Health & Social Research Application
- TELENET -
The use of telecommunications to provide remote assessment, support and training to children & young people with severe physical & communication difficulties and to those supporting them
Funded by The Gatsby Foundation
Project Co-ordinators
Caroline Gray, Andrew Lysley, Mick Donegan
Contents
1. Executive Summary?*
2. Summary of Aims?*
3. Objectives?*
4. The TELENET Research Purpose & Rationale?*
5. The context for TELENET?*
6. The background to TELENET?*
7. Research Hypothesis?*
8. Social Relevance?*
9. Research Methodology?*
10. Outcomes?
11. Future Service Delivery
12. Dissemination, Publication & Exploitation
13. Project Costs
14. Research Team
15. Relevant Research Projects & Background Literature
Evidence from disabled users and their families shows that access to Assistive Technology, and computer/communication aid interfacing need constant attention and adjustment. Limited resources and expertise at local and regional level cannot meet this expanding need. Consequently, there is an overwhelming demand for the ACE (Aiding Communication in Education) Centre’s assessment, training and support services. This increasing pressure for improved support services has become the catalyst and rationale behind TELENET. TELENET will evaluate the extent to which current service provision in the field of Assistive Technology can be improved by using mainstream telecommunication technologies. TELENET’s aim will be to establish and thoroughly evaluate an alternative model for providing assessment, support and training services to those working with children who have severe physical and communication difficulties. Its objectives are:
Over a two-year period, two regional LEA teams will be networked directly to the ACE Centre. The ACE Centre will carry out remote interdisciplinary assessments, support and training sessions within these sites. Via the linkup, the disabled user and their team will be able to discuss their needs with the ACE Centre’s interdisciplinary assessment team. Ideas and suggestions (appropriate accessing methods, seating adjustments, or improvements to communication systems) can be exchanged and tried out "on the spot". A researcher will be seconded by ACE to the project. He will be assisted by Birmingham University to supervise the collection, monitoring and analysis of data, as well as ensuring that the research criteria and results are valid and objective.
TELENET will consider the long-term implications of a remote service delivery system on time management, prioritisation, and cost effectiveness. It will also compare the implications of delivering a remote support service in geographical areas of different population density. By using mainstream telecommunications technology, the project will extend the options and models for the service delivery of Assistive Technology. These alternative and augmentative models of service delivery will, we are confident, become important new components in the future mosaic of service delivery systems offered to disabled children and young people.
The project evaluation will consider and report on the following key areas:
The TELENET Project will start in January, 2000 and continue for approximately two years. Its total funding requirements including salaries, capital expenditure and overheads will be £157,640.00
2. Summary of Aims
The ACE Centre proposes a two-year project, whose aim is to exploit and evaluate the use of telecommunications technology to support and train people (teachers, therapists, classroom assistants, and parents) working with children with complex physical and communication difficulties in the field of Assistive Technology. The telecommunications technology to be used in this project will consist of video camera and computer-to-computer ‘live’ contact, connected via the telephone line. The project will link the ACE Centre to two remote regional centres, enabling video conferencing and real-time support and training of specialist equipment to take place at a distance. The advantages of exploiting modern telecommunications technology for the benefit of children with complex physical and communication difficulties should be considerable. Support and training should be faster and more responsive. More disabled children could be supported. The efficiency and effectiveness of multi- and interdisciplinary teams will increase. Yet, at the same time the quality of service should remain as effective as face-to-face training and support. The unit cost per training/support session should be considerably reduced and redundant travel time will be eliminated. Indeed, we hypothesise that the TELENET model of support and training will eventually enable any local or regional multidisciplinary team to receive support from a National Centre such as the ACE Centre, despite being situated hundreds of miles away. The TELENET project will establish whether this technology can be used to increase the efficiency and effectiveness with which this type of work can be carried out. By using mainstream telecommunications technology, the project will extend the options and models for the service delivery of Assistive Technology to severely disabled children. These alternative and augmentative models will, we are confident, become important components in the increasingly complex mosaic of service delivery systems offered to disabled children and young people.
4. The TELENET Research Purpose & Rationale
For children and young people with severe physical and communication difficulties, the use of Assistive Technologies (for example, adapted computers and communication aids) is integral to their social and educational well-being. Few would deny the value that today’s microtechnologies bring to the field of disability and this despite the fact that the field of Assistive Technology has only been in existence for some 25 years.
