Posted by Paul Nisbet on the 12th September, 2023
We are pleased to report that CALL Scotland has received funding from Scottish Government for the next six months and so we'll be around until April 2024 at least. Find out what we've been up to over the past year in our 2022-2023 Annual Report.
CALL Scotland was founded in 1983 by Phil Odor, a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Education at the University of Edinburgh. Scottish Government has provided core grant funding since 1991, and currently this contributes around two-thirds of our income. The remaining one third is generated through our partnerships with local authorities, through professional learning and via consultancy and projects. Usually our core grant is awarded for the whole year, but in April we heard that it would only be for six months. CALL was not alone in this predicament - other organisations funded by Scottish Government were in a similar situation.
I'm very pleased to report that our core grant has been renewed for another six months and we are grateful to colleagues in Scottish Government Learning Directorate for this continued funding.
Without the grant from Scottish Government, we would not be able to provide free advice and support, free loans of equipment, create and maintain the web sites, develop and offer free downloadable resources such as the Wheels of Apps and MyStudyBar, licence and distribute the free Scottish Computer Voices or the Books for All and Symbols for All web sites, or contribute to Scottish and local Government policy and initiatives.
The core grant is the glue that underpins CALL Scotland: without it, we would lose staff and along with that, our ability to provide support and service for the 21 local authorities and schools with whom we currently have partnerships. In short, CALL Scotland would cease to exist in it's current form.
So we're relieved that we'll have a grant from 1st October!
Our 2022-2023 Annual Report is now available on the CALL web site, and offers some insights into both the detail of inclusive digital learning and assistive technology and how it can benefit learners with additional support needs and also the wider policy and provision around additional support for learning. It's fairly comprehensive and so I've picked out a few items here to highlight.
I'm personally extremely thankful for the talented and dedicated team of colleagues in CALL and also to practitioners, parents and carers and of course the learners in schools, local authorities, services and other organisations that we work with. It's a real privilege to work in this field.
The Scottish Government core grant funds our free advice and information service, so anyone in Scotland (and beyond) can call, email or contact us via the web site or social media and we'll do our best to respond. In 2022-2023 we responded to 438 enquiries. This might not sound a lot, but many of the queries are looking for detailed advice around individual learners or people with disabilities and it can take some time to provide a useful response. 34% of enquiries are from educators and 24% of enquiries from parents or carers.
The core grant also supports the development and maintenance of the nine CALL Scotland web sites and the development and updating of the downloadable resources and posters, including the famous Wheels of Apps. In 2022-2023 thee web sites received 950,067 "page views" and 97,223 resources were downloaded.
Other sources of advice and information are the blogs, YouTube videos and posts on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
I just downloaded your technology checklist from CALL Scotland – this is amazing and a great resource. I’ve just started tutoring dyslexic students after completing the educator and associate Orton Gillingham dyslexia courses with an OG fellow in the US (online). I’m In Australia.
The grant from Scottish Government funds the:
Books for All web site, which provides free learning resources and textbooks in accessible format;Angus loves having access to the books on the iPad. It means he is able to participate in nursery when they are reading a story as he automatically has the relevant vocabulary available to him, making it quicker and easier for him to join in. He absolutely adores ‘Shark In The Park on a Windy Day’ and this has been a gateway to different activities as well including making and decorating a telescope with his nursery friends. (Parent)
CALL provided a wide range of learning opportunities for professionals and parents/carers covering a range of topics, costs and methods. Around 3,500 practitioners and parents/carers and people with disabilities attended CALL professional learning events.
The core grant supports the loan bank of assistive technology for practitioners, parent/carers and people with disabilities to borrow specialist equipment free of charge for evaluation before purchase.
“I really enjoy reading, I feel more comfortable. I don’t distract the teacher as much, I’m independent. I use the calculator. I can get my writing read to me. I can get a story or worksheet read.”
(Pupil , about an iPad on loan)Evidence gathered showed a decrease in distressed behaviour as the pupil had a means of communication. (Teacher on a GoTalk 9+ communication device)
I think we can now successfully say the children LOVE the reader pen!
(Teacher, on a Reader Pen)This meant I could see the calculator and have direct algebraic logic like my classmates do on their calculators. (I use N28 print size) (Pupil, on SciPlus large calculator)
CALL works with Scottish Government, Education Scotland, SQA, third sector organisations such as Dyslexia Scotland, national practitioner groups such as ATLAS, ASLO and Augmentative Communication in Practice, and staff in local authorities and health boards.
Over the past year, CALL staff have contributed to:
The Scottish Government core grant funds the activities discussed above. Some local authorities in Scotland wish more intensive assistive technology assessment and support for individual learners and we can provide this under a Partnership Agreement.
In 2022-2023 we had partnership agreements with 21 local authorities and schools to provide assessment and/or support for 226 pupils. This usually involves members of the CALL team visiting school in person to evaluate assistive and communication technology with the pupil and staff team, and often family members.
Working directly with learners and practitioners underpins most of our research, development, knowledge exchange and professional learning: by endeavouring to “Get It Right For One Child” we identify and develop generalised solutions and products which can be distributed to help educators to “Get It Right For Every Child”.
Thank you for all the great new stuff on Eye Gaze. Eva has now completed her first diary and story with very little help, it's wonderful.
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