Last Updated Monday, November 2, 2009

SNOW's Independent Workshops and Discussion Topics

Visit SNOW's Chat and Learn for independent workshops, discussions, and more.

Four Intro Workshops for Special Education Assistants
Moderated Workshops

This series (formerly the IDEA series) has been developed for educational assistants who work with students with special need, but is useful for anyone interested in an introduction to special education. These on-line courses are three weeks long .

There is a fee for each of these workshops: $35.

Registration and Payments can now be made on-line. Just click on register link below the course you wish to register in.

If you are a returning student please use the "Have a Login?" link.

For Registration questions or immediate access call (416 946 3225) or e-mail This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
Autism
moderated by Susan Evans
starts January 5, 2010 and repeated April 12, 2010
This three-week course is an introduction to working with students with autism. Specific attention will be paid to teaching adaptive and functional skills.
Register for EA Autism
Have a login? Register Here
Developmental Disabilities
moderated by Roseanne Elliot
January 25,2010
We'll examine developmental disabilities and how to work with a wide range of student competencies in a classroom setting. Topics covered include: definitions related to developmental disabilities and how these impact learning, and strategies and techniques that can be useful in the classroom setting.
Register for EA Developmental Disabilities
Have a login? Register Here
Learning Disabilities
moderated by Fran Dandy
February 16,2010
Learning disabilities, because of their invisibility, are difficult to define and great debates rage over which definition should take precedence. This can also lead to a reluctance to accept learning disabilities as legitimate. We'll examine different types of learning disabilities and practical strategies for working with children.
Register for EA Learning Disabilities
Have a login? Register Here
Behaviour Disorders
moderated by Anne Marie Borthwick
March 15,2010
Many of us have had experiences working with students who have refused to comply to the classroom expectations or who are unable to perform to their true potential due to behavioural deficits. This course will explore strategies for intervention and the creation of appropriate behaviour intervention plans.

Registration for Fee-Based Courses

There is a charge for each of the EA Series Workshops ($35.00) courses listed above.

Call Pat Murray at 416-946-3225 or email her at pat.murray[at]utoronto.ca

link to registration form to fax or mail.

Mental Health Issues in the Classroom
A free, self-paced, independent workshop

Mental Health Issues in the Classroom is an unmoderated workshop that provides an overview of the state of children's mental health in Canada, and covers a broad range of mental health problems that may manifest in school-aged children and youth.

The course is built around a series of captioned videos taken from a workshop that Glenn DiPasquale conducted with a group of teachers when he was chief psychologist for the York Regional School Board. A fast Internet connection is desirable, though transcripts and audio files are also available in case you don't have a high speed internet connection.

Participants may post comments throughout the course and share thoughts and observations with others who are taking the workshop at the same time.

ONE is FUN - A Teaching Guide for Introducing Braille to Kids

SNOW is pleased to provide an on-line teaching guide for introducing Braille to children. Learn about teaching approaches as well as a fascinating short history of the development (and politics) of Braille, including what is known as the "war of the dots".
[Read More]

Education Week's Weekly Online Chats

Education Week holds weekly online chat sessions on a variety of topics. An archive of past the chat transcripts, including one titled "Cutting Edge Classroom Technology", is available online.

To learn more, click on the topic link above or go to http://www.edweek.org .

Connecting Families and Educators

Let's talk about Connecting Families and Educators.

Let's talk about: Teaching Your Child Self-Advocacy, Assistive Technology and Your Child, Challenging Educator Vs Parent Relationships, and more. Where we go with these topics is up to you. To get there, go to our companion site, www.inclusiveworkshop.ca . To participate, you'll have to register at the site.

