Upcoming Free Webinar on Best Practices on Delivering Special Education-Related Services Online

As the need for social distancing is prompting extended school closures across the country, school districts are considering new ways to keep students connected and engaged in school activities. Continuity is especially important for students who receive special education-related services.



PresenceLearning, Inc., the leading provider of live online special education-related services to K-12 schools, will host a free webinar for school districts looking to deliver these services via in-home teletherapy. During the “Delivery of Special Education-Related Services During School Closures” webinar, which will take place on Thursday, April 9th at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, Kristin Martinez, clinical director of PresenceLearning, and Dr. Glendora Tremper, coordinator of special education at Springs Charter Schools in California, will discuss strategies for transitioning to online delivery of services.

“As schools across the country move services online, many teams are worried about how to ensure continued access and support for students with special needs. We want them to know that there are great options and well established practices for serving these students online,” said PresenceLearning CEO Kate Eberle Walker.

During the webinar, Martinez will provide best practices for schools, therapists, and families regarding teletherapy, and Tremper will discuss how her school system swiftly and successfully transitioned its school-based education team to an online model. Participants will understand how to quickly get up and running online to deliver services to students at home; online platform tools and features required to provide an optimal experience for students and clinicians; how to manage the delivery of teletherapy to homes, including how to facilitate parents’ and students’ participation; and what parents need to know.

“Communication, communication, communication is the key. The abruptness of the changes required to transition to online delivery of our services to students at home was stressful to parents and staff. So, as a leadership team we were in constant communication at all levels and with all stakeholders including our clinicians, staff, and parents. Multiple virtual meetings kept everyone informed and engaged in the process,” said Tremper.

All participants will receive a certificate of attendance for viewing the webinar, which will also be available on-demand.

To attend the upcoming webinar, register now.

Related:

Resources, tips and more for remote and e-learning (teaching online) 

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Google Apps and Chromebooks for Special Education and Special Needs

Chromebooks and Google Apps are excellent assistive technology (AT) that help students with special needs access curriculum and information. Google Apps and Extensions in the Chrome Web Store provide many supports to students with learning challenges.

Chromebooks allow students to access curriculum while avoiding their triggers. Online curriculum and resources allow them to work without distraction, which lowers anxiety.

Chromebooks also allow students to access additional resources to support their learning and address their individual needs.

There are specialized web apps, screen readers, text-to-speech and speech-to-text, screen magnifies, curriculum resources, lesson ideas, collaboration tools and so much more.

The following links provide an overview of extension and apps available to support students with special needs.

Resources:

• Google Accessibility Features and Resources - resources about all of the accessibility features in all of Google’s products. The Google Products Accessibility site has a list of 18 Google Products with details and links about it's accessibility features.

• Google Accessibility Features in Chrome (OS and Browser) - Google Apps and Chromebooks, and the Chrome Web Browser, offer a tremendous amount of accessibility features to help vision and/or hearing impaired students.

• Google Tools for Special Needs -  a great, well-organized list of many useful Google-related tools and features for users with special needs.

• Voice Recognition- Dictate using Google Chrome.  Type with your voice.  Dictation turns your Google Chrome into a speech recognition app.  Students can use Chrome as a voice recognition app and type long documents and essays without touching the keyboard.

• SpeakIt!- Highlight text you want to read and listen to it.  SpeakIt converts text into speech so that students can access grade-level text even if they are reading at a lower level.

• Calculators- Visit this Google Web Store page to view a variety of calculators from basic to graphing.

• Dictionary- DIctionary and Thesaurus Apps and Extensions.

• Typing Club- The highest rated free typing practice app in the web store.

• Grammar Checker and Synonym Tool- The Ginger App helps students communicate better.  Students can correct and enhance their writing with support of this App.

• Khan Academy- Watch, practice, learn almost anything.

• YouTube - watch and learn almost anything
• Innovative Chromebook Teachers: Using Chromebooks in Special Education - video with tips and ideas

• Collaboration - Google Apps allows for collaboration and sharing so that students can share their work with their Special Ed teacher / Resource Teacher, who can assist remotely, comment, and support the students.

• Special Needs Students using Collaborative Google Apps - great article about using Google apps collaboration features with students who have special needs.

• Google Classroom - allows teachers to manage classes, share assignments and student work, and to communicate with students. Teachers can share the assignments to their students, the students work on the assignment and submit it back, all electronically. Teachers can view and comment on the student work at any time. Co-teachers/Special Ed Teachers/Resource teachers can be added to the class so that they can also view the student’s work, allowing them track the student’s progress and offer help and comments, even when they are not physically with that student.

• Google Chrome and Assistive Technology Applications - great article with a lot of resources and tips on using Chrome to assist students with vision, hearing, physical, communication, and learning challenges.

• PowerUp WHAT WORKS - free online resources for struggling students and those with disabilities.

Related:

Google Apps and Chromebooks Web App Recommendations - a whole lot!

What can you do on a Chromebook? Pretty much everything.

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PowerUp WHAT WORKS - free resources for struggling students and those with disabilities

PowerUp WHAT WORKS is a free resource to help teachers help struggling students and those with disabilities. It is part of the OpenEd collection. PowerUp WHAT WORKS (www.powerupwhatworks.org) provides customizable materials, lesson plans, instructional strategies, videos and more to enhance learning for students with diverse needs, and to personalize learning with technology and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). OpenEd (www.opened.com) is the creator of the world’s largest online collection of standards-aligned resources.

PowerUp allows teachers to access training and resources to allow them to enhance learning for students with disabilities, personalize learning with technology. It is evidence-based, standards-aligned, and technology-focused.

The sites has tips and resources for teachers, administrators and more, with lesson plans, assessments, videos, playlists, ideas for integrating technology, professional development, and much more.

It is easy to search and find resources and there are some great things. You can also browse all resources or click on each menu item above for more information and resources.

Take a look.










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Goalbook - online personal learning plan tracking and reporting

 

Goalbook is a new beta site that "helps teams of educators, students, and parents collaborate around personal learning plans."

The free site is run by educators and was made to help educators save time and stay organized. It allows educators to track IEP goals, share student progress with the team, and create reports. The students can be grouped into tiers and teams and all information and progress reporting on the students is tracked. Students can even develop their own goals and collaborate with parents and teachers.

It includes messaging, activity streams for teams (like Facebook), progress tracking and reporting, personal learning plans, and ways to communicate with parents and students.

It's a great resource for schools to help students receiving special education services.