Event ID: 2171250
Event Started: 7/8/2013 12:49:07 PM ET
Please stand by for realtime captions.


Jay: All right. Welcome, everybody. Thank you for taking the time. My name is Jay Gense, the director of NCDB. I'm only going to take a few moments to make a couple of remarks and then I'll turn things back to Amy Parker. She will have more introductions as we progress. We have a lot of information to cover today. And I primarily want us to spend time learning about the initial learning modules and learning about navigation so that you can spend some time afterward exploring and learning and importantly contemplating use and application of this incredible new resource. I am so excited that we have reached this date during which we are launching the initial set of the intervener learning modules. I really do believe that it's a bit of a watershed moment for our project network. And technical assistance that we're able to provide. A couple of weeks ago, during the webinar in which we launched our beta version of the new website, I framed it from the perspective that the new website was in many ways game changing in how the deaf-blind network will be able to work together in new ways. It's a tool that can centralize supports while allowing everybody to be a recipient as well as a contributor to the field's knowledge. And now here we are two weeks later arriving at another important juncture for our network in making available for the first set of the intervener learning modules -- I feel equally strong that just like the new website, these modules will prove to be game changing. Two things that I would ask everybody to keep in mind as we delve into learning about and exploring the modules, first, I know that all of you will be excited to have these modules available to support your efforts in helping to ensure that kids have access to quality intervener services as needed. And as such you'll be paying attention to the quality of the content. However, I'd also urge you all to pay attention to the process that was used to create these modules. Amy is going to spend some time talking about that. And I ask you to pay attention to that process because I really don't believe that we have ever engaged in an effort that's so beautifully capitalized on the biggest asset for our deaf-blind TA network has, which of course is the collective passion and knowledge and wisdom that exists in the deaf-blind community. The creation of these modules in many ways serves as a shining example of a harnessing of that asset. And as Amy is going to discuss in a minute, it was incredibly participatory from the very beginning, scores of people were involved in the creation of this new resource. And I want to highlight and ask that you all attend to the fact that the creation of these modules truly epitomizes the power of collaboration and partnership. The quality would not have been possible had anybody been working alone. So this is a product that was created by the entire network for the entire network. And as we think about our future, and many of us are really busy thinking about our future right n ow, it is in, in my humble o pinion, inordinately important that we understand the power that comes from true collaboration. Secondly, I'd like to bring your attention to the fact that these modules were created as a direct response to the recommendations for improving intervener services that NCDB made to OSEP last year. Last fall, when we were identifying the work that needed to move forward during this final year of the current funding cycle, we agreed with OSEP that this effort and the creation of the modules was a critical first step to have OSEP supporting this effort, having them support NCDB as the national project and having them support state project. Spending their time and resources on this effort is remarkable. And it's very much appreciated. In particular I want to thank JoAnn McCann, our project officer, who has and continues to be steadfast in her support of this effort. So as we move forward, know that these modules are created in response to one of the recommendations. There are certainly other work relative to the recommendations in which we are and need to be engaged in order to truly impact the extent to which kids have access to quality intervener services. So with that, I'm going to turn this over to Amy. With an extension of gratitude and genuine thanks to you, Amy, Amy has coordinated this effort from its inception and has done so with style and grace. It has not been easy, nor without stress. So Amy truly, thank you for your leadership in setting the course and literally seizing this opportunity on behalf of kids and families. With that I'll turn this over to you and you can take it from here.


