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Dr. Ted S. Hasselbring  William T.Bryan Professor,  Special Education Technology,  University of Kentucky

It is a pleasure to be able to share with you some information about the Technology and Media Division of the Council for Exceptional Children, better known as TAM. TAM was founded almost 20 years ago with the purpose of promoting the availability and effective use of technology and media for individuals with disabilities and for those who are gifted. Specifically, the goals of TAM include:

• Promoting collaboration among educators and others interested in using technology and media to assist individuals with exceptional educational needs.
• Encouraging the development of new applications, technologies, and media that can benefit individuals with exceptionalities.
• Disseminating relevant and timely information through professional meetings, training programs, and publications.
• Coordinating the activities of educational and governmental agencies, business, and industry.
• Developing and advancing appropriate technical standards.
• Providing technical assistance, inservice, and preservice education on the uses of techology.
• Monitoring and disseminating relevant research.
• Advocating for funds and policies that support the availability and effective use of technology in this field.
• Supporting the activities, policies, and procedures of CEC and the other CEC divisions.

The membership of TAM is comprised of a variety of groups including parents, teachers, consumers, university professors and researchers, vendors, and others. Being a TAM member has a number of benefits. One major benefit of TAM membership is the excellent journal entitled the Journal of Special Education Technology (JSET). The journal is published four times a year and each issue has cutting-edge articles on different aspects of technology use for individuals with disabilities. JSET can also be accessed through the TAM website along with other TAM publications such as the newsletter. The TAM website is http://www.tamcec.org/. I would encourage you go visit the site to learn more about TAM.

One of the best kept secrets about TAM is the excellent conference put on each year. The conference is small and allows participants to interact and network which I often find difficult to do at larger conferences. A major focus of the conference is "research to practice" and provides attendees with the most up to date information the field has to offer. The nation's top researchers and developers in the special education technology are always in attendance and very high quality sessions fill the program. The next conference will be in Reston, Virginia (near Washington, DC) and will be held February 7-9, 2003. I would encourage each of you to take advantage of this excellent conference.

TAM has been very fortunate over the years to have a very close working relationship with the National Cristina Foundation. Yvette Marrin, President of NCF, has been a long-time member and supporter of TAM and its goals. For me personally, NCF has been instrumental in the success of my career. As a young researcher, NCF provided me with equipment that allowed me to conduct research that led to the development of a number of software programs that were made available to students with disabilities. Without NCF support, many advancements in the special education technology field would most certainly have been slowed and perhaps never developed. I know I, like many of the TAM membership, owe much to the National Cristina Foundation for support over the years that has allowed us to make contributions to the field.

It is my hope that as I begin my term as President of TAM that we can strengthen our relationship with the NCF family and work together toward advancing the use of technology for all individuals. It is the synergy between organizations like TAM and NCF that will make the lives of individuals with disabilities better through the use of technology.