This online textbook addresses the population of individuals with disabilities that experience complex lifelong needs across multiple areas in their lives. Drs. Sennott and Loman drafted this book (along with the help from some friends) with the hope of providing pertinent, practical, and current resources to future special educators who plan to serve individuals with complex disabilities.

The #GoOpen Blog is an opportunity for members to highlight the work of #GoOpen states and districts, so that we can learn from one another.

The following information is provided to help you craft your post. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@goopen.us with any questions.
Checklist:
Please include the following with your blog post submission:

Blog Title
Word Count – 400-600 words (but if you go shorter or longer, that’s fine!)
Photo, Caption, Attribution & Alt-Text – We’d like you to include a photo that aligns with the content of your post – this can be a photo that you’ve taken, or an openly licensed photo. Please provide a caption for the photo, the proper attribution (See https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/Best_practices_for_attribution best practices for attribution), and alt-text that describes your photo for someone who may be using a screen reader (See https://webaim.org/techniques/alttext/#context best practices for writing alt-text.
Brief Author Bio – Provide a 1-2 sentence bio to let others know who you are and where you are from.

Additional Guidelines

Endorsements:As best practice, GoOpen.us posts and engagement should avoid endorsements of specific companies or products that are meant to promote commercial organizations or businesses. In some cases, mention of commercial entities may be acceptable if the purpose is not to sell products or services but is illustrate an example, further the learning of the group, or document the experience of a #GoOpen Network member and is relevant to the goals of the #GoOpen Initiative.
PII: Any and all personally identifiable information should be removed from the post.
Use: In addition to publishing your post on the #GoOpen Network blog, we will share your post via the #GoOpen Newsletter and social media and encourage you to do the same!

Submission

Email your blog post to info@goopen.us and cc:mailto:sara.trettin@ed.gov
We will review your post and offer suggested edits for clarity or conciseness.
Once you’ve reviewed our suggested edits and accepted any changes, we will schedule your post and let you know when it will be published!

Types of Posts
Not sure where to start? Consider one of these types of posts!

Informational Posts

What’s new in your state or district? Is there a new strategy or approach you are piloting? A topic you are exploring in-depth? An opportunity to collaborate with other states or districts? Informational posts are all about sharing your work with the community!

Reflective Posts

What’s your state or district learning? Has your district team been reflecting on your approach? What have you learned? How are you tweaking your implementation approach? Are you diving into the literature on a particular topic? Reflective posts provide an opportunity to take a step back and share what you are learning with the community!

List Posts

What tips, best practices, lessons learned, or key takeaways can you share that might be helpful for others in the community? These could focus on any aspect of your state or district OER work, for example, three key takeaways from the latest summit or five tips for communicating about your work to parents.

How-to Posts

Have you figured out the perfect approach for some aspect of OER implementation? Consider sharing a step-by-step how-to post that details your approach and any implementation resources so others can follow your lead!

Interview Posts

Have a rockstar teacher, librarian, admin or other OER champion in your state or district? Consider highlighting their work through a brief Q&A post.

Coordinating Early Childhood Systems

Adults and a young child collaborating in an early learning classroom
While early childhood providers and families prioritize activities that optimize interactivity with peers and the natural environment, print and digital materials and technologies are commonly present in early learning settings, including the home and community. If and when they are determined to be appropriate, interactive materials and technologies need to be accessible if children with disabilities are to benefit from inclusive settings. Examples of accessible materials and technologies in early learning settings can include:

Tactile books that include a combination of print and braille
Video that includes captioning of sounds and audio description of visual elements
Mobile apps that are compatible with a child’s assistive technology (AT)
Ensuring that children with disabilities in early childhood programs can participate in all range of activities in early childhood programs is effectively achieved through a coordinated approach requiring collaboration between a number of agencies, federal, state, and local service providers, and families and caregivers.

Coordinating Workforce Development Systems

Adults in a workplace environment collaborating
Career training and other workforce development activities take place across a variety of settings. For example, students with disabilities transition to a range of postsecondary programs, including two- and four-year colleges, career training programs (e.g., pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeships), and directly to employment or to seeking employment. The Critical Components of the Quality Indicators for Workforce Development are designed to assist in the development of coordinated systems that result in the timely provision of accessible materials and technologies for all students and job seekers with disabilities who need them, regardless of the setting where services are provided to them.