Okay. Thank you so much, Jay, for those kind remarks. And also the clear really -- reflection that everything you see is because of the level of participation and engagement in the community. It's really an honor to get to do what you love. You know? And I sort of feel like a person who just won the lottery as far as getting to work with you all. It is a joy and a privilege and an honor to work with such passionate people. And it is that passion that has produced this work. So all of the pictures that you can see, which Tony commented on in the chat pod, these are network pictures. The visuals, the videos which we'll talk a little bit about, are all vestiges and artifacts of the strength of our community and the sharing of our community to build something that we can use together. Before I go forward, I'd like to point your attention to the notes pod that Randy has created for us here on the screen. The notes pod has some important information that was sent out in an e-mail. The notes pod provides a link to a Google form that -- we recommend you use that form as a method for signing up for the login credentials. And really, where we're going to get two on this call is really just some talking about the process as Jay mentioned, to give you a little tour, a little bit of support of the modules, but how you're really going to get to know them and no their uses is where you get your own login credentials and go exploring. And we've got some information up on the interface that explains a little bit more about how to do that too. So we're not just throwing you credentials and leaving you to wander for a bit. We do have some information about how to use the site. There's a welcome and introduction module that will give you a lot more information about Moodle. If you haven't already, please go ahead and sign up. And I'll give you a little bit of rationale also about why we're using this process. We're using this rather circumscribed way to logon -- it's really more of a gate process -- where people use this form and essentially Randy will manually enroll you. Into the module. We felt like it was necessary to do that because you are our community. And we also wanted you to have the first crack and the first look at looking at what these are. We're also being a little bit protective of the site, just because as you know, many people are interested in places around the world in content. Sometimes there are spy bots or fish bots that can get into systems and wreak havoc. So we really wanted to be protective a little bit of the Moodle site but also to be able to talk with you about the Moodle modules and how they are going to be used. I know that Jay and John and others are going to be working with you and have been working with you on how to do that at PDM. So very quickly, moving on, this is the participatory method of creation. As you probably had a chance to read, we've had an advisory committee of 19 advisors. We have had module leads who will be speaking with us on the call. Module contributors, field participants who actually took the first four modules and gave us some great feedback, field reviewers who are also experts in the field that look at the modules with the critical eye. And we had some expert external to the field of deaf-blindness reviewers and advisors who helped us also think critically about online learning and the process of creating multimedia modules. So participatory approach, we really wanted to be able to use this approach, one, because of the strength and the knowledge of the community to be able to give voice to you all in this process. It truly is a testament as Tony and others are chatting in the chat pod about how quickly this resource was created -- in one way, this resource was created very quickly. You're right. In one way, it's being created over decades. Because as you can see when you get a chance to look in the modules, we are standing on the shoulders of people who have committed to this practice, who have committed to children who are deaf-blind over many years and we've tried to be very respectful and very mindful of sites and resources that were used to synthesize this information. The leads are very passionate and committed to that as well. So we also wanted to use a very respected method in developing these modules. This is a respected method, internationally, where people in the community, multiple stakeholders come in. And they weave together what is important to them. And so we've really tried to do that. It's an action-based model. So our advisors, there's a picture on the screen of Maurice and Peggy and Beth and Sam and Jerry and Alana, doing some work around the competency, some initial work around looking at the CEC competency and some themes that came up at a meeting in Portland. The advisory group's role is to identify, consolidate and prioritize module seems, to review and offer feedback on the initial content, which happened in December, to assist in recruiting field participants, and generally as we would report out to them and discuss findings and things we were discovering to respond with their best thinking about the process. And then even today, where we are in this process is meeting with the advisors again, who are giving us so much time and it's because they care about this work so greatly and have invested in it, we are assessing our progress that we have four modules that are built, and nine modules all together an additional five that are ready for field testing. Or getting ready for field testing. Don't worry, pegging the -- don't worry, Peggy. They're not quite ready yet. So what we did with the OHOA advisory committee is used a nominal group technique in P ortland. You can see the group there sorting through thinking through these themes. We asked for people to take a trip with us mentally and think about how they would prepare and develop a program in another place if they were to walk in and start from scratch. The beauty of this meeting is that every single person at this meeting has had a role in developing content around intervenors. Has been involved in supporting programs that are developed and born but also some, like Alana, have created a whole programs themselves. So that was a very exciting time. Just very quickly at the bottom of the screen there was a lot of work that was done virtually. Which as Jay and many of us are talking about, how important it is to be able to work at a distance, to get work done. We had a very important meeting together face to face where we accomplished this nominal group technique, but most of our work has been done virtually. The external expert advisors, we really wanted to do this well. If you haven't gotten a sense of that, the commitment, I could get emotional but we really wanted to do this well. So we looked to advisors, external expert advisors from the iris center, from Vanderbilt University, from Perkins, and from the PARA2 center, all of these folks are in -- involved in designing online learning experiences and offer some good thinking. So this is a great photo. And one that should encourage us all. This is -- he happens to be from California who is at the White House. And he is celebrating the 20th year anniversary of the ADA. He's there and was invited back a few short months later to celebrate the passage of the 21st century telecommunications and video description act. Which he advocated for. Along with many other people. So in the creation of these m odules, we really look -- tried to look at accessibility considerations. In my minds eye, looking at these young adults and thinking about them accessing this work was really important to me. So to do this well, we engaged with the Center for the blind, we consulted with Helen Keller National Center and many other folks. The great thing that has come out of this, it's not been without its bumps, because as many of you know, many of you teach online, I know Susie and Sam and Maurice and Jerry and several people teach online, doing -- using different learning management systems. This happens to be Moodle. Moodle is open source. And because it is open source, it has been able to be updated and made more accessible. Which is exciting, which is why we used it. It's also highly portable. So that if a system wanted to adopt modules and working in partnership with us or other committed leaders in our own community, they would be able to easily import modules. That's a long-term vision for some of this work that we'll be talking about together at PEM, hopefully. What came out of this very exciting more excess bulk JW media player. Many programs and services online especially learning media and learning management systems are not accessible for people who use screen readers. Through this work, through the Carroll Center in partnership with described captioned media program, we were able to come up with a way to make the most accessible type of media player. We worked very hard and I would say we're probably 98% there. Aren't we, Randy? We may be about 98% there and having all of our videos captioned and described on the first four modules. There are about 20 to 30 video clips per module. Which is exciting. And beautiful and was only made possible because of network s haring, intensive network sharing. And the modules are gradually being translated into Spanish. We're working on an exciting feature within our modules, something that you'll note. At the top, there's a folder that has all of the accessible -- it is an accessible document that is basically in text. In other words, when we consulted with all of these folks, they told us, you know what? There is no system that is fully accessible for people who are deaf-blind. That's just the struggle of trying to solve a problem where that many people have the complexity of access needs. And so what we decided to do and was the best advice and we consulted with people who are deaf-blind to do this, was to create one accessible document that would have a nice, clean text, that's easy for people to read. And in that accessible document, there is a link to the described videos and the link to the captioned videos. The captioned videos play everywhere. And the links to the described videos, the ones that have visual information not simply talking head videos, are in that accessible t ext. So here's a great photo of Megan Cody and the group. Bev Kennedy's team working together with Carolyn Monaco and the other team members in Austin. They worked very hard to create what became nine modules. Not their team alone, but the module lead and contributors worked very much hand-in-hand to share videos, to share pictures which were also part of our teaching material, our pictures are also described in that accessible document I mentioned to you so that when a picture is used instructionally or even just cosmetically, it is described so that the modules are accessible. And a lot of people have -- I'm sure it's on all of our minds, because of the current context in which we live, that it's hard to find research in deaf-blindness and talk about research to practice in deaf-blindness. Partly in concert with our external advisors and just because of the caliber and commitment of the module leads, the contributors and our NCDB team, we have tried to the best of our ability, to synthesize and integrate research that is available into these modules, which is something I'm very proud of. Moving on quickly, these are some incredible women. And as you see at the top going from the top-down to the the bottom of the slide, Robbie Blahog, Carolyn Monaco, Bernadette Van Den Tillaart, it was very important that this team work together as they did. Sometimes, why is any blathering on about all of this introductory stuff, about process? As Jay was alluding to, the process becomes very important when looking at the product itself. When you look at something, particularly something that is as plain as Moodle and it's accessible -- in its accessibility, you can lose the fact that so much went into creating this. And this work would not have happened without these women. The leads worked hard together to align seems across modules and to build them in a sequence. This was based on the advisory group's best thinking. It was based on the expert a dvisor's best thinking, just think about how these modules could go to scale. And going to scale means being embedded in other systems, being adopted in a sequence, being a cogent way that is connected to a learning path that is tied to the CEC competency and taxonomy. We'll get to that in just a moment. It was also a real joy to work with Carolyn Monaco from Canada, of course from George Brown College, who knows the past, who has created a path. And she was very generous with us in terms of her counsel and her time. This patchwork quilt you see in front of you is all of the contributors. Just a beautiful mix of people who are teachers, intervenors, parents, very importantly we had six very strong parent leaders who are committed to the practice of intervention. Who are huge advocates and huge supporters and who have walked the path. We felt it was very important and participatory to include parent voices. You'll be able to see and hear them in the modules very clearly. We think that that made the overall product very strong. We did have an educational interpreter. And some teachers and other TA providers. So we'll get to know them a little bit more when you look at some of the introductory videos that are in the welcome module. Very quickly, we also felt a strong commitment to include people who are deaf-blind in this process. This was a very compressed creation process. Part of what we were doing, we felt was responding to a need from the community as well as a need from OSEP. As you had read in the recommendations, it's very clear that people were asking for a resource that was shareable and asking for high-quality video. And asking for information so that this practice could truly become national. So we really wanted to include people who are deaf-blind. To the extent -- I'd like for that to be stepped up and maybe we'll have the opportunity to do that. But here, you see Hunter McGowan, Patty McGowan's son of course, with Usher, who gave some lectures and information. You can also see Karina Visart from California who offered her insight and information in the module. This is a beautiful photo shared from Megan Cody. This is one of the students she supports as a TA provider. All of the pictures we tried to integrate the high-quality pictures again that are described our instructional. We use them at strategic points in the module.


