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]