Proof that Assistive Technology has truly ‘arrived’ is witnessed by the age at which children and young people are now referred to the ACE Centre for the assessment of assistive computer devices and communication aids.
Whereas in 1985 the average age of children referred to the ACE Centre was thirteen, today this has dropped to between five and six. In other words, where Assistive Technologies were once seen as non-essential accessories, they are now perceived as essential prostheses, providing additional methods of social interaction, and opportunities for improved education and a higher quality of life. The inclusion and acceptance of Assistive Technology has, however, generated an ever-increasing demand for expert assessment, training and on-going support. It is this increasing pressure for improved support services, which has become the catalyst and rationale for TELENET.
TELENET will evaluate the extent to which current service provision in the field of Assistive Technology can be improved by exploiting some of the newly established, mainstream telecommunication technologies such as videoconferencing and computer-to-computer connections.
Across the country there are currently two major sources of support and training available to young people of school age who use Assistive Technology to help in their social communication and learning:
The use of Assistive Technology with school aged children has become a highly specialised field of activity. The demand for the services of the ACE Centre in the areas of assessment and training is in excess of what the Centre can currently offer. The high demand for services is because the Centre:
While national centres such as the ACE Centre play an important role in establishing ‘models of good practice’, they cannot provide ‘face to face’ assessment and support for all those who wish to use the Centre’s services. Time, cost and distance preclude the further expansion of this model. The TELENET model, however, will co-exist with the Centre’s current and highly successful delivery of assessment, support and training.
It will augment and extend the ACE Centre’s long-term aim to build an effective network of regionally and locally based professionals with improved levels of knowledge, training and expertise in the field of Assistive Technology. If TELENET proves viable as an alternative model, it could greatly enhance the effectiveness of the ACE Centre’s "spoke and hub" model of support to LEAs and schools and Health Trusts.
In addition to the extensive training programme that the ACE Centre already provides, it has developed well-established links with both special school and Local Educational and Health Authority multidisciplinary teams. It is from these multidisciplinary teams that the ACE Centre has received ever-increasing demands to establish closer and on-going links, which can support children and young people with complex physical and communication difficulties at a local or regional level.
The technical, human and financial support of specially modified computers and personalised communication aids for children with complex physical and communication difficulties is time-consuming and expensive. Furthermore, it can only be provided by well-trained and well-supported professionals of which there are still very few in the country. As a result, the ACE Centre provides training and support to individual users, schools, LEA advisors and health professionals many of whom live and work as far away from Oxford as Cornwall, South Wales or the Channel Islands. With the advent of fast and inexpensive telecommunications technology, the ACE Centre last year embarked on an exploratory pilot project (CATCHNET) which was supported by The Nuffield Auxiliary Fund. The purpose of the project was to test and evaluate the potential of remote teletraining and telesupport technologies in supporting individuals with complex physical and communication difficulties. To achieve this, data exchange links (computer-to-computer via telephone modem/ISDN) were used together with standard videoconferencing equipment. This pilot project has already demonstrated the potential that could be harnessed by using telecommunications technology to assess, support and train remotely.
The CATCHNET project has indicated that there are many potential advantages of remote support as a complementary service to direct, face-to-face help. Specifically, these are that the disabled user:
Following the very successful completion of the CATCHNET pilot project, the ACE Centre is ready to embark on a full-scale, research based evaluation of remote technologies. The Centre will support multidisciplinary teams made up of both health and educational professionals working with children with severe communication and physical difficulties in the local education authorities of Dorset and Hertfordshire.
Data exchanging will enable the ACE Centre to offer long distance training (both technical and clinical), the exchange and direct transfer of files to the user’s computer, technical troubleshooting, and the provision of basic software maintenance.
Videoconferencing will provide first class opportunities for exchanging professional ideas, offering advice and making clinical recommendations related to Assistive Technology.
Telecommunications technologies have already evolved to a point where they are reliable, sophisticated and relatively inexpensive. TELENET will provide an invaluable insight into how effectively this mainstream technology can be applied to special needs support, in relation to issues such as cost-effectiveness and quality of service.
