Foreword

Foreword Robert E. Stepp, Jr. ROBERT E. STEPP, JR. is at present the Project Director of the Media Development Project for the Hearing Impaired; Director of the Barkley Memorial Center; and Professor, Educational Administration, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Previously, he was Director of the Specialized Office for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing <1974-1977); Director of the Midwest Regional Media Center for the Deaf (1966-1974); Director of the University Bureau of Audiovisual Administration; and Assistant Director of the Extension Division, all of the above at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Stepp has an A.B. from Central College (Missouri), a M.A. from the University of Iowa, and his Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Stepp has been active in both state and national audiovisual organizations. As an author, speaker, consultant, and media specialist, Dr. Stepp's involvements in the education of the deaf are numerous. The Fourteenth Symposium on Research and Utilization of Educational Media for Teaching the Deaf was held on March 31, April 1 and 2, 1981 at the Nebraska Center for Continuing Education in Lincoln. This conference was sponsored by the Captioned Films and Telecommunications Branch of the Office of Special Education, Department of Education and the Media Development Project for the Hearing Impaired, Barkley Memorial Center, Teachers College, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A series of similar symposia were held annually from 1965 through 1974 at the Nebraska Center. After an interim of 3 years, the series was renewed in 1978. Themes of the previous conferences, conducted by the Midwest Regional Media Center for the Deaf and now the Media Development Project for the Hearing Impaired, were as follows: 1965—An Overview of Audiovisual Research Affecting Deaf Education 1966—Systems Approach in Deaf Education 1967—The Educational Media Complex 1968—Designing Instructional Facilities for Teaching the Deaf: The Learning Module 1969—Individualizing Instruction for the Deaf Student 1970—Communicative Television for the Deaf Student 1971—Programmed Learning for the Deaf Student 1972—Affecting the Human Potential of the Deaf Student: Another Role for Educational Media 1973—Career Education and Educational Media for the Deaf Student A.A.O. I September 1981 567 Foreword 1974—Update 74: A Decade of Progress 1978—Developments in Communication Technology for the Hearing Impaired 1979—Educational Technology for the '80's 1980—Back to Media: How to Use Better What You Already Have If the reader is interested in studying these reports, they may be found in one of the fall issues of each of these years in the American Annals of the Deaf. The exact monthly issue for these past conferences may be found on the inside page of the back cover. The Tenth Symposium report in this journal contained not only the scholarly papers but also a cumulative index of the papers of the previous 10 symposia. The reference for this information is the October 1974 issue of the American Annals of the Deaf, Volume 119, No. 5, pp. 626-656. The theme for the 1980 Symposium was "Back to Media: How to Use Better What You Already Have." The conferences for the past several years have been aimed to look at the future, such as the 1978 Symposium on "Developments in Communication Technology for the Hearing Impaired" and the 1979 conference on "Educational Technology for the '80's." The 1980 Symposium was designed to look back and review the progress that had been made and to suggest alternate ways to improve the use of the technology already available in schools and classes for the hearing impaired. From the first symposium in 1965 to the 1979 meeting, the program had been planned for administrators, supervisors, media specialists, and college educators. The intent of that plan was to reach the decision makers and through the years keep them abreast of the current and future applications of technology in teaching the hearing impaired. The 1980 conference was a departure from this plan. The program was designed for supervisors , teachers, and media specialists. A glance at the program reveals the fact that both the keynote and concurrent sessions were, in the main, classroom-type demonstrations. The presentations were examples of actual utilization practices in the provision of educational media and technology for acoustically handicapped students. The Fourteenth Symposium was, in a sense, another departure from the basic plan. The theme for the 1981 conference was a general category with three subcomponents. The selected title was "Hearing Impaired Learner with Special Needs," and the three divisions were (1) Giftedness, (2) Developmental Disabilities , and (3) Deaf-Blind Disabled. No one will debate the fact that many of the hearingimpaired learners have additional handicapping conditions and, in a way, are multihandicapped . One combination which is different and one which does not follow the usual classification of being multihandicapped is the concept of giftedness. All three subtopics are areas of concern because of their implications to the education of the hearing impaired. These are timely topics for a symposium on the applications of educational media and technology. The presenters were asked to submit their papers in advance of the meeting, which permits mailing of these papers to all people who preregister. No one appearing in a concurrent session was allowed to read his or her paper. The concurrent sessions were for demonstrations only. In other words, the presenter prepared a paper on his or her topic; it was sent to attendees in advance; and at the Symposium, the program participant demonstrated the meaning and content of the paper. All presenters