It Takes a Village: Educating Children with Learning Differences, a Parent's Perspective
by Wendy Bailey

The old saying, 'It Takes a Village to Raise a Child', comes to mind when considering the public education of children with Learning Differences, which are commonly referred to as Learning Disabilities. To be clear from the start, within our current systems of education, these Learning Differences are disabilities but do not have to remain as disabilities. The fostering of a co-operative relationship between those who are involved in public education could ameliorate barriers that create the condition of disability for those whose function exists outside of the current definition of 'norm'. Read More

Adaptive Technology: Adaptive Input Devices
A free, self-paced, independent workshop

Adaptive Input Devices provides an quick introductory overview of various adaptive and alternative input devices, from adjustable tables, to single switches, and on-screen keyboards. You can ask questions, comment, and add your own reviews and experiences with different adaptive devices.

In The Classroom

Disability and Universal Design

Designers hold a significant key for the full integration of people with disabilities into mainstream society. The designs of our environment, with inherent barriers to access for people with disabilities, reflect the mainstream views of our society. Disability Rights Movement advocates and Disability Studies academics, must engage in a dialogue that support and promote the practice of universal design to further the elimination of social barriers and assist society to understand the social model of a disability perspective ... Read More

Transitions: Access to Learning Canada

We're pleased to announce Access to Learning Canada . This startup web project is a joint endeavor of the Canadian Abilities Foundation and the ARTC. It represents the beginnings of an online inventory that will serve students with disabilities, parents and guidance counsellors who are looking for information about a school's disability services. This resource is intended to assist in the research phase and provides additional tools for students to gather accessibility information specific to their needs.

Books for All - The Need for Alternate Formats

The CALL Centre (Communication Aids for Language and Learning) provides support to those who have speech, communication and/or writing difficulties, covering schools across Scotland and makes a wealth of information (e.g., articles, eBooks and tutorials) available through its web site. They recently posted the results of their research that explores the need for making content available in alternative print, audio and digital formats for learners with disabilities. Topics covered include:

What learning materials are required in alternative formats?
Which alternative formats would benefit pupils with literacy difficulties?
What benefits are achieved by having learning materials in alternative formats?
Issues of equity and provisions under copyright exemption legislation.

While the research focused on students in Scotland, this work is is applicable to anyone working with students who need alternative formats. You can find the Books for All report on the Call Centre's web site.

Do you work with people who need alternative formats? Share your experiences with alternative formats?

Using Scratch - A New Computer Language - with Kids in Cambodia

Guest contributor Liddy Neville shares her experiences introducing Scratch, a free, multi-platform(Mac, Windows, Linux coming) computer language for children in Cambodia. Scratch is developed by MIT's Lifelong Kindergarten Group. Read Liddy's article, "Scratch and Learn" to learn more.

High School Students Discover Accessible Media

Several years back, my teenage daughter started her high-school journey at Ursula Franklin Academy in Toronto. She became involved in videography, loved it and learned to make movies, everything from documentaries to film noir. Each year, the young filmmakers, their parents and teachers attend “Night at the Movies,” a special screening of their works at a posh and cinematic location, such as the National Film Board of Canada in downtown Toronto.
... continue reading "High School Students Discover Accessible Media".

AT, UD, and One Laptop Per Child

One Laptop per Child Initiative (known as OLPC) hopes to place $100 laptops into the hands of kids in the developing world. OLPC has been underway for several years now and is just now moving into a stage where the laptops are ready for distribution and various projects, etc. have been set up. It's a big topic and evokes a lot of discussion.

Will the OLPC laptop, referred to fondly as the XO laptop, support various assistive technologies (AT)? SNOW's particular interest centres around assistive techhnology and inclusion. We think of assistive technologies as essential Universal Design (UD) features that make computers accessible to everyone. Features such as text-to-speech, on-screen keyboards, and voice recognition, to name a few, need to be part of the XO laptop right out of the box.

What accessibility solutions exist at present for the XO? Is this machine fast enough to support built-in AT features? A $100 laptop which comes with built-in AT features that normally cost many hundreds of dollars would be really something.

For more information about the OLPC, check out these links:

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