CULTIVATING ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY EXPERTISE IN PRESERVICE TEACHERS THROUGH A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MODEL

This session will illustrate how one university embedded assistive technology (AT) knowledge and skills in a scope and sequence approach through a professional development model linked with the campus' assistive technology center. The center teaches professional development sessions on AT to special education and other education undergraduate majors, graduate students in special education, occupational therapy, and speech and language, and within instructional technology courses that all education majors complete as part of their required curriculum. Topics of professional development range from an Introduction to Assistive Technology and Universal Design for Learning session to specialized AT sessions, such as alternative augmentative communication and alternate access. The sessions are offered through the on-campus laboratory and through a distance education model using the Blackboard platform and a virtual computing lab, which allows remote access to AT programs for distance education students. In addition, opportunities for leadership building in the area of AT will be shared to demonstrate how the pre-service teachers begin sharing their knowledge and skills in the community prior to graduation.