8:30 – 9:30 AM

nTAG Orientation and Welcome
Through nTAG’s interactive conference badges, participants had greater networking opportunities to facilitate the sharing of ideas during the conference.

Tracy Gray, Director, National Center for Technology Innovation (NCTI)
Louis Danielson, Director, Research to Practice Division, Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education

9:30 – 10:30 AM

Paths to Innovation
Promoting awareness of the benefits of Assistive Technology (AT) for students is a common practice among professional and stakeholders in the field of AT. But how do we promote awareness of the benefits of joining the field to new professionals and nurture the next generation of innovators and researchers?

Larry Goldberg (Moderator), Director, National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM), WGBH
Michael Behrmann, Professor and Director, Helen A. Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities, George Mason University
Corinna Lathan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, AnthroTronix
David Williamson Shaffer, Professor, Wisconsin Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin

10:30 – 11:15 AM

nTAG Networking Activity and Break

11:15 – 12:30 PM

Innovation in Practice: The Stories of Entrepreneurs and Researchers Developing New Products
The NCTI case studies and profiles come alive through an interactive discussion with innovators and collaborators previously featured in these two popular web series. Real-time surveys of the audience will further reveal trends in the field of technology innovation.

Eric Morrison (Moderator), Faculty, Pima Community College and author of NCTI Innovator Profiles
Sara Basson, Director, Accessibility Services Program Manager of IBM Research and Executive Advisor, Liberated Learning Consortium
Steven Landau, Research Director, Touch Graphics
Tom Large, President and Chief Executive Officer, Designer Appliances, Inc.
Annuska Perkins, Accessible Technology Group Product Planner and User Interface Designer, Microsoft

12:30 – 2:00 PM

Keynote Speaker: Dean Kamen
Inventor, Entrepreneur, and Founder of DEKA Research

Lunch

1:45 – 2:00 PM

nTAG Networking Activity

2:00 – 3:45 PM

Breakout Sessions:

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.

Tracy Gray (Moderator), Director, National Center for Technology Innovation (NCTI)
William Chard, Director of Marketing, National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC)
Martha Connolly, Director, Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS), University of Maryland
Nicholas Zelver, Tech Transfer Officer, Montana State University

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? 

Gerald Tindal (Moderator), Professor and Director, Behavioral Research and Teaching (BRT), College of Education, University of Oregon
Preston Lewis, Research Consultant, Human Development Institute, University of Kentucky
Michael Russell, Associate Professor, Lynch School of Education and Director, Technology and Assessment Study Collaborative (inTASC), Boston College
Martha Thurlow, Director, National Center for Educational 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.
David Rose, Founding Director and Chief Scientist of Cognition and Learning, Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST)
Dave Schleppenbach, Chief Executive Officer, gh, LLC

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.

Sean Smith (Moderator), Associate Professor, Department of Special Education, University of Kansas
Sheryl Burgstahler, Director, DO-IT and Accessible Technology Services, University of Washington
Dinah Cohen, Director, Department of Defense (DoD) Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP)
Ron Hu, President and Chief Technology Officer, Afforda Speech
Richard Lueking, President, TransCen, Inc.

3:45 – 4:30 PM

nTAG Networking Activity

4:30 – 5:30 PM

Chocolate Tasting

5:30 – 7:00 PM

Demonstration Event and Reception

7:00 – 8:30 PM

Explore DC with City Segway Tours™
City Segway Tours welcomed NCTI on the most fun, unique, innovative and exciting tour in DC! Segway Tours provided a great orientation, historical and current-day information, fantastic photo ops and superb personal service.  The Segway™ Human Transporter is the first of its kind—a self-balancing, personal transportation device designed to go anywhere people do. Easy to use and operate, the two-wheeled Segway sports high-tech gyroscopes that automatically respond to your body's movements, "sensing" when it should speed up and slow down. The NCTI private Segway event started in front of the Madison Hotel and cruised through the Nation's Capital, including a brief walk into the WWII memorial.

7:30 – 8:30 AM

Breakfast

8:30 – 9:00 AM

Welcome

9:00 – 10:15 AM

The AT Field at a Tipping Point: Findings from NCTI’s Dialogue Events
The NCTI Dialogue Events revealed the convergence of opportunities available to promote the potential of AT as a powerful part of an achievement solution for all students. Panelists who participated in Dialogues discuss the key findings and recommendations from the report, Moving Toward Solutions: Assistive and Learning Technology for All Students.

Dave Edyburn (Moderator), Associate Professor, Department of Exceptional Education, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Lynne Anderson-Inman, Director, Center for Advanced Technology in Education (CATE) and Center for Electronic Studying, College of Education, University of Oregon
Diana Carl, Director, Special Education Services, Region 4 Education Service Center
Bob Regan, Director, Project Management, Macromedia

10:15 – 11:00 AM

Break and nTAG Wrap-up

11:00 – 12:15 PM

Technology, Disability, and Education Policy: U.S. Senate Perspectives
Explore funding, research, and practice implications of recent legislation such as IDEA 2004, No Child Left Behind, two percent waiver ruling, the Assistive Technology Act amendments, and the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS).

Daniel Blair (Moderator), Senior Director for Public Policy, Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
Chuck Hitchcock, Chief Officer of Policy and Technology, Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST)
Jessica Brodey (bio forthcoming), Policy Consultant, Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA)

12:15 – 12:30 PM

Wrap-up Conference and Adjourn

1:00 - 4:00 PM

Post-Conference Luncheon

Disability and Educational Technology Planning: A National Policy Discussion
Hosted by the National Center on Disability and Access to Education (NCDAE) and AccessIT
The featured speaker, Carol Leffler, a lead accessible technologies specialist at Community Consolidated School District 54 in Schaumburg, IL, shares her district's efforts to develop an inclusive, district-wide technology plan for all students. Following the presentation, NCDAE and Access IT will lead a discussion on how disability issues and assistive technologies can be better integrated into local, state, and federal education technology plans and policies.

http://ncdae.org/activities/meetingregistration.cfm.