Nine weeks to go until the ILT2014 Conference | Session Selections opening next week!

Whew! Now only nine weeks to go until the Inclusive Learning Technologies Conference 2014 (ILT2014) kicks off on 20th May on Queensland's Gold Coast! If you have registered already, this update is just keeping you in the loop. If you haven't yet registered, it would be great to have you join us for four full-on days of immersion in the world of technologies to support diverse learners!

Click here to register online now!


Meet Carole Zangari | AAC in Special Ed and Autism Specialist

Photo of Carole Zangari and images from her PracticalAAC blog

If you are a speech pathologist interested in AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication), the AWESOME Carole Zangari and her equally awesome PrAACtical AAC blog probably need no introduction. Join us at the ILT2014 Conference this year for the chance to meet Carole in person for the very first time in Australia.

If you are a teacher supporting students with complex communication needs, students with autism, or students in a special education classroom, you too will learn SO much from Carole!

Carole is a Professor of Speech and Language Pathology at Nova Southeastern University in the US, where she teaches AAC classes at the master’s and doctoral level, supervises AAC clinical services to children and adults, and administers an AAC lab. Her fresh approach to teaching and learning, actively using many social media tools, makes the concept and power of AAC and assistive technology easily understandable for both clinical and classroom applications.

Learn more about Carole here or cruise through the following sessions she will be presenting at the ILT2014 Conference.

Keynote Address: Integrating Language and Literacy Instruction: Strategies for Effective AAC Learning

Robust Vocabulary Instruction for Students with Developmental Disabilities and AAC Needs: Practical Strategies

Supporting AAC Practitioners Using Online Tools and Strategies

A Curricular Approach to Core Language Instruction for Pre-kindergarten Children with AAC Needs

Selecting AAC apps: Strategies and Resources to be presented jointly with Spectronics' speech pathologists Charlene Cullen and Amanda Hartmann. We are asked so often how to make sense of over 300 AAC apps now available, this will be a particularly valuable session.

Where to find Carole – apart from being with us on the Gold Coast in May? She is all over Twitter @CommGreenhouse with her PrAACtical AAC blog colleague Robin Parker @PrAACticalAAC. You can also find them on the PrAACtical AAC Facebook page filled with incredibly practical AAC resources. If you are not following Carole now, you definitely will be after you see her in action at the conference! We can't wait!

PrAACtical AAC blog accolades

Can my attendance at the ILT2014 Conference count towards my teacher Continuing Professional Learning hours?

Image of delegates from the Inclusive Learning Technologies Conference in 2012

Throughout 2014, many states and territories of Australia are introducing mandatory professional learning hours for teachers, to meet the requirements for ongoing teacher registration and approval as a component of a national professional standard for teachers.

Spectronics is currently in the process of seeking to be a recognised provider of professional learning within each state and territory across Australia, where appropriate, to support teachers to meet these requirements. We are trying to get this done as quickly as possible, but the process will not be completed in time for the upcoming ILT2014 Conference.

Can you still count your attendance at the conference towards your professional learning hours? Yes you can! Teachers can attend professional learning that is classified as ‘teacher identified’. In some cases this can be up to 50% to 75% of the required hours set by a state/territory. This occurs when a teacher attends a professional learning activity and has their attendance verified by a professional delegate, e.g. their Principal. To assist with this process we will be providing attendance certificates with hours attended for all delegates at the conference.

For more information on the professional learning requirements for teachers, and the component of ’teacher identified’ activities, we recommend you contact the relevant authority in your state or territory. Or visit this link for a list of these certifying authorities

The Top 10 reasons to attend the ILT2014 Conference!

Collage of photos of the ILT2012 Conference scenes and participants

We appreciate that there are many conferences and workshops vying for your precious Professional Learning budget dollars. So what’s so special about this one? Why should you choose to commit your limited funds to joining us? Click here to download our PDF flyer outlining the TOP TEN REASONS TO ATTEND OUR CONFERENCE. We hope this helps you to present your case for support to be there with us in just 10 short weeks time now! If you need anything else to back you up, let us know and we will see what we can come up with. We are ever flexible here. That's how we roll!

Fully downloadable PDF versions of the program


Conference Schedule (pdf) or    Complete Conference Overview (pdf)

If you are one of the MANY people telling us that they find it handy to have a copy of the full conference program on hand, we now offer two downloadable PDF options for you.

Just a reminder that all program and presenter details are also available on the Conference Program page of the conference website.

Session Selections now just ONE WEEK away | Register soon to be in the first batch of place offers!

