When federal funds were initially directed to Maine in the early 1990s, the Farmington campus of the University of Maine System was eminently eligible for a Maine CITE grant award. UMF exemplified an already-existing and worthy candidate to promote the use of assistive technology.
"UMF has always provided a model for integrated technology and must continue to set the standard," said Prof. Ralph Granger, who established an educational software preview center in 1984 -- at the time, Maine's largest collection of educational software. Later, in 1993, he collaborated with colleague Loraine Spenciner to add Maine CITE-funded low-tech adapted devices and other materials to the demonstration and loan resources. This prompted Farmington's teaching staff to award extra points every time students included assistive technology in a lesson plan.
"All student teachers (not just those focused on special education) are expected to visit and borrow from the AT Center to experience and share assistive technology," Granger said. "Accessible materials enhance the learning experience. When it comes to education, the computer tail should not be wagging the technology dog."
Today, UMF's AT Resource Center has its own space in Ricker Annex and does its part to help UMF practice and promote accessible public education. Now in its fifth year, the Center's AT Web site comprises a good chunk of UMF Online www.umf.maine.edu. With over 200 pages receiving an average of 17,500 hits per month, the average viewing time is an amazing 34.25 minutes!
"This is a very well used site," said Jamie Beam, one of three students who staff the Center. "We respond to inquiries from around the world." Beam has spent the past year editing AT Center listings to make every page accessible for all users. She has filled in product details and applied uniform text and background colors to make each page look the same. Each of the site's pages is stamped "Bobby Approved" by an organization that certifies compliance with standards that assure ease of use by people with a wide range of needs.
When necessary, Beam photographs products herself. "The manufacturers seem to think I'm doing a good job," she said. "Sales reps have contacted me to get permission to use my photos. And they are quick to let us know when their addresses change." She said she chuckles whenever she's online looking for missing product details and has the UMF link come back at her as the recommended authority on assistive technology. The site is often accessed from afar, by citizens in France, UK, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Netherlands, and Australia, among others. "It makes me feel good every time I read the statistical Web data. Little ol' Farmington, Maine recognized like that."
In retrospect, modest seed grants from Maine CITE to UMF seem inadequate to support what has been accomplished. But it provided the needed resources to keep the already-moving ball rolling. Who would have guessed that Professor Spenciner's initial investment in Velcro tape and pipe insulation would lead to a staffed center with an assistive technology inventory exceeding 800 items? Or that the Center's AT Web site would have worldwide notoriety?
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