SD CONSORTIUM

THE VIRGINIA CONSORTIUM FOR TEACHER PREPARATION IN SEVERE DISABILITIES (SD) CONSORTIUM

PROGRAM INFORMATION

The Virginia Consortium for Teacher Preparation in Severe Disabilities (SD) includes six universities: Norfolk State University (NSU); George Mason University (GM); Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU); the University of Virginia (UVA); and Radford University (RU). The purpose of the program is to increase the number of teachers in the State of Virginia with endorsements in Severe Disabilities (SD) through a statewide distance education-based program.

The Consortium integrates the use of distance education technologies, including video-conferencing and other supporting technologies in the delivery of all course instruction. The Consortium's approach to providing distance-learning opportunities for its students stresses the importance of hands-on experiences in order to provide a quality program of study. Additionally, it simultaneously encourages the use of multiple technologies with human interactions. The Consortium utilizes video conferencing equipment to establish real-time, interactive, multipoint conference instruction among the five universities for each class taught. Through video conferencing, students at all five universities see and communicate with the professor as well as the other university students in real time. Furthermore, students at all classroom sites view multimedia presentations, including video and Power Point slides through the video conferencing equipment also in real-time. A Blackboard online course delivery system also provides 24/7 asynchronous access to students, professors, and course materials. Use of a video streaming server allows for individual access of the curriculum for students more than two hours away from any of the participating universities while also serving as a course archive system.

The program which is funded and approved by the Virginia Department of Education and the Federal Department of Education consists of nine graduate level classes (33 credit hours). Six of these credit hours will involve hands-on experiences with students with severe disabilities; therefore, allowing candidates to apply the concepts learned in class to actual school settings.