Concerned Technology

Abstract

In May 1988 UNESCO set up a Regional Seminar ‐‐ ‘New Technologies for Handicapped in Special Education’ ‐‐at the Wenner‐Gren Centre at Sveavagen in Stockholm, Sweden. This short paper reflects initial draft statements on the conference and is included here to identify the extent of common apprehensions and expectations. It covers the areas of information services, studies and research activities, international co‐operation through staff exchanges and conference activities, and looks briefly at future trends.     

Learning Strategies Training

A learning strategies program emphasizing primary (text-oriented), and support (affective) strategies was evaluated. Participants were given training in one of two sequences: primary-support or support-primary. A no-treatment group served as a control. In general, the results revealed that strategy training significantly improved performance on both text-processing and self-report measures. The primary-support group typically scored higher than the support-primary group on the text-processing measures. Conversely, the support-primary group reported more positive responses on the self-report measures. Long-term follow-up results are also presented.     

DEVELOPING A CONFERENCE FOR THE ELDERLY AS PART OF A UNIVERSITY EDUCATIONAL GERONTOLOGY CLASS

The undergraduate course Educational Gerontology taught at Hampton University includes the development and implementation of a community conference for older adults. The conference is developed in conjunction with the local senior center. Students spend two hours each week throughout the semester observing and participating in the programming at the senior center in order to become familiar with the needs and interests of older adults. During scheduled class times, students select an appropriate conference theme and begin conference plans and committee assignments. The class culminates with the conducting of the conference at the center. Such a project gives students the opportunity to get valuable hands‐on experience in educational gerontology programming.