A picture of a bridge in Louisville Kentucky.

CIDDL is Going to Louisville!

Author: Samantha Goldmaninfo@ciddl.org

CIDDL is gearing up to head to Louisville March 1-4 for the Council for Exceptional Children’s 

(CEC) Annual Convention. This convention focuses on providing professional development for teachers including strategies, tips, and research that are grounded in an application for students with disabilities. It’s an amazing event that brings together special education professionals to “learn, share, grow, and connect” and we CANNOT WAIT to connect with you in person! 

CIDDL has so many fun and exciting surprises planned for the conference including goodies at our booths, innovative and exciting technology in the tech playground, and presentations geared toward integrating technology meaningfully into teacher preparation.

Bring Meaningful Technology Integration to Your Personnel Preparation Program

Join us on Wednesday, March 1 at 1 PM for our session answering all your questions regarding “what is CIDDL?”. As part of a multi-session presentation, we will be discussing the needs and trends with technology, walk through the resources available on our website and how to access and join our community, and ensure all participants leave with an understanding of how to use CIDDL’s resources to further professional learning in your personnel preparation programs, as well as have access to partnership opportunities and assistance in addressing challenges related to technology in your teacher preparation program. This session will be facilitated by CIDDL’s PI, Dr. James Basham (University of Kansas) and co-PIs Drs. Sean J. Smith (University of Kansas), Eleazar Vasquez (University of Central Florida), and Matthew Marino (University of Central Florida). This session is geared towards administration/supervision, general and special education, teacher educators, and college and university faculty. This will be an introductory and practice-based session focused primarily on personnel preparation and technology in special education and early intervention.

Come Play in the Tech Playground!

You know CIDDL is bringing ALL the fun toys so that you can have hands-on experiences with the trendy tech! 

At one table, we will be showing off our culinary expertise and how we have re-vamped and gamified professional development into a tasty experience with our CIDDL Cizzles. Come and ask questions of our chefs, watch highlights of our episodes, and even contribute by voting for your favorite. And, if you see someone in a chef’s hat and apron wandering around the convention, ask them about how their favorite recipe aligns with their research. We’ll even have yummy treats!

Of course, we will be showing off what AI can do and giving you a chance to play with it. AI has been all the rage right now, not just in education but the world as a whole. We’ve been exploring topics such as “So AI Ruined Your Term Paper Assignment”, “Artificial Intelligence: Positives and Negatives in the Mathematics Classroom”, and “Equity, Diversity, and Access to Technology in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”. So, if you are intrigued by how AI could change or will change, education as we know it, if you have strong feelings about AI, or have little if no knowledge on the topic, we want you to visit our table!

We’ll also highlight some of the cutting-edge technology research and projects our PIs are doing with Project Social Code and VOISS. Project Social Code has a “goal of helping teachers integrate STEM and communication skills for learners with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual disabilities (ID).” You’ll have a chance to play with the Dash robot and have first hand experience with how it can be used in your classroom. VOISS is a virtual reality experience that uses social situations and scenarios to effectively teach social skills to middle school-age students. VOISS can run on iPads, Chromebooks, and laptops. Or, it uses virtual reality headsets to create immersive environments that you can have the opportunity to explore at our booth!

Finally, we will be creating live content through podcasting and videos. Drop by and talk to us about your research using technology in education and/or teacher preparation! Come and chat about what’s on your mind and have the opportunity to be a part of our newest segment “CIDDL Hot Takes”

Learn ALL About CIDDL at Our Booth

 Want to have a conversation to learn more about what we do in CIDDL? Interested in participating in our needs assessment? Looking to chat with some amazing people about how to use technology in your teacher preparation program? Looking to be a member of our community or talk about how you can get more involved with us by being a CIZZLE chef, participating in a research and practice brief, or being a guest blogger?  We’ll be hanging out in our booth for the conference and would love to meet you! You DO NOT want to miss our swag at our booth. It’s something every tech enthusiast needs!

Are You Joining Us?

Will you be at CEC? Are you presenting on a topic related to technology? Are you excited to stop by our booths? Tell us about your convention plans in our community. See you soon in Louisville!