7. Research Hypothesis
We hypothesise that some assessments of children and young people and, certainly, post-assessment training and support for staff working with children who have complex physical and communication difficulties can be achieved more effectively and efficiently through remote access (via telecommunications technology) to the child and the child’s multidisciplinary team. In testing this hypothesis, TELENET will analyse and evaluate to what extent assessment and on-going support and training can be used to:
[Without an interdisciplinary approach, there is a danger of the needs of the child only being viewed from the perspective of the professional involved, for example, only as a pupil by the teacher and merely as a body by the physiotherapist! Working on the other hand with a multi-professional team, the child is seen as a whole.]
[A successful outcome to this project would have implications not only for those working in our own field but also for all professionals who provide services in assessment, training and support.]
TELENET will be innovative and relevant in resolving the inherent problem of overcentralised expertise:
Innovative because it will apply and adapt today’s mainstream telecommunication technologies to a highly specialised area of disability services.
Relevant because it will demonstrate how mainstream technologies can be appropriated to improve the effectiveness and quality of life of children and young people who have great potential but limited opportunities.
8. Social Relevance
TELENET will be an excellent example of applied social and technological research in the field of severe physical and communication disability. The potential beneficiaries of this project are those with severe physical and or communication disabilities, and those who support them in their use of communication technology. In order to communicate and learn more effectively and in order to fulfil their potential, our young clients need the services of appropriately applied and modern Assistive Technologies.
As a service delivery centre, the ACE Centre is made constantly aware of the importance of training and support. Consultation with disabled users and their families shows that access to technology, seating support and computer/communication aid interfacing need ongoing attention and adjustment. The Centre is also aware of the limited expertise and resources at a local and regional level to meet this need. Consequently, the responsibility for service delivery often falls on families, inexperienced teachers, therapists, and untrained facilitators.
9. Research Methodology
9.1 Proposed TELENET project support sites
In the government’s Green Paper entitled "Excellence for All Children" emphasis was placed on the identification and future importance of "specialist schools" and "centres of excellence". The TELENET Project will involve the ACE Centre working with two local educational authority "specialist centres of excellence", one based in Dorset and the other in Hertfordshire. The Dorset site (Site 1) is situated in a rural primary school many miles away from the ACE Centre. Currently, due to the exigencies of distance, time and cost, the Centre can only offer occasional direct contact and support to children with severe but "low-incidence" disabilities in a large rural authority such as Dorset. This level of minimal contact is insufficient for furthering local and regional expertise in Assistive Technology assessment and support, despite the fact that this "site" is already building a reputation within the LEA for good practice in the specialist field of Assistive Technology. They also have strong, multidisciplinary teams working within the authority.
During the first year the research will compare the remote assessment and support services given to Dorset via videoconferencing and data exchange links with similar ACE services but delivered to a second LEA, Hertfordshire, in a more ‘traditional’ way. By ‘traditional’ methods of service delivery one means assessments taking place at ACE, outreach assessments in the child’s school, periodical face-to-face training and support, and on-going contact and help provided via telephone and e-mail. This contrast in delivery methods will provide the research with a form of control comparison.
During the second half of the project, a suitable site will be found in Hertfordshire to establish a remote assessment and support link, equipped to the same level as the Dorset site. Hertfordshire does not present the same challenges of distance and isolation from specialist services as Dorset but being more densely populated and urban it should raise some very different and interesting issues vis a vis the value and purpose of remote assessment and support services.
9.2 Schedule of Activity
Birmingham University
1. Birmingham University to begin supervision of ACE researcher in January, 2000
2. Some further input from Birmingham University during the summer holidays, 2000
3. Interim Report. Supervision of report to be delivered in March 2001.
4. Final Report. Supervision of report to be delivered by March, 2002.
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Dorset LEA
1. Setting up equipment, February 2000
2. Networked to ACE and compared to unnetworked control LEA (Hertfordshire), March 2000 — February 2001
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Hertfordshire LEA
1. Acting as an unnetworked control comparison, March 2000 — February 2001
2. Networked to the ACE Centre as remote supported LEA, March 2001 — February 2002
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The ACE Centre
1. Liaise with Birmingham University (Background Reading and Methodology) and Dorset (setting up), January — March , 2000.
