Web-based and Distance Education Training Resources

These resources were collected from the following sources: a query posted to the NECTAC Part C listserv; the NECTAC Conferences and Calendars Web page; The Clearinghouse for Professions in Special Education; and, the NECTAC Personnel Issues Team. This list does not represent all possible resources and will be updated periodically.

NECTAC Resources

NECTAC provides links to a variety of online education conference calendars, some of which provide information for online and distance education events.

OSEP-funded early childhood projects developing and providing distance learning and Web-based activities are available in the NECTAC Projects Finder database.

The NECTAC Online Workshop on Web-Based Training Demonstration is available on compact disc at cost. Content includes an online workshop, an overview to Web-based Training (WBT), tools for creating WBT and a process for design and production. Hurth, J., Diefendorf, M., Fire, N., & Kraus, R. NECTAC (2002). The content may also be viewed online at http://www.nectac.org/~wbtdemo/

Clearinghouse for Professions in Special Education Resources

The Clearinghouse offers information and linkages for distance education in the April 2003 issue of CONNECTIONS, their online newsletter. The Clearinghouse maintains a database for Colleges and Universities Offering Degree and Certification Programs in Special Education. A search yielded a distance learning personnel preparation program for early intervention at California State at Sacramento.

University Resources

ASHA (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) offers a listing of academic programs offering courses or degrees via distance education.

Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania offers a continuing education series in the Spring and Fall for a fee entitled Foundations in Pediatric Physical Therapy Practice (PDF: 234kb) including modules on early intervention and family-centered care.

Leslie University in Massachusetts offers online courses for a fee and other online graduate degree programs.

TaCTICS (Therapists as Collaborative Team members for Infant/Toddler Community Services) at Florida State University is an OSEP funded outreach training project. Modules include routines based assessment and intervention practices in natural environments.

The SELF Outreach Project at the University of New Mexico is an OSEP funded project which has developed a six week online seminar on Self Regulation for Infants and Toddlers (PDF: 345kb) which includes a model for assessment and intervention.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln offers all five of its graduate level Early Childhood Special Education courses using a variety of distance education technologies.

The University of Connecticut A.J. Pappanikou Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities is offering an Early Intervention Specialist Certificate Program with OSEP Personnel Preparation grant funding. The program is available for either graduate credits or CEUs.

The Early Childhood Behavior Project at the University of Minnesota Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Education and Research offers online courses annually.

The Early Childhood Technology Integrated Educational System, an OSEP funded project sponsored by the Center for Best Practices in Early Childhood Education at Western Illinois University provides online workshops at no charge. Workshops focus on technology as a tool to assist young children with disabilities in achieving developmental goals.

The Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy at Penn State and the National Center for Family Literacy are collaborating to offer an online Certificate in Family Literacy program through the Penn State World Campus.

State Part C Online Resources

Nebraska IFSP Web Site

Texas ECI Service Coordination Module

TX Individualized Family-Centered Transition Planning

Other Special Projects or Private Organizations

Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute's Resource Guide: Selected Early Childhood/Early Intervention Training Materials provide an online database of 500 resources, including curricula, videotapes, programmed texts and discussion guides.

Coaching in Natural Environments offers a list of Web-based learning modules related to early intervention.

The KnowledgeWorks Foundation and the Education Commission of the States provides Technology and Early Childhood Professional Development: A Policy Discussion including recommendations promoting the use of technology for personnel preparation. State Notes: Technology and Early Childhood Professional Development (July 2002) (PDF: 808kb) provides an overview of state policies and practices for using technology for training and professional development.

This Education Commission of the States' StateNotes on Technology and Early Childhood Professional Development (PDF: 800kb) contains a state-by-state table describing state policies, practices and resources for utilizing distance learning technologies in early childhood education professional development.

The National Child Care Information Center provides State examples of early childhood professional development systems available on the Web that have a distance-learning component.

Supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Entering the Mainstream: The Quality and Extent of Online Education in the United States, 2003 and 2004 (PDF: 655kb) represents the second annual study of the state of online education in U.S. Higher Education.