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2005 NCTI Conference General Sessions Long Writeup

Photo: Tracy GrayWelcome

Dr. Tracy Gray, Director, National Center for Technology Innovation

The theme of this year’s meeting is Creating Solutions through Collaboration. The assistance and learning technologies industry is at a tipping point, a time of great change and converging opportunities. Those of you in this room share a common goal of wanting to seize the future now by taking advantage of the power of collaboration and partnerships. There is no substitute for the synergy that can take place in the technology arena when high-energy, smart people get together to pool their insights and resources.

In this era of tight travel budgets and teleconferencing, we are pleased at the strong attendance for this meeting.

In 2003, approximately 85 researchers, developers, and vendors gathered. Last year, the number of meeting attendees increased to 125.

This year, in 2005, the total is 165 guests and presenters in panel discussions, breakout groups, and demonstrations. The presence of National Center on Disability and Access to Education strengthens the meeting’s policy focus.

Each participant has a copy of Moving Toward Solutions: Assistive and Learning Technology For All Students. This was the result of the Dialogue Forums, in which many conference attendees participated, run initially by Dr. Sousan Arafeh, and subsequently by Dr. Heidi Silver-Pacuilla, conversations among stakeholders and practitioners in industry, academia, public policy, special education, and tech transfer to explore and articulate current barriers and solutions to move the field ahead. The Forums explored the question: What will it take for assistive and learning technology to be considered a critical component of education to help more students learn, achieve, and reach their potential? This document presents an executive summary of five key findings. Participants should review these findings and share reactions. The full report will be released at the ATIA-TAM conference in January, 2006.

To access the full report of Moving Towards Solutions, visit the Resources page.