Breakout Sessions

Photo: A Conference visitor during a breakout session looking at his nTag

The conference hosted four breakout sessions on Thursday, November 17. Below are summaries of each session with links to detailed notes, speakers’ bio’s, and presentations where available.

Getting Technology Out of the Lab and into Commercial Markets

Getting an idea to market as a viable product is becoming more complicated. Researchers and Tech Transfer Officers point out the signposts and resources that encourage success for new entrepreneurs and collaborative partners.

  • Martha Connolly, Director, Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS), University of Maryland
    MIPS facilitates lab-to-market tech transfer by opening direct company access to faculty experts at all University of Maryland institutions, and meets a public need in the eyes of the state government. Examples of recent MIPS projects.
    Download Martha Connolly’s PowerPoint Presentation
  • Nicholas Zelver, Tech Transfer Officer, Montana State University
    Describes tech transfer at MSU and at TechLink, funded by Department of Defense, which connects companies nationwide with U.S. government research laboratories for licensing, transfer, development, and commercialization of new technologies. Describes challenges from the researcher side and the market side, and ways to research market partners. Describes Hearing Pill project.
    Download Nicholas Zelver’s PowerPoint Presentation
  • William Chard, Director of Marketing, National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC)
    Describes the TT process at NTTC. Explains why so few patents go to market. Lists the elements of successful TT. Discussion with nuts and bolts questions.
    Download William Chard’s PowerPoint Presentation

Better Assessment of Student Outcomes through Technology

Standardized tests are a reality. How can accessible technologies advance the experience for students with special needs in accuracy and outcomes?

Implications of Universal Design for Learning and Innovation

Universal Design (UD) is an educational framework that increases accessibility of learning for all students. The learning goals are the same for all, but the means by which these objectives are achieved recognize the different styles and capabilities of students. Most of the attention given to UD has been in the “reading arts” area. More recently, increasing attention is being paid to the area of STEM education (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). This session will feature a discussion on how technology affects UD, research on the development of digital text for mathematics, and the value of incorporating the principles of UD into STEM education.

  • Jim Clovis (Moderator), President, InnOvis Associates, Inc.
    We need a bridge between the field of special education and the field of techology.
  • David Rose, Founding Director and Chief Scientist of Cognition and Learning, Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST)
    Through Universal Design, we can build books that have multiple ways of supporting the students. A book that has the right amount of support may be configured like a good computer game, to meet the needs of different kinds of learners.
  • Dave Schleppenbach, Chief Executive Officer, gh, LLC
    NIMAS is fundamentally a file format designed as a storage system. Synchronized multimedia synchronize the different modes of a presentation. A book can use devices like synchronized speech, sentence highlighting, and other features, clues for reading. A book can also provide clues in math to increase access to math and science.

Making Technology Support the Transition from School to Adulthood

How can innovative technology bridge the many gaps that loom for families and students with disabilities as they transition from secondary schools to adult lives? Experts in the field of special education technology will discuss and demonstrate how emerging technologies that are now more portable and unobtrusive can benefit students moving to postsecondary, independent living, and employment settings.

Discussion: AT can support work experiences, which also depend on other human factors and practices. AT may not travel with the individual from the school to the post-school environment. School personnel tend to adopt traditional/safe practices and those in industry are more willing to take risks and explore unconventional technology solutions. Many students enter the university without the technology skills they need; in many settings AT is segregated from general education technology, raising issues of access, equity, and full integration.