Going to take a minute and let you read this slide. So the field testing and revision of the modules, I was glancing over at the chat pod to see what I'm missing as I am going along and looking at our time to make sure that I'm leaving plenty of time, which I think we're doing all r ight. For the leads to speak to you in just a moment about their work. One of the ways that we tried to give the modules a bit more rigor -- this was the advice of our advisors, it was the advice of faculty members that we talked to in the fall, it was based on the advice of experts who have walked this path, they have walked this path. Was to develop and initiate a field test. So what we had from February to April was a field testing of the first four modules. We had 33 field participants sign up from 11 states. In addition to the layers of work in participation that you see here, even if you don't see a state deaf-blind project's name, on the contributor list, you should know that many people responded to the call here to help us find field participants. And that in and of itself is a huge contribution. Because that's where the rubber meets the road. That's where we get down to the nitty-gritty about how this content plays out and how it plays out in this system. And then we had the field participants include parents of children who are deaf-blind, para educators themselves -- some of the most exciting data that we got back from para- educators -- teachers, related service providers and administrators. The field reviewers included 18 experts from 15 states. Many people on this call served as field reviewers. And were very generous with their time. Both from the advisors who went through the module, cereal, M aurice, Cindy and Susan Patton from Utah went to the modules in June at -- CyrilCyril and Cindy. Gave us some very helpful feedback. Then we went through the field test and we've gotten nice layers of data that came back. So here's what we did with this.


