This page lists a variety of professional development opportunities and application/training materials.

If you have suggestions for additional resources, please contact Lea Ann Peschong.

Iowa Area Education Agencies:  Professional development sites.

The Iowa AEAs each provide a variety of professional development opportunities. Check these links to find PD that interests you.

Central Rivers AEA Professional Development

Keystone AEA Professional Development

Grant Wood AEA Professional Development

Mississippi Bend AEA Professional Development

Heartland AEA Professional Development

Prairie Lakes AEA Professional Development

Northwest AEA Professional Development

Green Hills AEA Professional Development

Great Prairie AEA Professional Development

Iowa online professional development opportunities

AEA Professional Development Online

AEA PD Online and PBS TeacherLine Online Course Partnership

For registration information:

  • Click the “Click Here to view AEA PD Online Catalog” link,
  • Click on the blue, “Looking for more online courses?” link.

Webinars, tutorials and resources

AbleNet

  • AbleNet University: Live and archived webinars on a variety of topics. Some are product oriented some are not.

Accessible Technology Coalition

  • Live and archived webinars from a variety of sources, on a variety of topics. Most appear to be free.

AssistiveWare

  • Proloquo2Go, Proloquo4Text, SwitchXS, KeyStrokes, and more. (Videos, Tutorials and Manuals)

ATIA (Assistive Technology Industry Association)

  • Live and archived webinars on a variety of AT topics. CEUs available for all webinars. $39.00 for 1 hour $49.00 for 1.5 hour webinar (cost decreases as number of webinars purchased increases)

Atomic Learning

  • High quality video tutorials on hundreds of software products, both mainstream and assistive technology. Free for Iowa educators and students. Contact your building media specialist for log-in information.

Bookshare

  • Webinars, tutorials and training videos pertinent to accessing and using Bookshare’s collection of accessible instructional materials

CALLScotland: CALL (Communication, Access, Literacy and Learning) (“a small unit within the Moray House School of Education, The University of Edinburgh”, Scotland)

  • Webinars (live and archived) around assistive technology and access (They are 6 hours ahead of us. Their 4:00 PM webinar starts at 10:00 AM here.)
  • They are also the creators of the free WordTalk plugin for the Windows version of MS Word, providing TTS and a few other tools.

Don Johnston

  • Co:Writer, Read:Outloud, Snap&Read, Draft:Builder, First Author, DAISYtoEPUB, Improv, Start-to-Finish Online, & Write:Outloud (“Show-Me-How Tutorials”)

Gooru University

  • Short and easy tutorials on specific skills in Google Drive, Spreadsheet and Gmail. Calendars & Docs “coming soon”. Sign up for daily tips.

Classes, workshops and conferences (face to face)

Most of these are annual events. The link will take you to the event website. Typically, the events are held around the same time each year. There may well be information for next year’s event.

ATIA – (Assistive Technology Industry Association) – Conference

  • Sponsor: ATIA

CSUN – (International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference)

  • Sponsor: California State University, CSUN

IPTA – (Iowa Physical Therapy Association)

  • Sponsor: IPTA

Iowa 1:1 Institute – Conference

  • Sponsors: “…collaboratively sponsored by school districts in and around Iowa with 1:1 computing programs.”

Building Bridges: Eastern Iowa Assistive Technology Conference

  • Sponsors: Grant Wood AEA & U of Iowa

NETA – (Nebraska Educational Technology Association) – Conference

  • Sponsor: Nebraska Educational Technology Association

ATSI – (Assistive Technology Summer Institute) – Class / Workshop

  • Sponsor: U of Iowa

NEXT Conference & Exposition – Conference

  • Sponsor: American Physical Therapy Association

TIC – (Technology Integration Conference)

  • Sponsor: Keystone AEA

Midwest Summer Institute – Conference

  • Sponsor: University of Northern Iowa in partnership with the ‘Institute on Communication and Inclusion’ at Syracuse University

ISTE – (International Society for Technology in Education) – Conference

  • Sponsor: ISTE

iPadU – Conference

  • Sponsor: Grant Wood AEA

Iowa Transition Conference

  • Sponsor: EdEvents

21st Century Learners Conference

  • Sponsor: Green Hills AEA

Technology Conference for Special Education

  • Sponsor: EdEvents

Closing The Gap – Conference

  • Sponsor: Closing the Gap

Social, Behavioral, & Independent Thinking Strategies for the Student/Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder – Conference Flyer

AT Across the Lifespan – Conference

  • Sponsors: WisTech, Wisconsin AHEAD, Department of Health Services & Stout Vocational Rehab Institute

ASHA – (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) – Conference

  • Sponsor: ASHA

Central Rivers AEA 1:1 Regional Conference

  • Sponsor: Central Rivers AEA