Programs
in
Assistive Technology Education
for End-Users in Europe
This specific department of the Bloorview MacMillan Centre is a provider of health and/or social services that is mainly involved in rehabilitation and research, as well as providing services. For more than 10 years they have been conducting training activities addressed exclusively to professionals, where AT is considered a support for independent living.
The educational activities carried out over the past five years have been classified by the compiler as follows:
The role played by AT in these initiatives is always very important and the considered areas related to AT are: household activities, health maintenance, recreation, employment, general accessibility issues, communication, mobility, cognition, reading/writing, learning.
Two topical workshops have been described to provide a picture
of the most recent educational activity of carried out by this
department at the Bloorview Macmillan Centre. Both have been held
within the framework of large conferences.
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| 101 Ways to control a powered prosthesis | topical workshop | rehab prof., technologists | ||||
| Understanding the Product Needs of the Consumers | topical workshop | rehab prof., technologists |
This workshop was held within the MyoElectric Controls Conference '97, University of New Brunswick, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Fredericton, NB (Canada). Within this initiative, pre-symposium sessions like this one were organised on therapy issues in powered upper extremity prosthetics.
Selection
Special leaflets attached to the conference advertisement were distributed, but a great role in the initiative's success was played by word of mouth. The leaflets were distributed mainly to other organisations in the field and handed out in other congresses and public initiatives. Hence the participants were those conference attendees who decided to sign on for the workshop. The teacher was chosen for his professional expertise.
Organisation
The workshop took place within the professional conference, and consequently without considering special aspects of the environment.
Implementation
The contents were delivered via a lecture accompanied by slides and the presentation/demonstration of products. The preferred pedagogical methods were questioning and good presentation. Participants were requested to fill in a presentation form, and the collected data were used to update the organisation's statistics, but also to redefine the objectives of the initiative. A final questionnaire was distributed to collect participants' impressions.
This workshop was held within the RESNA '95 Conference in Vancouver (Canada).
Selection
Special leaflets attached to the Conference advertisement were distributed, but a great role in the initiative's success was played by word of mouth. The leaflets were distributed mainly to other organisations in the field and handed out at other congresses and public initiatives. Participants were then chosen for their professional experience. The two teachers, who belong to the organisation, were also chosen for their professional expertise.
Organisation
The workshop took place within the professional conference, and consequently without considering special aspects of the environment.
Implementation
The contents were delivered via a lecture accompanied by group discussion, and supported by overhead projection, video and handouts for participants; no practice session was held.
For the special form adopted in this educational activity, the preferred pedagogical methods were questioning and good presentation. Participants were requested to fill in a presentation form, and the collected data were used to update the organisation's statistics, but also to redefine the objectives of the initiative. A final questionnaire was distributed to collect participants' impressions.