We also shared all of that data with our expert external reviewers. I should say that Dr. Chopra and Dr. So they'll -- Dr. Siebel, from the University of Colorado center, PARA2, have received funding to create a para-educator. They had engaged for whole cycle of funding on intensive preparation and alignment of modular content with CEC competencies for p ara-educators. The CEC actually only has two sets of competencies for para-educators. One is in deaf-blindness. And that's the ones we're most familiar with. The second one is an early intervention, childhood providers. And that is who Dr. Chopra and Dr. Sobell have completed the project -- they were our external expert reviewers who went deep with us and looked at the information we got back. On the whole, what they told us when they used this constant comparison coding process to analyze the data and they looked at the satisfaction data, the usability data, looking at scale data, they aggregated all of that data, both from participants, from reviewers, from some qualitative type focus groups that we had, and they said, this content is really good, but here is where we advise you to make it better. You need to make it clearer. You need to make the path clear for the learners. Which is what we've really tried to do. Heed their device. And their advice was really to look at scalability and to continue on the path of quality. So I think everyone was excited and confirmed by that work, although it's really gave us a lot more work to do. But it is worth it. Absolutely worth it. So this is another exciting follow-up meeting that we have. Bloom's taxonomy meeting and CEC alignment. That's what this slide says. What we felt like it was time to do at this process after we got the feedback from Chopra and Dr. S obell, after we had gotten the feedback from our visors and looked at this intensive process of creation and what we had, and I'll tell you a story, the reason why we have nine modules is because none of these women actually listened to me at all. And I say that a little bit tongue-in-cheek. They have so much passion as you can imagine. How could I possibly tell Robbie Blahog what to do? How could I guide or shepherd Robbie Blaha? Every one of us that was committed to this project -- can you imagine the parents? Really wanted this to be good. So it made it hard to sculpt it down. It made it hard to make it tight and cogent and to stick with the learning path. At the process where we were, we felt like it was time to stand back and work with another respected leader, Dr. Alana Zambone, who also has walked the path, created a complete program at NHE. Alana told us earlier on, you really need to sit down and think about what you've done using b loom's taxonomy. How do you organize what you have? In a very structured way? And so we had a great opportunity to come together and Alana and Carolyn led astray process -- an initial process of aligning -- lead us through a process of aligning our content. This is where my professor roots are showing. I need to step it up and move on so that we can get to more input and more discussion. Here's what you can see, though. This is again I hope some of you are taking the chance to go on and use that Google form and sign up for the modules so that Randy can get you safely into the system and you can begin to see in each module. When this was sent out, this information for this call, we also sent out a packet, an accompaniment packet. I want to say something about that packet. That packet, you could probably get an even better copy online that we're going to post within the module, within the welcome section. We sent it out because one, we know that people are in heavy planning mode and thinking about the future. Two, there are several references in that packet that we wanted to acknowledge and show how this work is connected to your work. We wanted to show you the learning path so clearly that we followed. Here, you will see each module has an introduction and this is based on the expert advice of Chopra and Dr. Sobell of the iris center to have an inquiry challenge, which is a practical problem that will be addressed through the teaching and learning in the module. Of a learning set of activities where their content and assignments and -- they're usually four. Every module has four little chunks and sets. We have some self-assessment guides that could be used as a rubric for grading if they were adopted. By a program or by a CEU program in grading or a part of the process. As we have references and resources again -- here's something that came out of Maurice's good advice. Each module -- this came out of the advice of many from the field test, actually. We wanted the learning to be very chunks. Adult learners learn in such a different way today because multimedia, because of pacing, because of busy lives, it is not best practice in adult learning theory to just have endless amounts of information from now you. We've really tried to be thoughtful, each learning section has an estimated time and some takeaway seems for the pacing and knowledge building. So when you sign in, this is what you will see when you get the login. If you scroll back to the top of the chat pod, you can see for yourself, this is the link to the Moodle module. When you go in, you can see right away that there is a sign in page. You can see a credits page. And if you look at the credits, you can again see how participatory contributory folks were to create this work. There's also a section that's called more information. This is where you access the p ortal. Going through when you sign in, you will have credentials from Randy as I said. There's a welcome module for you to explore. I'm actually going to do something a little risky for myself, which is -- it's okay, Peggy -- I'm going to stop sharing this -- and I'm going to share my screen. So hold onto your hats. Yes. The first monitor. All right. So when you log in and you see this screen, for yourself, you'll see that there are three chunks of information here. There's a picture of Alex and his intervenors hands. There's the beautiful introductory video from Robin Bole from NCDB. And then there is this step-by-step process for registering for Moodle. That is actually just three short videos. Please don't panic. It's not very hard. Once you get the login credentials from Randy, you should be able to find information, educate yourself, and this little step-by-step slide will help you. It's got one of our dear friends, helped us build this, Dr. Greg Zobel, who helped us create this work. I'm going to go back -- hiding my face for a minute to be able to see this of the screen -- I hope everyone is okay out there. I'm drinking some tea. Okay. Grade. So it went back to the slide. How appropriate. Now, this will give you more information when you are on your own. Again, as I said when you go into the welcome and orientation module, you will find information on navigating the Moodle environment, downloadable orientation guides, which is some of what you received in the e-mail attachment that I sent out to invite a closed -- our closed community, Elizabeth closed right now. To come and take a look at what you've helped create. And now, Robbie, I hope you're on the line. -- a little bit closed. If you are not --


Hi, Amy.


Hi. Robbie is going to take a minute and talk about her module and some of its themes and the process that she used. Welcome, Robbie.


I want to thank everybody for attending today. It's a wonderful turnout. I was responsible for module one. And fortunately had a wonderful team to work with. And a lot of support and guidance from Amy. On the first four modules, we were going through a process of developing the process for making modules as well as making the module. And so it was very exciting and thanks to Amy, she got us through it. I think very well. Module one is a snapshot of deaf-blindness. It's intended to give an overview for someone who might be new to the field. So one of the things the advisory board wanted us to do was to give a snapshot of the impact of deaf-blindness on learning and social interactions. So that people began to get an understanding of what a serious and unique disability deaf-blindness is and also a respect for the needs that come about four children and their families and for schools who serve these students. The other thing this module was supposed to do was to give an idea of the strategies that are in place so that people had a sense that although this was a serious p roblem, there was so much that can be brought to the table to solve problems and to support the children and their families and district. And so we selected a list of strategies, things like social greetings, principles such as pacing, how the pacing is different for children with deaf-blindness, one of the things the advisory board really wanted us to touch on was helping people rethink their understanding and perspectives on the children's behavior. That this child is not lazy or uncooperative, but this child may not have enough information or may have a syndrome that causes particular problems. It was to kind of impart to the audience the notion that this is a serious situation but there's much that can be done about it. And it's rewarding and it is a wonderful way to spend your life. The third thing that the first module was supposed to do was to give an idea of some of the scaffolding in our field such as the national child count, the family organizations, and the deaf-blind project. So that the intervenors would also have an idea of some of how our field currently works.


I'm going to stop there. Amy, unless you have some questions or other things that you would like me to share --


Robbie, I think you alluded to what it was like working with your team and if you had any reflections -- you've gathered quite a bit of video from people that were on your team, but then in an extended way -- I think you incorporated beautifully video and the best thing thing from expanded beyond your team.