2. Deliver and monitor services to Dorset (via network) and Hertfordshire (conventionally), March, 2000 — February 2001
3. Deliver Interim Report, March 2001
4. Monitoring Herts and Dorset (both via network), March 2001 — February 2002
5. Deliver Final Report, March 2002
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9.3 Overview of Activity & Key Questions
Over the two year period of the TELENET Project Dorset’s "specialist centre of excellence" will be networked directly to the ACE Centre for two years and the Hertfordshire site will be networked directly to the ACE Centre for one year (the second year). In addition to standard ISDN computer-to-computer links, videoconferencing facilities will be implemented. This will enable the ACE Centre to carry out interdisciplinary assessments, support and training sessions. Via the videoconferencing link, the disabled user and their support team (including the family) will be able to discuss their needs with the ACE Centre’s interdisciplinary assessment team. This will then be followed up with further videoconferencing and data exchange linking to provide on-going support and training.
Contact sessions will be planned and discussed with the participants. Sessions will also be recorded and the data (video and recorded performance data) will be carefully analysed and evaluated. The TELENET project will measure the extent to which the ACE Centre’s assessment and support services, which currently take place ‘face to face’, either at the ACE Centre or at the end user’s school/home, can be augmented or replaced by a teletraining and telesupport service. Key questions, which will be addressed by the project, will be:
9.4 Equipment
TELENET will be using and exploring the off-the-shelf telecommunications solutions of Data Exchanging and Videoconferencing. There will be initial purchasing costs and on-going costs such as telephone bills.
The ACE Centre will purchase a bank of AT equipment for both LEAs (for example, speech output devices, and special devices that give disabled people alternative access to technology). This bank of equipment will be used to provide each LEA centre with the specialist equipment they would not, otherwise, expect to have. The quality of remote assessment, training and support will be facilitated by the provision of such on-site resources. The minimum level of AT equipment, required to establish an effective, remotely supported centre of excellence, will be assessed and reported on.
9.5 Methodology and Data Analysis
Mick Donegan has been seconded from ACE to supervise the research aspects of the project and ensure that data is recorded and collected consistently by the various assessment and support personnel involved in the project. Crucially, part of his remit will be to evaluate the success of each phase of the project. He will be assisted by The University of Birmingham, which will provide instruments for collecting, monitoring and analysing the data. There will be three broad phases of the project, which will need careful monitoring.
Phase 1 - Technical Set-up
This involves setting up the direct network link between the ACE Centre and the Dorset LEA site described above. This phase will:
Method details:
Phase 2 — Initial training of the project staff
This phase will involve the evaluation of how well staff at the ACE Centre and at the LEA sites are able to learn to use the equipment. It is anticipated that, as the staff are trained, some of the technical configuration will be modified to respond to their needs and particular ways they envisage using the technology. Also, communication conventions will be developed, tested, and modified as necessary.
Method details:
Phase 3 — Trial of Site 1 (Dorset)
This phase will involve the actual use of the system in the ACE Centre’s work with clients (disabled users, parents, carers, and professionals) from Dorset. It will be characterised by the ways in which the technology is used, and the benefits it brings to the clients. Additionally, the trial will be compared to the control LEA, Hertfordshire, which will be served using conventional methods of assessment, training and support.
Method details
Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected regarding the use of the system. For example:
Single Case Studies. A number of single case studies will be developed around the progress of particular clients or groups of clients during the process of working with the ACE Centre.
Quality Assurance Questionnaire. A questionnaire asking project staff about key aspects of the system will be administered to the staff at the end of the trial. This will measure confidence and competence in their use of the system, and their reflections as to the success of the system in the trial.
Comparative Data. The ACE Centre will collect parallel information about current working practices while the trial is going on. Data will be collected from the control LEA (Hertfordshire) which will enable some comparisons to be made between current ACE Centre working practices and the method of working within the TELENET service. Comparative measures in relation to this will include:
The number and nature of the consultations in the control LEA (Hertfordshire) will be recorded, and clients will be asked to fill in a questionnaire about their experiences (i.e. similar data to that collected for the trial group). Additional information regarding travel time and expense will also be recorded.
Phase 4 — Trial at Site 2 (Hertfordshire)
Hertfordshire, which will be the control group for Phase 3, will become the second site for remote support in Year 2 of the project. Comparisons will be made against the data collected from Hertfordshire in Phase 3. Further data will also be collected comparing Dorset and Hertfordshire as two networked LEAs but with very different demographic and geographic profiles.
