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I'm Gail Richard, the Chair of
Communication Disorders and Sciences.
There were really three things that got us
into the laptop initiative.
The first was the aspect of our clinical program.
The problem was, we had a computer lab
with 5 computers for about 40 to 50 clinicians who
needed to access client folders.
So what we did was set up the laptop initiative so everyone
within the building could gain access to those client files.
Second thing that led us toward this was actually
our academic program.
Faculty had begun using web streaming for case examples.
They'd been recording their PowerPoint lectures and
letting students look at those ahead of class.
We used class time for a more integrated learning experience,
so it was more hands-on.
Instead of the professor standing and demonstrating
something, the students could all have it on their laptop,
watch the case, and actually score a diagnostic test.
Third thing was, we have faculty who are really
involved in technology.
We have three previous faculty members who have been
recognized with techology awards.
My name is Trina Becker.
I am an instructor in the Department of
Communication Disorders and Sciences.
In our course, Introduction to Communication Disorders,
our CDS 2000, students are exposed to a variety of
communication disorders just as an overview to what they're
going to learn in classes ahead and what kind of clients
they're going to be working with.
In my PowerPoints, I try to infuse video examples of
different cases of clients with different disorders.
For example when I'm talking about an articulation case,
a person who has difficulty with speech sounds,
I integrate a video so they can see what clients look like
that have this speech language disorder.
Technology in our department has definitely helped me
as an instructor make students realize what I'm talking about
so they can apply actually the information in their textbooks
to the video case examples, and so it has really allowed me
as an instructor to grow and just to enhance my overall
teaching in the classroom.
I think that students in our department definitely need
to be exposed to technology.
As future speech language pathologists, they're going to
be using technology and things such as data collection,
specific software geared toward therapy with certain
disorders, they're going to be using technology as a
part of reporting on their clients' behavior,
progress notes, et cetera.
So technology as we know it is constantly changing, and so
I think it's a good thing for them to be exposed to it here
at the university level.
My name is Lynn Calvert.
I'm an associate professor in the Communication Disorders and
Sciences Department, and I was on the initial committee that
came up with the brainchild for the laptop initiative.
As a result of the laptop initiative, all of our students
are now using laptops both for clinical purposes as well as for
learning purposes in the academic classroom.
As far as my teaching goes, I teach our undergraduate
assessment class, which is at the junior level, and I can use
the laptops for videotapes to allow the student to have that
integrative experience of using clients for assessment purposes
and learning how to better assess and understand the client
both from a cultural, environmental, as well as
from the disorder standpoint.
This laptop initiative actually allows our students
to experience clients at the junior level of
their Bachelor's degree.
So they are able to experience what it's like to be a
professional earlier in their career, thus allowing them to
gain more experience as well as know if this is
truly the profession that they want to go into.