted to her

Faith>>yeah.. that could be it

Grace>>how wonderful!

Hope>>fasinating

Amber>>OK folks I will wrap up here

Hope>>great session

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i wonder why you said this is not the greatest example of AT.  it's quite interesting.

Faith>>well.. i wasn't impressed with the aid..

Faith>>that's probably why..

Amber>>please if you have not already....reread the 4/5 and 4/5.1 dialiogues and post the discussions

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i understand.

Faith>>but i'm glad she had the support in the classroom

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>will do.

Faith>>got it

Grace>>i am so sorry that i lost connection twice.

Amber>>we read or had a lot of resources last session but these will be references later

Grace>>could be the links i tried opening

Amber>>so if you did not have time to go indepth you will return

Hope>>have a good weekend everyone!

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>you too, Hope!

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>bye everyone.

Faith>>bye

Grace>>bye

*-**** Faith left EDUC477_Room1. Time:Fri Oct  3 14:04:03 2003

Amber>>I will be sending you to sites to start to explore applications and will have you decide how to break up the applications etc,,,

Grace>>Amber, are you there?

Amber>>Grace do you see this

Amber>>can folks see this message

Grace>>tricia was able to recover the message she lost the second week. Do you know how i can recover my messages

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i'm still here.

Grace>>it is terrible to losse connection in the middle of a discussion

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>i was not able to recover a full transcript. 

Amber>>Yes I'll send Grace I'll send the "directions" via email OK

Grace>>oh.

Grace>>okay, thanks

Amber>>but I can also send the full transcripot or post it after we end :-)

Amber>>ok everyone knows the next chat is Tuesday evening yes?

Grace>>could it be my browser? i will use explorer next time

Hope>>could you also send the transcript for the last session?

Amber>>and Grace you will look at the transcript afterwards and send comments

Grace>>okay

Amber>>last transcriot is posted on the course outline I post all transcripts

Hope>>oh okay...I didn't know where to look

Hope>>thanks

Amber>>this is a short turn around between chats so I wanted to give everyone a heads up

Patricia  Kathrine--Ryan>>chat next tuesday.  transcripts on course outline.  i got it. thank you.

Amber>>OK have a great day what wonder weather!!!

Amber>>good job ladies

Grace>>chat next tuesday, at what time?

Amber>>good afternoon

Amber>>8:30 PM Grace so you mentioned you could not make it then so we will do as many Fridays as possible

Amber>>but we do have some conflicts

Grace>>okay thanks Amber.

Amber>>chats times did you receive the email? Grace with them

*-**** Amber left Room1. Time:Fri Oct  3 14:09:18 2003

Grace>>when did you send it

*-**** Hope left Room1. Time:Fri Oct  3 14:10:10 2003

Grace>>bye, tricia

*-**** Grace left Room1. Time:Fri Oct  3 14:10:51 2003

*-**** Patricia--Kathrine--Ryan left Room1. Time:Fri Oct  3 14:13:44 2003