The methodology for Phase 4 will be similar to that in Phase 3.
9.6 Staffing and Research Supervision
An additional member of staff, Susan Atkinson, has been appointed to work at the ACE Centre for the duration of the project in order to release a senior member of the ACE Centre staff, Mick Donegan to supervise the research aspects of the TELENET project. Susan will join the ACE assessment and training teams in January. She has a strong background in AAC client support.
The TELENET co-ordinating team, which will meet regularly, will consist of Caroline Gray, Andrew Lysley, and Mick Donegan. They will be responsible for ensuring the delivery of the project objectives.
9.7 Research Supervision
To ensure that the results of the research are valid and objective, the ACE Centre will require supervision by an external body, Birmingham University, whose services will be purchased. Their involvement will be required from the outset and within each designated phase:
In addition to the cost of supervision, travel costs to set up the equipment and ongoing costs to observe and monitor the progress of the project would be incurred.
The project outcomes will be monitored by the project co-ordinators, who will be responsible for producing a set of mutually agreed deliverables. For example, at the end of each Project Phase a short report will be delivered.
Setting up the Project (Months 1 - 3)
Deliverables
Phase 1 report
Description of proposed research tools
Running the Project (Months 4-15)
Deliverables
Interim Report (including a technical report)
Final Phase (Months 16-27)
Deliverables
Final Report — including a User Report, a Technical Report and an Exploitation Plan
Case studies
Edited project videotape
Project Accounts
At the heart of the TELENET Project lies the belief that the ACE Centre’s Service Delivery will be enhanced by telecommunications technology. Future service provision to schools, local education authorities and health trusts will, we believe, include a significant remote support element. It will offer cost effective and practicable solutions to some of today’s problems of training and support in our field of activity. It will not be a panacea to replace all ACE Centre assessments and post-assessment contact with end users, schools and centres of excellence. However, it will, we feel confident, become a significant component in the ACE Centre’s range of service delivery options.
12. Dissemination, Publication & Exploitation
The dissemination and exploitation of project outcomes and conclusions will be an essential feature of TELENET. Presentations at conferences and training days, articles in relevant publications, and a website home page, will all complement the dissemination of the Final Report and edited videotape. An Exploitation Plan will also be published. This will describe and cost the various options open to the ACE Centre (and centres like it) if they wish to consider exploiting remote support and training as an augmentative service delivery model. It will consider the implications for quality of service, time management, prioritisation, cost, and effectiveness.
13. Project Costs
ACE Centre Costs
Salaries
One part-time researcher (for two years) £67,000.00
Telecommunications Equipment
ISDN installation (one line for Year 1, 2 lines for Year 2) £200.00
ISDN line rental (two Yrs site 1, 1Yr site 2) 12 quarters @ £70 £840.00
ISDN telephone usage (2 lines) ?500 hours @ £8 per hour £4,000.00
Video conferencing system, Three systems @ £1000 £3,000.00
Pentium III computers, Three systems @ £1200 £3,600.00
Sub-total??£ 11,640.00
Assessment & Training Equipment
Two sets of communication devices £40,000.00
Two sets of computer access devices £5,000.00
Three laptop computers £4,500.00
Two sets of AT software £6,000.00
Two digital video cameras £3,000.00
Courier services (revenue costs) £2,000.00
Travel
Site 1 travel (Dorset LEA)
(set-up, on-going maintenance & observations) 30 visits £2,000.00
Site 2 travel (control LEA site)
(observation) yr 1 10 visits £1000.00
Site 2 as networked site yr 2 20 visits £2000.00
Subsistence £2,000.00
Sub-total £67,500.00
Birmingham University Costs
Academic supervisory consultants
Staffing Costs £11,000.00
Travel £500.00
Project Costs (ACE & Birmingham combined) £157, 640.00
Andrew Lysley, ACE Centre Deputy Director & TELENET Project Co-ordinator
Andrew Lysley is Deputy Director of the ACE Centre, involved in the assessment, training and support of children and young people with severe communication, language and writing difficulties. He has been working at the ACE Centre for 14 years. Prior to that, he held senior responsibility in a school for physically and communicatively impaired children and young people. His current responsibilities include managing the Centre’s R& D Programme. This includes a wide range of action research projects such as European Telematics projects. He has presented a number of international papers and written articles on the issues and applications of microtechnology in the field of Assistive Technology and Education.
