Stephanie Hicklin Internship Proposal EDET 650 August 24, 2012 As a Training and Technical Assistance Specialist at the

Center for Disability Resources, it is my teams job to provide professional development opportunities to those who work in the BabyNet system in South Carolina. BabyNet is a federally mandated program that provides early intervention services to infants and toddlers birth to three years old and their families. It was established and is regulated by Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). We also manage the manditory BabyNet Part C Credential. BabyNet personnel must complete 12 hours of continuing education along with other manditory trainings. Many of these hours can be obtained by watching narrated PowerPoint presentation that are housed in our Learning Management System (LMS) and then passing the corresponding test. They can also attend face-to-face trainings offered by our office or other approved agencies. Because we have such a large number of personnel (approximately 1500), we have not been able to make these online learning experiences interactive. There are many roles and disciplines represented in BabyNet. Common roles represented on a team are speech/occupational/physical therapists, service coordinators, and special instructors (sometime called developmental therapists). Many times, these professionals visit the same families each week (or month) but have little contact with each other. According to IDEA, services should be identified and provided using a team approach. For my internship, I would like to take a topic that is relevant to all team members and create an online learning module that incorporates learning objects and strategies discussed in our EDET program. The topic I have in mind is Writing Quality IFSP Outcomes and is one that I recently trained on in five faceto-face events around the state over the summer. Roughly 200 people participated in these trainings. There are many drawbacks to proving training on this topic in person. The first being, time and space. It is hard to travel all over the state and hard to find adequate locations to conduct the training. More importantly, it is a one shot deal. They are expected to get it after one day and be able to put the information into practice. We typically do not have a good turnout of therapists because they have to take a day away from billable hours to participate. If this same information were provided in an interactive online learning experience, participants would be able to communicate with individuals who represent various roles and responsibilities, practice the material in real-life contexts, and receive feedback from our training staff as they progress through the module. They would also have a wealth of information and materials all housed in one location. I would design this learning group to include a variety of roles who all work in the same geographic location (teams). My hope is that this environment will encourage increased communication and interaction among professionals who work with the same families. All BabyNet personnel are already registered for our LMS and are familiar with the technology. Dr. Lesly Wilson is a Research Assistant Professor at USC and currently works with me at Team for Early Childhood Solutions (TECS), a program at the Center for Disability Resources. Her Ph.D is in Organization and Management, specialization in Leadership. She has vast experience teaching online courses and has presented herself as a mentor for me throughout my time in this graduate program. I can provide her Curriculum Vitae if necessary. I have spoken with her about her possible role in this internship as my mentor and she is excited to participate.