BUSINESS
Profexcel aims to hone teachers' skills
16-06-2003
by
Profexcel, an Irish firm that provides educational courses over the Net, has expanded its offerings and says it expects more participants this summer.
The two-year-old company, founded by clinical psychologists Dr Deirdre MacIntyre and Dr Moya O'Brien, as well as UCD computer scientist Henry McLoughlin, offers summer courses over the Web that help parents, teachers and other professionals to hone their skills in relation to children with special educational needs.
This summer, four courses are on offer, including courses on autism, dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Also available this year, to correspond with the Special Olympics World Games in Ireland, is a course called "Inclusion: Students with Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools."
Each course consists of five modules, corresponding to five course days, and each module takes approximately 4.5 hours to complete. All four courses help participants identify children with special learning needs and instruct teachers how to effectively teach students who may be struggling.
According to Dr MacIntyre, 600 people participated in courses last summer, and she expects a bigger turnout this year thanks to the broader offering and to returning pupils who found previous courses helpful. Courses cost about EUR300 each, or EUR140 for individuals who are eligible for a subsidy from the Department of Education. Dr MacIntyre explained that schools are often willing to cover the EUR140 cost for teachers.
Dr MacIntyre told ElectricNews.Net that although teachers would be one of the biggest groups of participants, parents, psychologists, social workers and anyone who works with children can benefit from the e-classes. MacIntyre claimed that the courses are suitable for individuals who are away on a holiday for the summer, noting that last year, one student did a Profexcel course from the Rocky Mountains on a WAP phone.
"Over their school careers, 20 percent of children may have short- or long-term special educational needs, so knowledge of this area is essential," MacIntyre commented. "Special education issues are not just important for learning support or resource teachers. They are important for all teachers," she said. "Schools are crying out for help from people with special needs training."
Dr MacIntyre said that with many similar in-class courses, teachers are left only with class notes at the end of the week. But with Profexcel, participants will have hard copy documents that can be used as a reference in the future. She also said that teachers who take the e-learning courses tend to be open to technology afterwards and tend to be more willing to use technology in their classrooms.
Profexcel expects to begin offering year-round courses this autumn and is also planning to introduce shorter courses aimed mainly at parents. Some of the company's courses are part-funded by the in-career development unit of the Department of Education and Science, and the firm is also involved in collaborative work with St Patrick's teaching training college in Drumcondra. For more information, visit the Profexcel Web site.
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