About the Authors

Melinda Jones Ault, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Early Childhood, Special Education, and Rehabilitation Counseling at the University of Kentucky (USA). Her research interests include the use of systematic instruction for person with significant disabilities, computer-based applications that include systematic instructional procedures, and the participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities in their faith communities. She is the co-editor of the Tech in Action manuscripts for the Journal of Special Education Technology and the co-publications chair of the Technology and Media Division of the Council for Exceptional Children (TAM/CEC). For additional information, email: mjault@uky.edu.

Margaret E. Bausch, Ed.D., is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Early Childhood, Special Education, and Rehabilitation Counseling at the University of Kentucky (USA) where she is the director of the Assistive and Rehabilitative Technology graduate certificate. Her research interests include assistive technology (AT) and more specifically AT implementation. She is the co-editor of Tech in Action for the Journal of Special Education Technology and serves on several review boards for professional journals. She is currently the co-chair of the publications committee and the Past President of the Technology and Media Division of the Council for Exceptional Children (TAM/CEC). For additional information, email: meb@uky.edu.

Martin E. Blair, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana. His research interests include disability policy, technology in education, and inclusion of individuals with disabilities in community environments. Dr. Blair directed the Utah Assistive Technology Program for 15 years and is a former Chair of the Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs (ATAP). He is a former associate director of the Center for Technical Assistance for Excellence in Special Education (TAESE) and the Mountain Plains Regional Resource Center, both administered through Utah State University. For additional information, email: martin.blair@umontana.edu.

Elizabeth M. Dalton, Ph.D., is Director of Development and Research for TechACCESS of Rhode Island and an independent education and training consultant. Her research interests include educational and assistive technology implementation, digital literacy, and diverse teaching and learning strategies. Post-doctorally, she studied Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Leadership at Boston College and CAST, Inc. Dr. Dalton serves on editorial boards for the Journal of Research on Technology in Education and the Journal of International Association for Special Education and is a Past President of the Inclusive Learning Network of International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE). For additional information, email: elizabethmdalton@gmail.com.

Frances Mary D’Andrea, Ph.D., is an independent educational consultant specializing in literacy issues for students with visual impairments, and serves as an instructor at the University of Pittsburgh and other universities. Her research interests include braille literacy, reading and writing instructional strategies for students with visual impairments, and technology practices of braille readers. She formerly worked at the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), and helped establish their National Literacy Center. She just completed a three-year term as Chair of the Braille Authority of North America (BANA), and serves as AFB’s representative on the BANA Board. She is co-author of several textbooks. For additional information, email: literacy2@mindspring.com.

Carl J. Dunst, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Scientist at the Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute, Asheville, NC, USA. His research interests include assistive technology and the methods used to promote parents and practitioners use of assistive technology with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with developmental disabilities, and the effects of assistive technology on children’s learning and development. His special interest is the use of implementation science as a framework for researching the links between professional development, parent and practitioner use of different kinds of early childhood intervention practices (including assistive technology) and the child benefits from the intervention practices. For additional information, email: cdunst@puckett.org.

Dave L. Edyburn, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Exceptional Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (USA). His research interests include assistive technology, access to text, and universal design engineering. He is Editor of the Journal of Research on Technology in Education and a Past President of the Technology and Media Division of the Council for Exceptional Children (TAM/CEC) and the Special Education Technology Special Interest Group of the International Society of Technology in Education (SETSIG/ISTE). For additional information, email: edyburn@uwm.edu.

Denise J. Frankoff, M.A.CCC, Ph.D., is a speech-language pathologist at Medstar National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, DC, USA. Her interests include assistive technology, neurogenic disorders of communication and swallowing and health policy. In 2010, she completed a doctorate in law and policy that examined the legal consciousness of parents seeking funding for assistive technologies for their children with communication disorders. For additional information, email: denise.frankoff@medstar.net.

Deborah W. Hamby, M.P.H., is a research analyst at the Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute, Morganton, NC, USA. Her research interests include early childhood education, data management, and statistical analyses. For additional information, email: dhamby@puckett.org.

Ted S. Hasselbring, Ed.D., is a Research Professor in the Department of Special Education at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, USA. He conducts research on the use of technology for enhancing learning in students with mild disabilities and those who are at-risk of school failure. As Co-Director of the Learning Technology Center at Vanderbilt, he conducted research on using technology for providing instruction in reading and mathematics that resulted in several widely used computer-intervention programs for struggling learners, including READ 180, System 44, FASTT Math, and Simon SIO. He has authored more than 100 books, book chapters and articles on learning and technology and serves on the editorial boards of several professional journals. He is former president of the Technology and Media Division of the Council for Exceptional Children. Currently he is Co-PI on the Emerging Technology Center funded by the Office of Special Education Programs. For additional information, email: t.hasselbring@vanderbilt.edu.

Kathy L. Look Howery, M.Sc., is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Special Education at the University of Alberta, an educational consultant and a sessional lecturer at several universities in Alberta. Her research interests include augmentative and alternative communication, assistive technology, and universal design for learning. Kathy has presented at scores of educational conferences including both the national and international level. She is a board member of the Alberta Chapter of the Council for Exceptional Children and the Inclusive Learning Network of the International Society of Technology in Education (ILN/ISTE), and is on the leadership team of the Universal Design for Learning Implementation Research Network (UDL-IRN). For additional information, email: khowery@ualberta.ca.

Cindy L. Ollis, Ph.D., is a lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Hawaii at Hilo in Hilo, Hawaii. She has also been an instructor in the Math Department at Clackamas Community College. Her interests include health psychology, coping competence and research/statistical methodology. Among others, she has presented at conferences for The Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Society of Behavioral Medicine, and the American Psychological Association. She has work published by the European Journal of Personality, and Motivation and Emotion. For additional information, email: CindyL4@hawaii.edu.

Valerie M. Penton, B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc., is a Senior Policy Analyst with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Her research interests include assistive technology, Universal Design and promoting inclusion and the rights of persons with disabilities. She completed Masters of Applied Health Services Research on the topic of assistive technology and single entry point systems and is Chair of the Universal Design Network in Newfoundland. For additional information, email: vpenton@yahoo.com.

Yue-Ting Siu is a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI) in the San Francisco Bay area, and adjunct faculty in the Department of Special Education at San Francisco State University. She is a doctoral candidate at UC Berkeley, where research interests include Communities of Practice to support itinerant teachers and technology training, and digital/multimedia accessibility. Ting is the K-12 specialist for the California Transcribers and Educators for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and consults for the DIAGRAM Center, Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, and other technology development and community organizations. For additional information and contact, please go to: tplus.education

Brian W. Wojcik, Ed.D., ATP, is an Assistant Professor in the Teacher Education Department at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. His research interests include assistive technology, technology applications for diverse learners, Universal Design for Learning, and teacher education. He is a Past President of the Special Education Technology Special Interest Group of the International Society of Technology in Education (SETSIG/ISTE) and currently serves as part of the Leadership Team for the Universal Design for Learning Implementation Research Network (UDL-IRN). For additional information, email: wojcikbw@unk.edu.