Formal Qualifications
1974 BA Honours degree from the University of London
1976 Post-graduate Certificate in Education (University of London)
1986 Special Diploma in Educational Studies (Oxford University)
1987 Diploma in Special Needs (Oxford Brookes University)
Mick Donegan
Prior to working at the ACE Centre, Mick Donegan was deputy head of a large, all age special school for children with physical difficulties. Prior to that, he worked in both mainstream and special schools, teaching young people in both the primary and secondary phase. For the last four years, he has been researching 'Computers and Inclusion for Children with Severe Physical Difficulties' as a fellow of Birmingham University, to complement and enhance his work at the ACE Centre.
Formal Qualifications
1985 Advanced Diploma Professional Studies& Education (Dist.), Birmingham Polytechnic
1990 Advanced Diploma in Information Technology in Education (Special), Birmingham University
Dr. Graeme Douglas, Research Fellow, University of Birmingham?
Dr Douglas has worked in the Research Centre for the Education of the Visually Handicapped, in the School of Education for five years. His work has largely involved the development, implementation and evaluation of educational software for children with special educational needs (often with a visual impairment). He also works extensively with access technology for people with a visual impairment, and this included carrying out the field trials of a navigation aid for blind people (the MoBIC project) in 1996. This work means he regularly works with children, parents and teachers in deciding effective ways to exploit technology. His PhD investigated individual differences in learning and the role of technology as a teaching medium.
Formal Qualifications
1990 - BSc Hons, Psychology and Computer Science (Aston University)
1993 - PhD Education (Birmingham University)
Dr. Penny Lacey, Research Fellow, University of Birmingham?
Dr Penny Lacey is a lecturer at the School of Education, University of Birmingham. She has established a strong reputation in the field of Special Educational Needs. Her publications include several papers, chapters and books on multidisciplinary teamwork. She has carried out a range of research projects relating to education. These include challenging behaviour, local management of schools, and multidisciplinary teamwork. She is currently involved in two research projects with the Down’s Syndrome Association funded by MENCAP.
BA, BEd, MEd, PGCE, PhD
1971 — 73 Teaching in mainstream schools
1973 — 75 Teaching in a school for physical difficulties
1980 — 89 Teaching in schools for severe learning difficulties
1989 — Teaching in higher education (lecturer & researcher in special needs)
15. Relevant Research Projects & Background Literature
The application of teletraining and videoconferencing technologies and strategies to the field of Assistive Technology is in its infancy. Interesting work is, however, being undertaken in the US and Canada , which will be relevant to TELENET. For example, we are in contact with the University of Iowa and the Bloorview MacMillan Centre in Toronto, both of whom are working with remote support technologies in the field of special needs. It is our intention to maintain close contact with these centres, sharing experiences, ideas and outcomes.
Remote Rehabilitation Services Network Project — Bloorview Macmillan Centre
"Remote Rehabilitation Services Network" is a project to evaluate a multimedia rehabilitation consultation network to allow clients and staff of remote children's treatment centres and other rural sites to share solutions and to consult with colleagues and professionals using telecommunications technology. They have published a report, which will be a useful contribution to the literature search in TELENET.
Verburg, G. Bloorview MacMillan Centre, Toronto. Rehabilitation R&D
Progress Reports, Vol 35, July 1998.
Special Needs Remote Support Project
The University of Iowa is using videoconferencing for remote support and training in Special Needs. They have recently published a report and given a presentation to the main US Special Needs conference, "Closing the Gap". Their work is aimed at special needs support across the curriculum and is, therefore, of considerable interest to TELENET.
Dimmitt, S. & Moore, A. University of Iowa. Project Report presented at "Closing the Gap" Conference, Oct 1997.
Other relevant projects include:
CATCHNET
This is a recently completed applied research project conducted by the ACE Centre. The project involved the remote (mainly via data exchange but also some videoconferencing) support of four young people in full-time education. All had severe physical difficulties in accessing ICT. CATCHNET was, in effect, the pilot project, which convinced the ACE Centre of the need for TELENET. The full CATCHNET Report and a Powerpoint presentation is available within the public domain from the ACE Centre.