Yes. Once we have selected the instructional strategies, we wanted to highlight, I wanted teachers and intervenors to be talking about them. And so we did do videotapes of the teachers and intervenors sharing stories, perspectives, that come from really being on the front l ine. And to me, that was probably a really exciting process, to really hear from them and from the parents about the impact that deaf-blindness has had on their lives. And to hear from district who are so challenged because these childrenthese children are such a low incidence disability, they are so rare that when a district gets a child, it is for the family and the child in the district, a reckoning of trying to pull things together for this very unique disability. And we really did seek I guess front-line wisdom. And I felt that the first module really -- I hope that it gave people a respect for what everyone is involved in educating these children, respect for their situation. And a motivation to participate. Like, I want to do that. I want to make an experience book. And so I'm hoping that this module accomplishes that. It's so different when you don't have an audience that you can see their face or you can ask them questions or kind of gauge their reaction to the information. When you're working online, you just don't have that. So you have to really be thorough and as clear as possible when presenting information. And also heartfelt. I felt the often -- the authenticity of the comments that the staff and families made, I felt that it carried a message that would hold people's interest and really helped develop a level of understanding. I think online is so different. This was different for me, a real different way of presenting material because I'm used to face-to-face. And so I was very grateful for all of the help we had in designing assignments that people would find interesting and not overwhelming, so we're not there to help them necessarily. Some of these are going to be on hosted. So it was a new way of thinking for me. And I think that having all the consultation with the people who are really versed in this was very helpful. So hopefully the collaboration from the people who are professionals and online instruction -- and the people who actually provide genuine day today instruction and support to these really important children -- I think that we created a good package. I hope so, anyway.


Thank you so much, Robbie. Robbie brings up a nuance before we go on to see Kathy, and thank you so much, Robbie, for your leadership. Thank you for your leadership. The field test, we had hosted and unposted conditions which got a little wild and confusing, but what we did was with the 33 people that signed up, we had them go through two modules without hosts and two modules with hosts. And what we were really trying to get to was some of that and experience or and knowledge. And that may be something that we continue to explore should we have the opportunity to do so. So I'm going to now turn it over to Kathy Scoggins.


Hi, Amy and everybody else. I'm real excited to see the number of people here, considering what's been going on with the grant writing. So thanks for being here. The module that I worked on with the other contributors who were sensational, each of them brought a different talent with them. And as I said in one of the videos, it made everything we did so much richer because people were coming from different backgrounds, with different experience, that you couldn't get if there were just -- if it was just myself. So I thoroughly appreciated the guidance from Amy as well as from the contributors and actually some of the other leads on the second set of modules that you are exposed to yet. There was even more of that as we understood more and more the process as Robbie talked about. The fact we were sort of finding out what the process was. So it was tricky in some ways, bringing the sensory system, the brain and learning all together. And it was a challenge to distill information, because this has so much more quote, known information. And already, research-based -- and so it was really distilling the information and saying, what does the intervener need to know? They're not the TDI, they're not the teacher of deaf hard of hearing -- they are not the teacher, they are the intervener. So we really look at the issue that they needed to have some basic information such as the seven senses, not five. And then also, how does what we now know about the brain working with the sensory system change how we might be thinking about how the intervener interacts with student? With deaf-blindness? We had some general strategies for supporting the student's learning especially around the area of the sensory information. And also, of course, the brain. The brain information and the sensory information is a beginning. It's not the end. If we were to do this, if we were to do all the sensory systems, that would be forever. [Laughter] it felt like if we were doing investigations -- so we really had to be careful and say, why would we use this? This piece of information? What do we want that intervener to understand? Because each student -- for those of you who watched the video, the diversity, there is not one face of this field. And therefore, none of the information is the same from one child to another. Even among charge kids, among students with washers, so we really had to look at how do we give them some basic information? And then give them resources to get more in-depth once they have the student -- once they have the student they are working with, and we also made plans for the fact that if somebody didn't have a student they were already working with, that we had a sample student, that they could extract information from. I would say that there were many exciting things. And I would agree with Robbie, that I think in some of the video clips as well as the photography, which we were able to glean from a variety of places, the whole issue of excitement and passion, where do we find these future people? Who are going to be going to be interveners besides just the intervener's we have? And we've got to get out there and make people excited about it, not just oh, this is the field, this is a career I could do. Why would I want to do it? I feel having looked at all four of the first modules, that we did t hat. We made it exciting and i nteresting. I would say the thing I have the most fond memories of is the box of deaf-blindness, which you can see up on the screen. That Kim Lager, a parent from Arizona, has devised in taking a look at, how do you look at the senses the child has and doesn't have and how do you look at how they can open the keys on the inside, how they can actually open the box and come out and be a part of the world? And what do we need to do to make that happen? So I'm excited about that. I'm excited about a lot of the things in our module. So I would say the distillation of -- was one of the hardest parts in this module.


Thank you so much, Kathy. Thank you for your leadership in the field in an ongoing way. Kathy of course has created many modules for our field. And it was such a privilege to work with all of the leads. She particularly brought the strength of video into her module. And it is hard. It was not a small thing. Let's move on to Beth Kennedy from Michigan. To talk about her module and what was like for her to be a lead.


Thanks, Amy. Thank you all for participating. I see our numbers are almost to 100. That's exciting. Given what we're all faced with these days. My module was -- I led the module --


I think we've lost your audio?


Hello?


There you are. I can hear you again.


I apologize. I'm known for technology glitches. I'm glad I'm having one now too. The module I lead is about intervener's and intervention. So I had the monumental task of making sure that people understand what an intervener is and what's the process of intervention? To cover that within a six-hour module is pretty tough. But my team had the amazing opportunity to work with Carolyn Monaco. And no one -- I can't think of anyone better to assist in the process of explaining what an intervener is than Carolyn Monaco. So that's what we did first. We explained what --


Best, we're losing audio again. -- Beth, we're losing audio again. It may be the type of phone if you are on a cell phone.


And my back?


