Discovery en la Escuela training in Puerto Rico for special education teachers
On September 10th, we held an excellent training session for 20 special education teachers in Puerto Rico. The session’s objective was to provide the teachers with ideas and strategies for the use of audiovisual content in the classroom.
Thanks to the invaluable efforts of Dr. Juanita Rodríguez, from the School of Education at the Universidad de Puerto Rico – Recinto de Río Piedras, the support of the university, and the participation of several schools that provide education to students with sensory disabilities in the area, it was possible to bring together a selected group of 20 special education teachers.
Despite the presentation being held on a Saturday morning, we started our session full of energy. We first met the teachers, who came from the following schools:
- El Colegio San Gabriel
- La Escuela Jorge Washington li
- La Escuela Justina Vázquez
- La Escuela Pachín Marin
- La Escuela Luis T Baliñas
- La Escuela Su Pedro Ma Dominicci
- La Escuela Superior Carlos Colón Burgos
Then, we went ahead with the training and were happy to see the teachers' interest and participation. They shared their experiences with us and that greatly enriched the session.
It was possible to include in one training session the following two elements:
1. A methodology and several tools to use audiovisual content to enhance all students' learning experience in the classroom. The material was presented by María Teresa Velasco, the Education and Inter Institutional Relations Manager for Discovery Networks Latin America/US Hispanic. Maria Teresa is in charge of Discovery en la Escuela and, fortunately for us, is part of Dicapta’s advisory group.
2. Some strategies for the use of accessibility tools (video description and captions) in the classroom for those with sensory disabilities.
Without a doubt, we achieved the training’s objective and we will witness an increase in teacher’s effective use of audiovisual resources in the classroom. There will also be concrete actions by Discovery en la Escuela to include elements that take care of the needs of students with sensory disabilities in the region that is impacted by the excellent educational program of Discovery Networks Latin America/US Hispanic.
This training session coincides with the beginning of the research component of our project “Captions and Video Description: Educational Tools for Hispanic Children with Disabilities”, directed by Dr. Rodriguez. Through this study we will learn about the benefits of using audiovisual material with captions and video description to support the learning process for children with sensory disabilities. In the coming months, once we have results, we will share with you detailed information of this study.
We want to highlight that this was the beginning of our training sessions with Discovery en la Escuela as a part of our project funded by the Department of Education. Thanks to the participation of Discovery en la Escuela as an ally on the dissemination of accessible educational tools, we will be providing training sessions in other regions of the country.
We also want to point out the unconditional support of the Universidad de Puerto Rico and its School of Education, which not only facilitated and supported the work of our Research Director, Dr. Rodriguez, but also helped with the session announcements and the logistics necessary for the success of this event.
In the name of the children with sensory disabilities of Puerto Rico, we thank the teachers that accepted our invitation, Dr. Juanita Rodriguez, María Teresa Velasco, and our director María V. Diaz, for sharing their time and experience, and their love and passion for accessibility for all.