Three College of Education faculty members are working to develop a 30-minute interactive video and CD-ROM that will help teach functional community skills to students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities.

Project Shop is a partnership between two of the College's departments, instructional technology and special education, two local school districts and private business. John Langone, head of special education, Lloyd Rieber, head of instructional technology, and Tom Clees, associate professor of special education are project directors.

Parents, students with disabilities, and teachers from Oconee, Oglethorpe and Greene counties will participate in the project. ASV, Inc., an Atlanta-based video production company, and Publix Super Markets, Inc., are commercial partners in the venture.

Funded by a two-year, $348,464 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the project will create instructional materials using state-of-the-art computer technology to help these individuals acquire skills in the areas of employment, functional literacy, mobility and purchasing.

Episodes will show engaging stories of individuals with disabilities in a community supermarket. The CD-ROM will give these individuals an interactive virtual trip to the supermarket allowing them to practice making good decisions in a safe and helpful environment while also helping them to make a successful transition to real-life situations.

"We feel that products of this nature are the next generation of instructional tools to help individuals with disabilities become fully active in the community and be able to do what the rest of us take for granted," says Langone.

Focus groups, field-tests and consultations with parents, teachers, and instructional media experts are also planned to ensure a successful product.

"The instructional videos and multimedia CD-ROM will be motivational and engaging for students of all ability levels - not just a specific group," says Reiber.
 

Monday, November 13, 2000

Writer: Michael Childs, 706/542-5889, mchilds@coe.uga.edu

Contacts: John Langone, 706/542-4588, jlangone@coe.uga.edu

Lloyd Rieber, 706/542-3986, lrieber@coe.uga.edu

Tom Clees, 706/542-4577, tclees@coe.uga.edu