Susan Rose, associate professor in the department of educational psychology, has been selected as one of five regional coordinators of a federally funded grant awarded for educators in deaf and hard-of-hearing programs.
Rose will help coordinate the three-year, $2.1 million grant entitled “Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology,” which was given to the Association of College Educators of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, managed through Kent State University. It is the only one of 12 national grants awarded to an organization which will incorporate technology and cooperation into graduate and undergraduate deaf and hard-of-hearing teacher preparation programs for grades K-12.
“As the regional director, I will help instructors in colleges and universities in the Midwest to work together and share course information, case studies and examples of ways to improve teaching methods,” Rose said.
The purpose of the grant is threefold, said Debbie Heydon, grant publicist and associate professor at the University of Eastern Kentucky. It will be used to improve the use of technology, implement technology in classroom learning and link teachers with parents and families of deaf and hard-of-hearing students and other teachers in the field.
“This grant will make a big difference for our field,” Heydon said. “Initially it will get higher education faculty involved in the use of technology in teaching.”
Rose said the grant helps educators become technically competent and exchange information through various methods such as video conferencing and a national Web site. Rose will work more specifically with faculty members from colleges and universities in the North Central region including Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and Illinois.
“We are in a low incident area for special education in deaf and hard-of-hearing programs,” Rose said. “I am the only educator in Minnesota; North Dakota has one and Iowa has none. It is important for us to find ways to share information.”
Rose’s work at the University focuses on information access for students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. She has served as the project director for several training grants which evolved into programs serving the special needs community of Minnesota, and the deaf and hard-of-hearing education field nationally.
The association is a national organization for faculty in the 72 university teacher preparation programs that train teachers of the deaf and hard-of-hearing across the United States.

Mickie Barg covers the Medical School and welcomes comments at [email protected]