-- I'm not on a cell phone. Maybe I should be. Anyway, Carolyn Monaco worked with us throughout the process of the development of this module. And we explained what an intervener is. Then we explained the principles of intervention. And I would highly recommend that if any of you do not know the principles of intervention, that you get to know them. And not only are they important to intervener's, but they are important to the services for children who are deaf-blind in general. So we wanted to keep this interesting. And in keeping with the other modules, we used a lot of video footage. And Megan Cody from the Kansas project was a primary person on this module. And she recommended the video, as Jarvis -- the video, Jarvis goes to the store. I also recommend that video to you all. And you can get them both by the way in module three. And it's an amazing piece of footage that actually demonstrates all the principles of intervention. So we were able to break down the video into chunks and explain the principles in a very visual way that would not have been possiblejust through an auditory explanation. So then we took the idea of what is an intervener into the very important realm of intervener as team member, because we wanted to avoid the idea of intervener's being an island among themselves, intervener's being the expert on the team. They are an integral part of being a larger team. And in that, we went into the idea of intervention itself as a team process, not just about an intervener but about the members of the team all getting in there and providing intervention. And to do that, we tapped into the work that Susan Edelman and Sam Morgan had been doing with their webinars. So we utilized the expertise that was in our community and in our deaf-blind network to make that happen. And I just want to thank my team members. I know that several of them are on this call. We had Debbie Sanders from Utah school for deaf and blind, Diane Foster, a parent from Georgia, Jennifer Lester, a teacher from Texas, Luis Miranda, an intervener from Texas who joined us later in the development process, and as I mentioned, Megan Cody from the Kansas deaf-blind project. And Patti McGowan, who is a parent and is also the support coordinator from Pennsylvania. So it was an amazing team. We had a variety of perspectives and I think the module is that much better for it.


Really, really well done, Beth. Thanks for your leadership and for so graciously acknowledging your team has everyone has done. I wasn't able to even get through a list of acknowledgments, because then we wouldn't have any time left on the webinar. But I hope that you will take the time to look through the credits page, which is corrected. I know I sent out one that had a couple of names missing inadvertently. To my own horror. Because I never want to miss a name or miss an acknowledgment of just how many people were involved. So thank you very much, Beth. Thanks for your leadership.


Thank you.


Now we'll turn to Bernadette Van Den Tillaart from Ohio.


We're just giving her a minute to make sure her audio -- I see that she is on in a couple of places in the chat pod --


Bernadette, you should be able to press star six to unmute your phone.


We'll give her just a minute. And if for some reason she is having text of -- technical difficulties, we can go onto our next slide and Michelle. And then come back to Bernadette when she is able to join. We'll give her just a minute. And you can read her slide. I will also just say as we're waiting, Bernadette may not be known to many of us in our network, but she is becoming so. Her depth of knowledge of students, particularly students with congenital deaf-blindness is phenomenal. She has partnered with Carolyn Monaco, she has partnered with Jan Van Dyke, many European leaders, she is a very skilled teacher. And she really took some time I think, to contribute something that really has not surfaced as prominently, maybe in the United States, as it has in Europe and in the world. This emphasis on the trusting relationship and really what that looks like. The particularly rich module, with a ton of video. So if you're looking for video examples, Bernadette really dives into a moment by moment video analysis of an interaction, which is profound. It's profound. So we'll give it just another minute, Bernadette. Are you able to be on? Jacquie Brennan, thank you for supporting. Bernadette is amazing. Jacquie Brennan from Pennsylvania acknowledging Bernadette. And she was a speaker of course at the hands matter conference. The fabulous hands matter conference in Texas. She was a keynote speaker there. She has a lot of beautiful things to say. All right. For the sake of time, I am going to move on to the next slide. Hopefully Bernadette, when she is able to join in -- I see she is typing with Randy -- Bernadette, please note that we will come back to you. I'm just going to talk about as we have alluded to, there are four modules, which will be available. And that's --


Hello?


There you are.


I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding between the star and the pound s ign.


[Laughter]


I have had that misunderstanding myself.


Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much everyone, for attending this seminar. It is very special to work with NCDB by Amy in developing all these modules, because yes, we need a lot of support. And we got it even on the tiniest, weirdest questions. And our team, we work closely with Carolyn Monaco, with Peggy for editing, and with other leads for making sure that transitioning between the modules would work well. And it was great to work with our team, it consisted of Carolyn Dailey from Texas, Chris Montgomery from Texas deaf-blind consultants, Lori [Indiscernible], now in Washington, DC. Deaf-blind coordinator -- project coordinator. And Tina Herzog from Pennsylvania, deaf-blind teacher. So when we -- the advisory committee asked us to work on building relationships and positive self-image, we as a team found it very foundational, because without trust or positive self-image, students will not be open for learning. It would just close and try to cope with their stress. So we found it very foundational and we started the discussion upon gathering materials -- what is important in this module? First, we talked of course aboutall these psychological strains like attachment, intrinsic locus of control, competence. But then going from that, we came to, how can we establish positive relationships and positive self image? Because we talk of these interveners to be -- if they are going to follow these modules or maybe parents or teachers, we can [Indiscernible] relationships and self image and maybe what might be helpful for the student would be how to establish that. So we talked about you and me and how the interaction should be, t hen. And we focused on respecting the student as the interaction partner. We focused on learning to establish this relationship. That happens between the intervener and the student. And then we narrowed it down just like -- she had to do as well -- although we did not succeed in only six hours -- I have to say -- but we narrowed it down to the beginning because we know that sometimes we see students who are maybe adults or students that acquire deaf-blindness who have experienced difficulties with social interactions and often it can be led back to the very first principle and pattern. So even though we focus on the beginning, the same patterns can be applied later -- just a different form. So we saw that the role of the intervener is not that the intervener should exceed the student, with a lot of information -- but the intervener is a person who builds this relationship and instead -- affirm the student initiative -- the intervener is respectful and considerate to the student as a partner in learning together. In the beginning, it was very difficult to find to use them for good practice and that when we came to that, we understood even more why the advisory board really wanted this module to be in the first four modules. They really had seen it I think how important it is. So then we talked about, how can we make this module in such a way that interveners would really take home something? And when you talk about social interaction, it's not about task analysis or pictures of materials, because it happens between two people. And then we thought about who is going to follow these modules and -- this is kind of fourth grade level reading. And yes, we wanted to do some terminology and we decided we do only short readings and we are going to do a lot of video because with video, you can see it happening and you have a lot of examples. And then with video, you can actually not explain but show things later on -- okay, what you have seen right now, that is called affirmation. Right? We turned the process around. So of course we have an intro, which is kind of a nice story from Chris and then an inquiry c hallenge. It's a video with nice upbeat music and a tiny clip of sharing happiness. And in that little video, all the people, all the deaf-blind students and interveners who are part of the module. And then we set the course of how to develop those elation ships and self-image. We put it in the context of research and foundational thought. And principles of intervention, interveners. And how this relates actually to everyone, every one of us, every one of us online -- and what this means as we think -- we guide people through their own process and what it means when the other people who have deaf-blindness -- and then see what is the process? What is different? Then to find the principles are not as different, but it looks different. And it is not communication. You news -- use communication -- it's a foundational process. So then you go into well, interaction starts somewhere. So how do you approach -- how do you greet? And have at least three terms. It's not just I say something, you say something and that it's done. It's not like a command. It is really that you respond to each other. Acknowledgment of each other. Acknowledgment of the student, whatever they do even if you do not understand it yet. Proximity and attention, especially if we have to work in the tactile sense. And the assignments, we make a lot of small video clips. And we ask questions and we guide them through the clips, to learn, to teach them observing and analyzing. So when they go back to their own students and they make their own video clips, they have some idea, some starting idea of how you can look at videos, not in a big thing, but just on small behaviors and what is really happening. We also talk about [Indiscernible] strategies in these relationships and the ones that research has shown as very important, one of them is time -- recognize the behavior and has response -- and then sharing joy, emotions of virtual connections, it's about the recognition of emotions, that knowledge, and it's as well about happy emotions but also about stress emotions and how to solve it. It's not like in the behavioral plan, that's not what we address here, that's more a basic perspective on how to cope with -- disagreements and conflicts. How to start off. We have video examples of that as well. Of good practice. And then we say something about ending and interaction, not just leaving, showing the availability. Because that gives trust -- the student knows that someone is not just popping in and out, disappearing magically, how to do that --


