Hi everyone

Good to see a few responses to my post yesterday. Really nice to meet you
all!

A couple of people have said today that they feel this list should also
cover finding the right technological solution for students. I really
think that these issues should be discussed on JiscMail's DIS-FORUM and
not here on the AT-TRAINERS forum.

I believe that my main duties as a trainer are

1) to assess an individual's training needs
2) to develop and deliver training programmes
3) to evaluate the success of training

Of course, In order to carry out my role effectively, I also need to keep
on top of technological advances. This usually involves many hours in
front of my computer researching on the Net or evaluating and/or teaching
myself a new piece of software. ("physician heal thyself" springs to mind!)

I find that there are a great many resources for the
technological/adaptive solutions side of things but practically nothing on
the training resources side. Therefore, I really feel we should keep this
forum focussed on Assistive Technology Training.

What does everyone else think?

Another issue is the one about sharing training materials, handouts etc.
This can be a bit difficult because we all work so hard at creating just
the right content and look for our materials, we can, understandably, feel
a bit possessive over them! I know I do! On the other hand, think about
how much time is involved when 100 trainers create 100 individual guides
on using Read & Write 7! It is something to think about and we can each
decide what's right for ourselves.

By the way, I don't think I really introduced myself properly before.

I have been working as the IT Trainer for Sussex Regional ACCESS Centre
(SRAC) for 3.5 years. I train Students who qualify for DSA on any
assistive technology they have received following their assessment. Most
training is provided at the centre in 1.5 to 2 hour slots but I provide
home training when necessitated by the disability or specific software. I
am also responsible for training Assessors.

I cover the following Assistive Software for both PC and Mac where
appropriate: Inspiration, Read & Write, Dragon NS, ViaVoice (Mac),
Kurzweil 1000 & 3000, Jaws, MAGic, SuperNova, Cicero. I also provide more
basic Windows/Mac OS training as well as MS Word, Scanning/OCR, Internet
and Email. Handouts are usually provided at the time of training

And all that's just before breakfast...! ;-)

OK. Enough already.

Best wishes

Susan Levy