Assistive Technology
Project Directors
Chrisann
Schiro-Geist, Ph.D., has been a visionary
and creator in her academic positions. She rebuilt
the academic program at University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and moved it to one
of the nationally recognized top programs in
Rehabilitation Counseling within a decade of
her move to Urbana. She has pioneered the use
of the high technology of video-concerning and
Internet-based course work in the instruction
of Rehabilitation Professionals and students-in-training.
Her most recent accomplishment was the first
complete MS in Rehabilitation ever delivered
entirely by high-tech to 16 students in Ireland
who only came to the U.S. for their commencement
activities. While being a forerunner in the
Distance Learning arena, Chris has not forsaken
the more traditional values and issues in her
profession. She has developed course work, both
face-to-face and Internet-based, in the area
of multi-cultural approaches to Health and Rehabilitation
and has developed training packages for front-line
rehabilitation workers, especially in the area
of non-aversive behavior techniques and job
placement. Chris has served her profession well
as President of the Rehabilitation Accrediting
Body, CORE, and in offices within the National
Rehabilitation Association, at the state and
regional levels. She has received the National
Citation award of the National Rehabilitation
Counseling Association as well as the Lorenz-Baker
award for the Delivery of Services to persons
with Disability. She has received numerous grants
from such agencies as the National Institute
on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and
the Rehabilitation Services Administration.
She has presented at numerous national and international
refereed conferences and has an extensive record
of refereed publications.
Emer Broadbent,
Ph.D., is a Project Coordinator working for
the Disability Research Institute in the College
of Applied Life Studies, University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). From 1989 to 1994,
he served as the Executive Director of the Council
on Rehabilitation Education (CORE), the accrediting
body for degree programs in Rehabilitation Education.
He holds MSSA and JD degrees from Case Western
Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. His doctoral
research at the UIUC focused on employment differences
of university-educated persons with and without
disabilities. He has taught undergraduate and
graduate level courses in Social Work and Rehabilitation
in the U.S. and graduate level courses by means
of distance learning technology in Ireland.
He has done extensive research on the rights
of persons with disabilities in institutional
settings.
Content Contributors
Nicole Ditchman received a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and English
Literature from the University of Illinois in
2003. She is currently working towards a master's
degree in Rehabilitation Counseling at the University
of Illinois. In the future she plans to pursue
a doctorate in the field of Rehabilitation Psychology.
Ruth Keller graduated in the
Spring of 2004 from the University of Illinois
with a Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling.
She received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
from Lake Superior State University. She is
a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor and is
currently working in Colorado as a Vocational
Coordinator.
Jay Toothman is a graduate
student working towards his masters degree in
Rehabilitation Counseling at the University
of Illinois - Urbana/Champaign. He also received
his bachelors degree in Community Health (Education/Administration)
from the University of Illinois. After completing
his Master's degree after the Fall '04 semester,
he plans on pursuing a Law degree, hoping to
specialize in Health or disability Law. Along
with working on this Assistive Technology project,
he is also a research assistant for a Bioterrorism
Preparedness project through the Department
of Community Health.
Web Site Development
Rong-Ji Chen is a graduate
student in education. He has been teaching pre-service
teachers web design and content area applications
of educational technology. His research interests
pertain to technology use in mathematics education,
teachers' beliefs about educational technology,
and critical theory of technology. His dissertation
research project is a case study on a high school
mathematics teacher's perceptions of the epistemology
of mathematics and technology.
Sharon Yu-Fang Hsu is a doctoral
student and teaching assistant in the Department
of Special Education at University of Illinois
·Urbana/Champaign. Her research interests
are related to teacher preparation in the area
of functional behavior assessment, universal
design of instructions, and online instructional
methodology.
|
