Review of "Assistive technology training for teachers" by L. Chmiliar and B. Cheung

Journal Review of “Assistive technology training for teachers - Innovation and accessibility online”

Ray Etheridge

Western Washington University

Chmiliar, L. and Cheung, B., (2007) Assistive technology training for teachers - Innovation and accessibility online. Developmental Disabilities Bulletin, 35(1&2), 18-28.

Review

This is an article by the developers of a web based course in assistive technology for teachers so as to be able to learn how to use some of the modern technological developments and tools available to teachers to aid students with special needs. The article begins with a brief discussion of the fact that many teachers, over 70%, have had no training in how to used web or other technologies so as to be able to assist their IEP students or others with special needs. The article then goes on to detail what the program they have created at Athabasca University and show examples of the use of these programs and techniques via a web based course. The illustrations are primarily screen captures and the text supports and describes what is being discussed, such as their web based Tool Lending Library, discussion forums, interactive study modules, and assessment tools. The article concludes with the statement that the need for such training is evident as teachers need to be brought up to speed with the tools and techniques that exist to assist their students.
At first I had high hopes for this article, I was hoping for some sort of review of tools, programs and techniques that I could use in development of my classes and special needs students, or at least and overview of various such things as they exist today. In this I was disappointed, the article is really simply a description of what the University has done and how it manages to meet the needs of teachers in such a situation. Details are sparse and most of the technology they discuss is now commonplace or even superseded by newer, more advanced tools that simple did not exist in 2007. To be honest the article is not all that useful today except to remind us how rapidly technology changes and how we must never stop learning and adopting it, as well as adapting it to our own uses, as teachers.