Welcome to microbiology! In this 3-credit unit course we will cover the microbiology of bacterial and fungal organisms of importance to veterinary medicine. This content of this course lies somewhere in between basic microbiology and clinical infectious disease; although we will discuss some fundamental microbiological concepts, material will be presented from the clinician’s perspective where possible.

The lecture slides available here are a companion to a video lecture series published on YouTube for Veterinary Bacteriology and Mycology. Content for these lecture slides was updated for the 2023-24 academic year. Videos may be accessed through the following playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWLUXINerivswm0pONc-Q9x2vLiLvi0nf

This handout helps writers create accessible Word and PDF documents with an emphasis on visibility, audibility, and mobility.

Creating Accessible Websites

Illustration of website icons surrounding a computer monitor
Creating a website is not as difficult as it used to be. Today, most websites are created by entering information into a form, not by writing lines of code. A number of publishing systems are available for creating a website or a blog, and many of them have options for making the content accessible.

Through the individualisation and adaptation of learning materials enabled by open education practices and the flexibility of digital resources, excluded or struggling learners can be included, to the benefit of all learners. This Commonwealth of Learning Knowledge Series paper introduces the dimensions of inclusive design as it applies to learning and focuses on the design of diverse learning experiences to help optimise learning opportunities for all learners.

As educators, it's imperative to ensure that all students have equal opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and skills, including those with visual disabilities such as blindness and low vision. Creating accessible examinations and assignments is essential to support these students in showcasing their capabilities effectively. To assist such students in navigating assessments, given below is some guidance for teachers.

This resource is to educate others on the importance of cultural competence in special education and the lack of cultural awareness that is currently in special education classrooms. It includes history of special education and the laws surrounding it, the importance of cultural awareness and competence, what the current system is doing and why it does not work and what the future will hopefully look like for culture in special education.

This resource from the Washington Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth  provides guiding questions and resources to help student reach their full potential as they work towards their post high school and transition goals.

This page provides information about opportunities in the United States for teachers and related service providers to learn about deaf-blindness and instructional practices for children and youth who are deaf-blind. Available opportunities come in a variety of forms—online courses, webinars, and self-study modules. These are organized topically below. Some have opportunities to obtain CEUs or credits. Please note that NCDB does not host modules or offer CEUs or credits, so be sure to contact the relevant sponsoring agencies for more information.

An explanation of what it means to say educational materials are "accessible" and why accessibility is important.

The development and implementation of inclusive and diverse learning experiences is a vital consideration for educators in higher education. Increasingly, learning designers play a significant role in this process. This textbook offers postgraduate students a comprehensive guide to designing learning experiences that are accessible, equitable, and inclusive. It provides advice, principles, and practical strategies to help learning designers create a learning environment that recognises and celebrates diversity while promoting equitable learning outcomes.

An introduction to the four POUR principles that make for a more accessible experience in learning materials.

Practical tips for implementing the four principles of accessibility that are the foundation for the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Who Needs AEM?
If a student is...

unable to read or use grade level materials at a sufficient rate and with adequate comprehension to complete academic tasks with success relative to same-age peers or
cannot do this independently or across environments or tasks,
then the student may need AEM. For example, students with visual impairments may not be able to see a textbook, students with physical disabilities may not be able to turn a page, and students with learning disabilities whose decoding abilities are significantly below grade level may require support - all these students may require AEM.

Contact the AT & AEM Center to discuss your student's need

Are we teaching what we think we are teaching?""Are students learning what they are supposed to be learning?""Is there a way to teach the subject better, therefore promoting better learning?"In problem based learning, assessment needs to not only reflect the learning process but the content being learned as well.This online learning module will explore the following learning targets: •Identify how formative and summative classroom assessments are integral to instruction.•Recognize and develop high-quality performance assessments for evaluating student work.•Recognize and develop high-quality rubrics for evaluating student work.