Bernadette, this is Amy. I do want -- I very much appreciate the depth of what you're covering especially about the processing time and tying it back to the research. Is there anything you'd like to say just to kind of sum up in the summary contents so we can have time to discuss it further? I think you're going to find such pleasure in reviewing the depth of these modules when you do have time. As Bernadette said, the video in her modules and the depth of thinking is very evident. So Bernadette, I'll give it back to you to summarize.


Yes. The summary might be the last part of it, about all of this [Indiscernible] knowing the other and getting to know oneself. Which is the basis of self-image, the relationship that becomes a positive self-image and that we try -- people can print off forms, they can apply this to the students they work with. And this module is also a set of module six and seven in the next set of modules. Maybe that is the summary. And it was a great work to do.


You did it well. You did it well with your team. This is Amy again. We're going to move quickly so we have some time for a few questions at the end. I'm going to just say, incredibly again, that you will find more even if you just had time to go through some of the paper copies, the companion document, I shouldn't call it a companion document, we've had some fun with nouns on this project and in this process. But really there is an accompanying guide, which is somewhat like a Millie -- a mini syllabus for each module that again, and instructor could use in a system to guide t hem, but even ATA provider that is trying to connect learning over time or connecting something to some type of credit-based system or infers system -- in service system, you'll really be able to see this in these modules, because we really tried to follow the expert's a dvice. Coming up and excitingly, we anticipate depending on funding, being able to field test module five by Kathy Scoggan and her team, module six by Bernadette, understanding communication principles with students who are deaf-blind, module seven by Bernadette on emergent communication. Module eight by Beth Kennedy and her team on progressing from concrete to abstract communication and complex language, really building in a sequence. And now I'm going to turn it over to our bonus module lead who came out of this process and was really, really supportive of Robbie and really the entire project by stepping up and helping lead module nine. Routines and calendar systems. Michelle?


Okay. It says I am no longer muted, so I will trust in the magic voice. I have to say that I was a member of module team number 1. And then when we started the second round of modules, I think the process had been established. So a lot of the basics were ironed out. And most of the teams were also intact were some additions and extra people that joined in. But I think the second round of modules for those reasons probably people were hitting their stride. And I think the information flowed a little more easily. And I think everyone felt a little bit more comfortable with the process. I was lead with routine and calendar systems and like I said, our team of interpreter, intervener and physical Hartman, parent, Joanna Borge, and of course Robbie, -- Pacifica Hartman -- Vivica Hartman. After the inquiry challenge, just to say why would you be interested in knowing about routines? Why would you be interested in knowing about calendars? And then those sections are followed up by a fairly concrete how, I think that this particular module might be the most concrete of all that have that have occurred previously. And then we usually tried to have a section expanding on your success -- once you know about the basics, how can you expand on this and when you use it with your student? I think this particular module perhaps more than some of the others spiraled back a lot because it was pretty concrete but we could -- we had the opportunity to say you've learned about sensory systems. Watch how people accommodate for visual needs while they are doing particular calendar or you have already learned about communication systems. Watch as this intervener moves among all of her students, communication, modality while running a calendar routine. So it was a great opportunity to start helping the people taking the modules, pulled together previous information and hopefully use it in a concrete way with their students so that it can really begin to hit home in terms of how this information you've already used can be used in a functional way on an everyday basis.


Thank you.


Amy, go ahead.