I —CAN Project — British Telecom
This is a three-year project (ending in 1999) funded by British Telecom, which is looking at the use of videoconferencing systems in the support of children with speech or language impairments within mainstream schools in the UK. The project uses very expensive BT VC6000 systems with ISDN X 6 connections. Although the technology and client group are very different to those of TELENET, their experience of using high powered remote support technologies to provide on-line clinical interaction and therapy will be of great interest to us. We intend to maintain close contact with this project during its final year.
INTACT
This project, which is managed by the Aphasia Research Team at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, provides speech therapy programmes to dysphasic clients in their homes via inexpensive standard modem links. Clients carry out their programmes of therapy after which the interaction data is sent back to the host computer in Bristol. New programmes of therapy are then returned by data exchange links to the clients’ remote computers. The ACE Centre already has a close working relationship with Frenchay’s Aphasia research team and, while the client group and project aims are very different, there will be much to be gained from following the experiences ands outcome conclusions of this clinically based project.
Whitby Video-conferencing Project
A first-hand account is given of the experiences, difficulties and achievements of three primary schools in North Yorkshire as they get to grips with desktop videoconferencing. Although this is a mainstream educational project, the lessons of schools getting to grips with videoconferencing technology are pertinent to TELENET.
http://www.becta.org.uk/projects/videoconf/
Northamptonshire Distance INSET Project
This was a collaborative project between Northamptonshire's Inspection and Advisory
Centre and Network Learning Ltd to assess the effectiveness of a particular model on in-service training supported at a distance with information technology. The relevance of this project to TELENET is the fact that it focused on videoconferencing as an innovative and alternative mechanism for delivering in-service training to LEA schools and advisors.
http://www.becta.org.uk/gen-sheets/ndip/general.html
Relevant Videoconferencing Literature
"Videoconferencing: An Overview." Distance Education Report, Special
Issue, Oct 1997.
Roblyer, M.D. "Videoconferencing." Learning and Leading with Technology, Feb 1997.
Ehrhard, Barbara J. "Videoconferencing. What is it and how is it being used?" Techtrends, Vol 42, April-May 1997.
"Group Videoconferencing." Distance Education Report, Special Issue, Oct
1997.
Hiel, Edwin R. "Plausible Uses and Limitations of Videoconferencing as a
Tool for Achieving Technology Transfer." Journal of Extension, Vol 35, Aug
1997.
Fetterman, David M. "Videoconferencing On-Line; Enhancing Communication over the Internet." Educational Researcher, May 1996.
Relevant Teletraining Literature
Schall, K. "Evaluating Interactive Video Teletraining." Journal of
Instruction Delivery Systems, Vol 7, Summer 1993.
Kendall, R. "Evaluating the Benefits of a Computer Based Telecommunication
Network: Telemonitoring and Teletraining for Educators in Rural Areas."
Journal of Research in Rural Education, Vol 8, Winter 1992.
Miller, D. "Trim Travel Budgets with Distance Learning." Training & Development, Vol 45, Sept 1991.
Sand, M. "Economic Delivery of Video Teletraining." Journal of
Instruction Delivery Systems, Vol 9, Winter 1995.
Abernathy, D. "A Startup Guide to Distance Learning." Training & Development, Vol 51, Dec 1997.
Relevant Data Exchange Literature
Travaglini, M. "Experience the Power: Network Technology for Education."
Booklet, National Centre for Educational Statistics, Washington 1994
Hackett, E. "Creating a Cost-Effective Data Exchange." New Directions for
Institutional Research, No 89, Spring 1996.
Relevant Product Information
"Desktop Videoconferencing Products." An index and survey of videoconferencing products designed to aid comparison between the many different systems, which are commercially available. Website address:
http://www3.ncsu.edu/dox/video/products.html
"Do's and Don'ts of Videoconferencing." A questionnaire and survey.
http://www.man.ac.uk
"ISDN Real World Applications - Video Conferencing." A complete descriptive and technical reference and information source concerning ISDN technology. Website address: http://www.isdnzone.com/info/video.htm
DT-5 / Desktop Videoconferencing Product Survey
A survey from the SUCCEED (see Projects) Project's DT-5 group giving
details on a number of DVC products. DT-5 is composed of members from four
US schools.
http://www3.ncsu.edu/dox/video/