Summer Institutes Menu

Program

This Summer Institute Is now full.

Please call 781-449-4010 x 101 if you would like to placed on the waiting list.

Engage in intensive training in connecting the latest research on individual differences to the classroom

Register for the Learning ghj_amp the Brain Summer Institute

co-sponsored by CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology)

Cost $2,275
The Summer Institute is for:
  • K-12 teachers and administrators
  • Educational technology coordinators and developers
  • Curriculum developers and instructional designers
  • Education professors
  • College professors
You Will Learn about the Latest Research on Individual Differences

This Institute focuses on teaching to individual differences through Universal Design for Learning. Most theories of learning and development treat individual differences as noise. In this workshop, we will consider individual differences as fundamental to understanding both the science of learning and the "art" of teaching. The workshop will address learning and teaching from two perspectives. First, you will learn about individual differences from the perspective of recent affective and cognitive neuroscience- what are the major sources of variability and dynamic instabilities in learning. Second, you will learn how educators can optimally respond to those differences, emphasizing recent advances in learning technologies and Universal Design for Learning.
The Institute is a small hands-on program limited to 35 participants.

In order to participate fully in the Institute, it is highly recommended that participants bring a laptop, smartphone, iPad, tablet computer, or other portable device that can access the internet.
Learning Objectives

Participants will gain knowledge about:

  • The sources of learning-related diversity in the brain
  • The power of modern technology to meet the challenge of that diversity
  • The basic principles and practices of Universal Design for Learning, a new field that takes advantage of modern cognitive neuroscience and 21st century technologies
  • Understanding the brain's ability to transform sensation and perception into useable knowledge: recognition networks
  • Understanding the sources of variability: ability and disability in constructing useable knowledge
  • Meeting the challenge: guidelines and technologies for reaching every student through multiple means of representation
  • Understanding the brain's ability to plan, organize, and initiate purposeful actions and skills: strategic networks
  • Understanding the range of variability: ability and disability in executive functions, strategic skills, and motor action
  • Understanding the brain's ability to monitor the internal and external environment to set priorities and motivate learning and behavior: affective networks
  • Understanding the range of variability: ability and disability in affect and emotion
  • Meeting the challenge: guidelines and technologies for reaching every student through multiple means of engagement
Format:
Full-time participation and preparation are expected throughout the Institute. The Institute is hands-on. In addition to listening to lectures, participants also collaborate in facilitated discussions and analyses of case studies to develop scientifically grounded approaches for understanding and meeting the diverse needs of students with learning differences. A full schedule of class sessions and activities is held each day, amounting to a program total of 22 hours. Additionally, approximately an hour and twenty minutes of preparation is required each evening for the next day.
About the Institute:

The Learning ghj_amp the Brain Summer Institute helps individuals and school teams develop the knowledge, skills and strategies necessary to responsibly apply neuroscience and cognitive science findings to the classroom to improve teaching and learning.

The program offers participants an intensive professional development experience, drawing on the most up-to-date findings on learning differences and how .

The Institute will be led by Dr. David Rose and assisted by Mindy Johnson.
About David Rose

David RoseDr. David Rose is Founder and Chief Education Officer of CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology). He is a developmental neuropsychologist and educator whose primary focus is on the development of new technologies for learning. In 1984, Dr. Rose co-founded CAST, a not-for-profit research and development organization whose mission is to improve education, for all learners, through innovative uses of modern multimedia technology and contemporary research in the cognitive neurosciences. That work has grown into a new field called Universal Design for Learning which now influences educational policy and practice throughout the United States and beyond. Dr. Rose also teaches at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education where he has been on the faculty for more than 25 years.

As a researcher, Dr. Rose is the Principal Investigator on a number of U.S. Department of Education and National Science Foundation grants, and is currently the principal investigator of two national centers created to develop and implement the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS).

He is also the co-author or editor with Anne Meyer of the books Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning (ASCD, 2002); Learning to Read in the Computer Age (Brookline, 1998); A Practical Reader in Universal Design for Learning (Harvard Education Press, 2006), and (with Anne Meyer and Chuck Hitchcock) The Universally Designed Classroom: Accessible Curriculum and Digital Technologies (Harvard Education Press, 2005). In addition he is the author of numerous journal articles and academic book chapters.

Dr. Rose also leads or participates in many of CAST's technology and media development projects that have resulted in programs that are both award-winning and commercially successful including: Literary Place (Scholastic); Wiggleworks (Scholastic); Thinking Reader (Tom Snyder/Scholastic); CAST's Bobby (now distributed by IBM); AMP Reading System (Pearson).

With his CAST colleagues, he has won numerous awards, including the Computerworld/Smithsonian Award for Innovation in Education and Academia (Laureate, 1993; Finalist, 1999), Tech Museum of Innovation Award (2002), LD Access Foundation Innovation Award (1999), and the EdNET HERO Award (2005). In 2004, the George Lucas Educational Foundation's Edutopia magazine named him one of education's "Daring Dozen."
About Mindy Johnson

As an Instructional Designer and Research Associate at CAST, Mindy Johnson participates in the formative development and research of technology-based universally designed learning environments. She also provides knowledge and expertise in the use of web-based social networking and collaborative tools (web 2.0).

Before joining CAST in 2006, Ms. Johnson was a high school special education teacher in Chapel Hill, NC, providing direct instruction in academic strategies to special-needs students and biology tutorial classes. Ms. Johnson collaborated with content-area teachers in science, history, and math. She also developed, wrote, and presented professional development opportunities for a Collaborative Handbook that modeled successful collaboration between special educators and content area teachers in her school and district.

In 2005 and 2006, she received the Harvard University Certificate of Distinction in Teaching as the Head Teaching Fellow for an undergraduate psychology course at Harvard University. Ms. Johnson also works at the Boston Museum of Science as an instructor and mentor in their Overnight Program, planning and conducting hands-on science workshops and activities for elementary school-aged children and assisting newer instructors with workshop planning and teaching strategies based on Universal Design for Learning.

Ms. Johnson is certified in elementary education and special education. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from William Smith College and a Master of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in their Technology, Innovation, and Education program.
Professional Development Credit
This program provides a total of 22 hours toward professional development credit for various professionals. For types of credit offered, call Learning ghj_amp the Brain Conference at 781-449-4010 ext. 101. Note: credits are not provided through Harvard University.
Accommodations
Interaction between faculty and participants outside the classroom is an integral part of the Institute. To foster this total immersion learning environment, participants are housed in the Harvard Square Hotel. Each participant will get their own room with a queen sized bed or a room with two double beds. The Harvard Square Hotel is located in the heart of Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA and a short walk to the Harvard Faculty Club, the site of the workshop. All facilities are ADA compliant. Please call if you are interested in making your own accommodations.