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These online courses are great because they are:
- They are free.
- You study at your own pace.
- The course is available when you are
- You do as much or as little work as you want.
Why take a course?
Special needs parents act as advocates for their children. To be an effective advocate, you must:
- understand your child's condition and child's needs
- know the types of accommodations available to your child
- understand how teachers can differentiate instruction for your child
- learn about special education law
- appreciate what is actually happening at your school and others.
Even if you learn just one thing or get one idea from a course, you are better able to advocate and support your child.
Working with Students with Special Educational Needs
ALISON, an award-winning social enterprise founded in 2007, offers this course. It offers insight into special education and an overview of different special needs.Time Commitment: 2 to 3 hours
Learning Platform: Online slide show - reading
Course Organisation: 7 Modules
Course Description:
This free online education course serves as an introduction to the field of special education. The course begins by outlining core elements of special education, including the change in educational legalisation in recent years with particular emphasis on legislation in America. The responsibilities of teachers and trainers are also detailed, along with the individual educational plan (IEP). The course describes the most frequent disabilities encountered in the mainstream classroom: learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), intellectual disabilities, behavioural disorders, and physical disabilities and sensory impairments. The course provides key information about each of these disabilities and describes practical strategies on how to assist and teach students with these disabilities.
Teaching Students with Special Needs: Behaviour Management
This is a college/third-level course presented by the University of Queensland, Australia.
Time Commitment: Designed for study over a 7-week period
Learning Platform: Online reading materials
Course Organisation: 7 modules
Course Description:
In this course students are introduced to a wide range of methods and strategies for meeting the needs of children with behavioural and adjustment problems in regular preschool, primary and secondary classrooms. The course explores research on teaching and defines what is currently known about how to effectively teach children with special needs with a particular emphasis on maintaining student attention and on-task behaviour. First, basic classroom teaching and management skills and procedures are covered. Secondly, more comprehensive methods and strategies known to impact positively on children with special needs are introduced. The current focus is on cooperative learning strategies and peer tutoring. The major proportion of the course will be devoted to behavioural management strategies, including the Kounin model, behaviour modification, assertive discipline, reality therapy, logical consequences, and social skills training.
Education of Children with Disabilities
This course consists of videotaped lectures delivered as part of a college class at the University of Houston, Texas.
Time Commitment: 30 hours
Learning Platform: 24 videos
Course Organisation: 12 two-part Lectures
Course Description:
The course focuses on inclusive education and what mainstream teachers need to know when a child with special needs or a disability is in their classroom.
Assistive Technology Overview
Short course by Central Indiana Education Service Center available on iTunes.Time Commitment: 30 to 60 minutes
Learning Platform: Video and audio recordings
Course Organisation: 21 clips covering different topics
Course Description:
Brief overview of the options for and benefits of assistive technology (AT) in the classroom.
These are just four of the many free courses relating to special needs, special education and disabilities. You can look for more classes at Coursera.org, Alison.com, Edx.org. and iTunes U.
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©Mary M Conneely T/A Advocacy in Action
These classes sound awesome! I'll look into them a bit further. If I find them appropriate, I'll add this post to my resources page! Thanks for sharing at Faith, Hope, and Love. I hope you join us every week!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sylvia. I've done the course Working with Students with Special Educational Needs. It is a good overview of different "special needs" and how teachers should approach them Thank you for the warm welcome and hopefully I will see you next week!
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