Image saying 'Session Selections coming soon' with a checkbox ticked and a hand lifting a selected person out of a lineup of people

If you have registered for the conference, you won't have to wait too much longer to be able to lock in your place at your preferred sessions at the conference. We truly had hoped to have the Session Selections open by now, but we are building a new system to ensure your selections are fully locked in. We now have only one more week of testing and coding to finalise … so it is REALLY not too much longer for you to wait now!

If you haven't already registered, this is one pretty powerful reason to register NOW, as you will then be one of the first delegates given the opportunity to lock in your personalised program. Making sure you don't miss out on any session you really want to be a part of! Places will be offered in order of receipt of registrations so the earlier you register … the better your chances of getting into EVERYTHING you want to be a part of!

Have you told us what you require for your presentation yet?

Image of comments from presenters when asked if there is anything else they need!

If you are presenting at the conference, we sent you an email this week asking about your specific requirements. As you can see … we have had some interesting requests! We will do our best to please though. If you haven't yet let us know what you need for your presentation, simply submit your requirements here and we will be onto it!

Image of comments from presenters when asked if there is anything else they need!

The Texthelp Literacy Bundle Competition is now open! Submit by Wednesday 21st May for a chance to win $11,669 worth of premium literacy support tools!

Image of Texthelp logos and a group of three Samsung Chromebooks stacked together

Once again we are very fortunate to have the generous support of Texthelp Systems in Northern Ireland as a Gold Sponsor for this year's conference. They have offered the fabulous prize of a Samsung Chromebook, with a Read&Write for Google Premium – One Year Single User Subscription AND a Read&Write GOLD Dual Platform for Windows and Mac – P-12 School and Home Site Site Licence (Includes Read&Write 11 Gold for Windows with Australian/UK Voices and Read&Write 5 GOLD for Mac.) Valued at $11,669!

This comprehensive package will provide excellent literacy support for ALL students – to use on Mac and Windows computers at your school and in their homes on computers owned by the students for the duration of their attendance at the school.  Add in the easy-to-setup-and-use Samsung Chromebook, designed for online access on the move. When combined with Read&Write for Google on the Chromebook, your students are given powerful reading and writing supports accessible within Google Docs, PDFs, ePubs and more, wherever they are working.

How to be in the running to win?

You simply need to be registered to attend the conference then submit your entry online here. Or download the PDF version of the Texthelp Literacy Bundle Competition entry form and fax or post it to us. Too easy!

Accommodation and free WiFi!

Image of a bed in a room and Jupiters Hotel with a banner across it saying 'FREE Wifi!'

We have once again negotiated special rates for accommodation onsite at the conference venue (Jupiters Hotel, Gold Coast Queensland) available only to our conference delegates. These rates start at $199 per night and are valid for occupancy on a single, twin or double basis. Making it even cheaper to stay onsite if you are sharing your room with a colleague. All of these rates will be available for 7 days prior to the conference and 7 days after the conference if you wish to extend your stay on the sunny Gold Coast.

Apart from the convenience of being right there where all of the conference events and after-hours networking are happening, you will also be given access to free WiFi 24/7. Not only on the conference floor, but in all dining areas of the hotel and back up in your room too. Saving on the standard charge of $25 per day for this service.

Visit the accommodation page of the conference website for details of how to book securing this special discounted conference rate!

PS In our next update, we will be letting you know how to log in and select your preferred sessions at the conference. And will be sharing news of another competition open to all registered delegates giving you the chance to win an AbleNet iPad Accessibility Bundle worth $4000. It's all happening at ILT2014 Conference Central here!

Click here to register online now!


With sincere thanks for the support of our valued sponsors!

Platinum Sponsors

Images of Nuance and Staging Connections logos Image of logos for Inclusive Technology, AbleNet, Texthelp Systems and Crick Software
Gold Sponsors

Barbara Landsberg

Sales and Marketing Director SPECTRONICS BOccThy, MBA Barbara is an Occupational Therapist who joined the Spectronics team 14 years ago. Prior to that time, she spent 17 years in occupational therapy positions working with adults and children with a variety of physical disabilities and learning difficulties. She also held the position of Coordinator of the assistive technology service of the Independent Living Centre of Queensland for three years before moving to Spectronics. On completion of her Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in 2010, she assumed the role of Sales and Marketing Director at the company and, among other roles, oversees running of the exciting and innovative Inclusive Learning Technologies Conference hosted every two years by Spectronics. Barbara has a strong interest in the opportunities for students with disabilities or learning difficulties made possible through technology. She is also a passionate advocate of the use of social media tools to promote the power of inclusive learning technologies to enable independent achievement for all – whatever form that achievement might take.