used educational media and technology in their respective sessions. Each concurrent presentation was given three times in order for the; attendees to select and witness demonstrations conforming to their interest. The materials demonstrated included 16mm films, videotapes, filmstrips, slides, audiotapes , overhead transparencies, programmed learning sequences, super 8mm loop films, charts, posters, and other graphic arts. The equipment utilized ranged from 16mm film projectors, 8mm film projectors (cartridges), videotape players (cassettes), audiotape players (cassettes), microcomputers (diskettes), overhead projectors, to slide projectors used in one, three, or six screen presentations. The keynote speakers were as follows: Dr. Scottie Torres-Higgins, formerly executive director of the National Council of Arts for the Handicapped; Dr. C. June Maker, Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education , University of Arizona; Dr. Gerald Pollard, Director of the Talented and Gifted Project, Texas School for the Deaf; Mr. Phil Bravin, Job Placement Specialist, Deaf-Blind Program, OhIone Community College; and Dr. George Propp, Associate Director, Media Development 568 A.A.O. !September 1981 Foreword Project for the Hearing Impaired, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In addition to the keynote addresses, six sets of concurrent sessions were conducted, each including various topics of interest. In Session I the presenters were as follows: Mrs. Judith Solomon, Teacher, New York School for the Deaf, White Plains; Ms. Catherine Fischer, Learning Resources Center Assistant, Model Secondary School for the Deaf; Mr. Brian Boham, Coordinator of the Hearing Impaired Program, Davidson School, Elwyn Institutes; and Mrs. Tippi Comden, Media Director, Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf. Session II presenters were as follows: Mr. Richard Lieding, Coordinator of Research and Evaluation, Magnolia Speech School for the Deaf; Ms. Dona Chapman, Teacher/Media Specialist , Regional Program for the Deaf, Media Production Center for Portland Public Schools; Ms. Susan Zylstra Owner, Administrative Intern, Multiply Handicapped Hearing Impaired Program, Kendall Demonstration Elementary School; and Ms. Doris Caldwell, Special Assistant to the President, National Captioning Institute, Inc. The presenters for Session III were as follows: Mr, Robert Schmitt, Supervisor of Media Services , California School for the Deaf, Fremont; Dr. Charlene Bishop, Director, Hearing Impaired/Visually Impaired State Depository, Louisiana Learning Resources Systems: Mr. Rudy Flores, Teacher of Hearing Impaired, Sensory Handicapped Program, Birney Elementary School, Tacoma Public Schools; and Ms. Barbara McLean, Co-Director for Instructional Design, Instructional Media Production Project for Severely Handicapped Students, Peabody College/Vanderbilt University. The presenters for Session IV were as follows: Ms, Carla Shaw, Resource Teacher for Talented and Gifted Project, Texas School for the Deaf; Mr. Gene Grell, Upper Elementary Principal and Mr, Wyman Howard, Deaf-Visually Impaired Resource Teacher, Iowa School for the Deaf; Mrs. Judith Evans, Preschool Teacher, New York School for the Deaf, White Plains; and Mr. Stephen Gillette, Dormitory Language Project Coordinator, North Dakota School for the Deaf. The presenters for Session V were as follows: Ms. Peggy Fleury, Teacher, Gifted Hearing Impaired, Ms. Barbara MacNeil, Psychologist, and Mr. Michael Pflaum, Resource Teacher, Hearing Impaired Program, San Diego Unified School District; Ms. Joan Forsdale, Interactive Media Designer, Informedia; Mr. Michael Kessler , Developmental Education Specialist, Department of Student Life, National Technical Institute for the Deaf; and Mr. Phil Bravin, Job Placement Specialist, Deaf-Blind Program, OhIone Community College. The presenters for Session VI were as follows: Ms. Carol Dierksen, Elementary Supervisor and Ms. Deborah Peters, Special Teacher, Minnesota School for the Deaf; Mr. Patrick Coyle, Assistant Professor, Program Director, Optical Finishing Technology, National Technical Institute for the Deaf; Ms. Nita Minton, Teacher, Special Unit, California School for the Deaf, Fremont; and Ms. Nancy Northup, Teacher, Ms. Janet Fleharty, Library/Media Specialist, and Ms. Paula Hendricks, Coordinator of Curriculum Development, Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind. As you will notice, there were demonstrations from faculty members of Kendall Demonstration Elementary School, Model Secondary School for the Deaf, and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. The contract for the Media Development Project for the Hearing Impaired includes liaison responsibilities to the media programs of these government-supported schools. The Symposium is one way to report to the educators of the deaf the media developments in each of these schools. Special thanks is given to Hugh Summers who, through his position in the Conference of Educational Administrators Serving the Deaf, has consented to publish these papers in a fall issue of the American Annals of the Deaf. This publication assures that these papers will become part of the literature of the field. Sincere gratitude is also extended to the staff members of the Media Development Project for the Hearing Impaired for their able assistance with special praise to Evelyn Reiners, Assistant to the Director, and Cliff Hollestelle, Administrative Assistant. The conference staff and participants are most grateful to Captioned Films and Telecommunications Branch for providing the funds which made the Fourteenth Symposium possible, with appreciation to Dr. Malcolm Norwood, Branch Chief, and Mr. Ernest Hairston, Project Officer, for their assistance and leadership. A.A.O. !September 1981 569 ...