I don't want to cut you off. I really appreciate again as I s aid, it's nice to hear your reflection, Michelle, that you felt like we were more together in the second cycle of creation. And that it is true, I believe, that the leads really had refine the process with us, really have adopted the template that you see and that cycle of learning that is reflective in even our logo, where there's an introduction inquiry challenge, learning activity, to really try to follow that and then distill and synthesize down, despite the challenges. So you can hear the theme -- and I hope you also have some joy and empathy for me in terms of working with these fabulous women. Because as I said, that is the reason why we have nine modules and not eight. But it was absolutely worth it, it created a better and richer project and product through the synthesis. So thank you again, Michelle, for your leadership. Michelle is also a great cook if you ever have an opportunity to travel with her or go camping, Michelle prepares breakfast for every one of us when we did our CEC in Bloom's taxonomy meeting. So in the midst of deep analysis, we were taking care of each other and Michelle was a big part of t hat. So let me go to the last slide, which is really a thank you again to direct you back to our credits page to thank the advisory group, the expert advisors who were collapsed into that group, just for the sake of space on that page. Dr. Charity Roland gave us some great video and advice. We thank the reviewers who were a part of this process and the field participants and helped us intensively recruit field participants, despite everything you were trying to do in your last year. The contributors who were very big part of this -- and especially the leads. And the leads also reaching out in the community to share other types of video so people that weren't contributors but that felt so connected and wanted to give their time. So we have about 10 minutes exactly left for questions. We hope that you will recognize that we're setting up a process to talk more at PDM and that Peggy Meloy, the intervener services team lead initiative lead and I as the module team lead are ready, willing and able to support you to talk with you more about the use of these modules. So I will open it up for comments and questions.


I see a question in the chat box from Tony. The question is the orientation materials -- yes, we can resend the orientation materials to everyone. And also we would encourage you, Tony -- there's so many of the orientation materials that are actually in the welcome and orientation module. And some beautiful videos there. Videos of Jarvis as best r eferenced, some of the other students, students who used formal language and students who don't use formal language to communicate were a part of our teaching core as we considered them. And it was a big adventure and still remains a big adventure to get permission on all of that. But yes, to answer your question, Tony, we can resend. And please do access the welcome module.


Susan Edelman has a question about placement. They do -- where regular class placement and inclusion -- inclusive settings, one of the students that may and Cody helped us identify and lead us to is Breanna, who was featured in the slide show. It is probably Susan -- there are more students in settings like schools for the blind, but that is not all of the video examples we have. We were fortunate -- we do hope that in this rollout of the next module -- if we have the opportunity to co-create with you future modules, that database of video and pictures is only going to get richer. And it really is a challenge to make sure that things are accessible at the same time when you open up a national resource to make sure you are upholding the law and that your also upholding the ethos of our community. -- that you are also upholding V-Sono -- the ethos of our community, so those bring more challenges of videos and photos, but yes we look forward to working with you to get them. Thank you so much, Susan. Tony -- okay. Great. I'm glad you signed up. Thank for everyone -- for the kind comments. Other comments please?


Thank you so much, Kate. We are going to be talking at PDM. Julie to Randy -- Julie de Rando is going to be leading the intervener team and thinking about uses for the modules and using them well. We want parents to be intimately involved in testing the validity of these. And in also using these as parent leaders. Very glad to see Clara on the line. Thank you, and that. Thanks for the kind comments -- thank you, Annette. I'm going to wait a few more minutes and go to the welcome module. If anyone has a question, please speak or --


Any, it is Diane Foster.


Diane, welcome. So glad you're on the line.


Thank you. Thanks for having me. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone as well. Some of the team leads -- I didn't get to spend a get to spending a lot of time with because as we were working, our team stage together. But thank you for the experiences, not only the contact and as a parent, knowing that there are other parents and people out there that do care that our children learn -- just gives such a drive that it's unreal. And just because of my work here, I was able to speak at the IDEA conference back in June. And got wonderful reviews. And it's because of the drive that I got from working with all of these people and educators and you and Jay and Randy and seeing how long you people have been doing this. You started paving this way before my son was even here. And now he's part of its too. So it's phenomenal, it's absolutely phenomenal. -- he is part of it too.


Thank you so much, Diane. As if on cue, if you could see the screen I'm sharing, there's a picture of Alex with his intervener visiting with a turkey. So Diane Foster, parent leader and module three and module eight.


And I see that we probably have three minutes left. Thank you, Katie, for your kind words about the data. And Molly. Jay, would you like to have any summary comments before we close the webinar?


You know me well enough to know that the answer to that absolutely is yes. I want to make sure that I'm being hurt. Amy, Randy, can you hear me?


Yes.


In closing, I really do want to express how proud NCDB is to help facilitate this work on behalf of the deaf-blind network. This absolutely is a collaborative effort. So it is -- we are not considering this to be our product, we're considering this to be the all-inclusive product. I so look forward to the continued conversations about use of these modules and better define how we might partner to enhance the impact of the contents that will be available through these modules. I'd also look forward to the numerous ways that the content might be used in addition to the obvious. I immediately think of future use in supporting parents access to content knowledge and teachers and other service providers and ultimately using this approach to help address the significant whole that we have in having capacity to prepare teachers of deaf-blind. I look forward to having these conversations with everybody. We need to really put our heads together relative to all of that. And in preparation for PDM, which is amazingly less than a week away. I don't know how that happened. I can't figure out where October went, let alone the entire school year. But please take time to begin exploring these first four modules. Much of the roundtable time as Amy was discussing is going to be spent planning and thinking about collaborative possibilities, not only the roundtable and intervener services but also the other roundtables. So the more information that you have about the modules in addition -- I'll reiterate to the new website, the more that we'll be able to think about how we can partner and collaborate across the entire network. So I know that it's an inordinately busy time for everybody. Us too. But to the extent we are able to pop in and at least begin taking a look at the content that will really -- that will really help. All right, Amy. Back to you.


Thanks again to everybody who participated. Again, we hope you see that as truly representative of your work. We wish you well. Thank you.


[event concluded]