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Free AIM Online Courses - Now Available to State and Local Agencies, Universities, Professional Development Groups
Now is a great time to get a jump-start on lining up professional development opportunities for the fall.
Two graduate-level courses are available free of charge to sponsoring agencies and institutions interested in offering comprehensive courses on AIM-related issues. AIM 101 includes coursework on the fundamentals of selection, acquisition and use of accessible instructional materials.
AIM 102 offers hands-on, practical lessons in acquiring and preparing AIM, including: creation/acquistion of digital materials (DAISY book, HTML, etc.), scan & read systems, supported reading software, large print, Braille, & tactile graphics.
These resources are part of a suite of products and services brought to you through the work of the 15-state AIM Consortium. |
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Have You Explored our Stakeholder-Focused Resources?
Do you want to quickly find AIM resources for specific audiences? Take a few minutes to check-out and Bookmark these AIM Center website pages, especially targeted to:
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Making the Connection Between AIM and Universal Design for Learning
Check out the accessible digital UDL version of an article written by CAST's David Rose and Ge Vue first published in the International Dyslexia Association, Perspectives on Language and Literacy, Winter 2010, 2020's Learning Landscape: A Retrospective on Dyslexia. A central tenet of the article is that printed text is disabling; it seemed counter-intuitive to use printed text to make such a claim!
Thus, the AIM Center's Ge Vue created an accessible digital UDL version of the article using a NIMAS fileset (learn more about NIMAS). With the NIMAS fileset as a foundation, he applied the UDL principles of design to transform the print article into an accessible, interactive version with embedded videos, graphic organizers, a context-specific glossary, and embedded learning prompts.
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The Research Supporting AIM
Curious about the research underlying the provision of AIM?
Visit the Research pages of the AIM Center website where you will find articles that focus on: audio, digital, large print, Braille, assistive technology, multimedia formats, supported reading (such as text-to-speech), and UDL. The articles include a mix of quantitative evidence, qualitative evidence, scholarly reviews, and expert opinions.
A special thank you to Jenna Gravel (featured in this month's, Meet the AIM Center Team) who has spearheaded the collection and review of the research supporting AIM and UDL and made it available on the AIM Center website.
We realize that these lists are not exhaustive; if you are aware of research that is not listed, please be sure to share it with us at aim@cast.org. With your help, we will keep these lists up-to-date as new research becomes available. |
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Meet the AIM Center Team |   Jenna Gravel, AIM Center
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Jenna
Gravel, Ed. M, is a project manager and research associate at CAST. As part of
the AIM team, Jenna works to develop AIM information resources, deliver these
resources to the field, and evaluate their effectiveness. At CAST, Jenna
focuses on supporting effective implementation of Universal Design for Learning
(UDL) in schools and districts. She leads the National Center on UDL and has
worked to develop Guidelines for UDL that can be used by teachers,
administrators, curriculum developers, and policymakers. At the end of July,
Jenna will be leaving CAST to pursue a doctorate in Education Policy,
Leadership, and Instructional Practice at Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). She has already made significant contributions to the field of education - we know we have not heard the last from her. Congratulations Jenna, we wish you every success at HGSE!
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Technical Assistance Tips
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Here's a question we often are asked that may cause confusion for some school teams: Once it's been decided that a student requires
print-based instructional materials in one or more accessible formats, and the
most effective formats have been identified, what's the process for acquiring those needed formats?
Did you know that there are three accessible media producers (AMPs) who provide
specialized formats of instructional materials free of charge to qualifying
students? Bookshare, Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D), and the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) all receive federal
funds to provide this service.
To find out more about the services
provided, who qualifies, and many more details about each of these AMPs, have a look
at the Guide to Federally-Funded Accessible Media Producers that was developed
by the AIM Consortium and is available for viewing or download on the AIM Center website. The Guide features a convenient At-A-Glance side-by-side summary and also
an individual Frequently-Asked-Questions (FAQ) document for each AMP.
As always, we look forward to hearing from you!
Joy Zabala
Director of Technical Assistance
CAST and National Center on AIM
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