October 30, 2000
Remember that all of the items mentioned in this letter can be found on the ConnSENSE Bulletin web site http://www.pappanikou.uconn.edu/csbull.html Subscribing to this newsletter is free. Details on subscribing are at the bottom of this letter.
I'M BACK
I took off for the summer and some of the Fall. Not sure why I got so far behind. I'll try to catch up now.
I'm a little conflicted. I have some new material that I'll be able to add to the website in November, so maybe I should wait until then to send out this letter. On the other hand I'm so far behind I've decided to publish now. Hopefully I'll have another letter for you in November.
THANKS
Some of you may know that Dr. Lee McLean left the A. J. Pappanikou Center this summer. She was one of the brightest stars we have ever had here at UConn and we miss her a lot. There is a search on to replace Dr. McLean, but in the meantime Dr. Pam Roberts is heading the Center on an interim basis. Pam is a professor here at UConn and has a major role in the UConn physical therapy training program. She worked closely with Dr. McLean for several years and is as big a believer in collaborative efforts as Dr. McLean. This, plus her tremendous administrative skills, means she's the best possible person we could have found to assume the difficult job of running the Pappanikou Center while we search for the next director.
Dr. Roberts has agreed to provide information to the ConnSENSE Bulletin on the various activities of the Pappanikou Center. Look for that information in the next letter.
HELP!
I didn't make it to Closing The Gap this year because my oldest son was getting married in California then (a miracle!) So, if any of you who did go to Closing The Gap are willing, I'd love to have you send me a paragraph or a page or more on what you thought was really exciting there this year. I'd be glad to share your comments in the next ConnSENSE Letter.
GOING TO CSUN THIS YEAR?
I made it last year, but won't be going this year. So, for those who do get to go, please write up some of the highlights and email them to me. I'll share them with our readers in a future issue of the ConnSENSE Review.
ITEMS ADDED TO THE ConnSENSE BULLETIN WEB SITE SINCE Volume 2, Number 1:
ARTICLES:
An article by John Williams on what Gore and Bush might offer in the way of Assistive Technology. The article originally appeared in Business Week.
I wrote about some concerns regarding the future of that wonderful company Edmark.
As promised, I've added the paper I presented at CSUN 2000 to the website. The paper explained our software evaluation process and the history that led to the way we evaluate software for youngsters with disabilities. If you're interested in evaluating software for us you might find the article helpful.
You can find all of the papers presented at CSUN 2000 on their website at:
http://www.csun.edu/cod/conf2000/proceedingsmainpage.html
An article on the American Disabilities Act and its impact on Government websites. That's important because the ADA will eventually have an impact on most of our websites. the article has many resources on web access.
HAMPSHIRE EDUCATIONAL COLLABORATIVE COLUMN
The third article from the Hampshire Educational Collaborative team is by Dale Gardner-Fox. It provides some low tech ideas you may well want to try.
WASHINGTON, DC UPDATE:
Lots of items in this section as congress attempts to wrap up business before the break.
RESOURCES:
A state Assistive Technology Conference in Indiana.
Words from R. J. Cooper on The Magic TouchScreen.
A description of the new eJournal of the Journal of Special Education Technology. You've got to check out this wonderful website!
CONNSENSE REVIEWS
Two new reviews were added to the ConnSENSE Reviews at: http://www.pappanikou.uconn.edu/csbrev.html
Type To Learn from Sunburst was evaluated by a teacher at the International School of Geneva, Switzerland. Rated 10 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Island Reading Journey was reviewed by Denise deMello, a special education teacher in Connecticut with feedback from another teacher and two speech and language teachers. 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. Denise contacted me to review software after reading about our software evaluation process in the ConnSENSE Letter - others are certainly encouraged to do the same.
OTHER STUFF
We are always looking for people to review software, contribute articles, and anything else for the good of the cause.
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Chauncy N. Rucker,
Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Education
EMail: crucker@crucker.com
FAX: 860-486-5037
Home: (more likely here)
860-423-7880