The announcement below contains information on two notable projects designed to reduce the digital divide in education for students with disabilities...
-----Original Message----- I am pleased to announce that the Commonwealth of Kentucky is once again in the national spotlight as an innovative leader in educational practices. Two Kentucky education projects are featured in this month's edition of the journal Information Technology and Disabilities. Kentucky's "Universal Design for Learning" and the Kentucky "Accessible Information Technology in Schools" (AITIS) projects are the topics in two separate articles in the August 2005 issue of the journal, which is a special theme issue highlighting a number of nationally significant "promising practices" on accessible information technology in educational settings. An abstract of these articles follows. UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING: A STATEWIDE IMPROVEMENT MODEL FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS By Michael Abell, University of Louisville, and Preston Lewis, Kentucky Department of Education Abstract: The state of Kentucky has embarked upon a large scale systems change effort to integrate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, including use of digital curriculum and computerized reading supports to improve overall student achievement. As higher expectations are placed on student outcomes, UDL offers a host of instructional advantages leading to improved performance for Kentucky's K-12 students. THE KENTUCKY ACCESSIBLE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN SCHOOLS PROJECT By Steve Noble, Kentucky Assistive Technology Service Network Abstract: The Kentucky Accessible Information Technology In Schools (AITIS) Project was developed to provide Kentucky public school systems with the tools and resources necessary to understand and comply with Kentucky's Accessible Information Technology Act. The AITIS Project has developed state accessibility guidelines designed to create effective district-level policy for schools, has conducted surveys to measure the level of district awareness and activity, and has provided direct technical assistance supports to school system personnel to ensure that computer mediated and computer assisted learning strategies and other information technology (IT) components are not "locking out" students with disabilities. I know from my interactions with education and policy professionals outside of Kentucky that both the UDL and AITIS projects are viewed as national models worthy of replication. You may read both of these articles on the web free of charge. The index page for the August issue is at this link: http://www.rit.edu/~easi/itd/itdv11.htm Steve Noble Policy Analyst Kentucky Assistive Technology Service Network 8412 Westport Road Louisville, KY 40242 Voice: (502) 429-4484 x268 Toll-Free: (800) 327-5287 Fax: (502) 429-7114 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------ Funding for the KY-AITIS Project is provided in part by the Southeast Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center (SE-DBTAC) through a grant by the U.S. Dept. of Education (Grant #H133D010207). http://www.katsnet.org/aitis.html _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
