Introduction

Perkins eLearning requires its instructors to resolve or disclose any commercial or personal interest that exists between them and the material presented in their sessions. Conflicts among participants or between participants and instructors are addressed according to an established procedure within Training and Educational Resources Programs. Registered students will be provided with a description of course completion requirements, including attendance requirements, on or before the educational experience begins. In the case of multi-session workshops, participants may be entitled to a partial refund in accordance with their date of withdrawal. For the complete text of these, and other, program policies, please read the disclosures and policies below.

The Perkins Training & Educational Resources Program identifies its goal as “sharing the experience and educational expertise of Perkins staff and partners with other professionals.” Program objectives include continuing education (CE) activities presented by experts in the field of visual impairment and deafblindness. These programs fulfill the program’s mission statement “Knowledge is Most Powerful When it is Shared.”

Online learning opportunities include Online Classes, Live and recorded webinar sessions, On-demand webcasts, and Self-Paced Tutorials.

Onsite Training opportunities include face-to-face, blended workshops.

Read disclosures and policies pertaining to our programs

eLearning Credentials

Perkins has been approved as a professional development credit provider by the following organizations/agencies:

In addition to these national and international credentials, Perkins eLearning is authorized to award state-specific credits known as

CTLE (state of New York): All courses in our catalog are eligible for CTLE at the rate of 1 credit per contact hour. Look for CTLE under the credits offered for any given title of interest.

OSPI (state of Washington) Instructor-led courses in our catalog are eligible for OSPI at the rate of 1 credit per contact hour. Look for OSPI under the credits offered in our Instructor-Led collection. OSPI credits are not available for our self-paced tutorial program.

Act 48 (state of Pennsylvania) Perkins online instructor-led courses are only eligible for Act 48 credits when accompanied by graduate credit enrollment through our partner Fitchburg State University. Professional development/continuing education credits from our program do not meet the requirements for Act 48.

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Learner Expectations

Record Keeping

Attendance and Progress

Academic Integrity

Education Unit Computer Literacy Requirement

All assignments must be typed, doubled-spaced; follow the Department Writing Guide; and use APA format when appropriate. You are expected to use word processing for all assignments (unless otherwise instructed).

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Equal Opportunity Education

Perkins School for the Blind is committed to providing equal opportunity for all members of our community  without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin or ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, marital status, genetic information, veteran or military status, membership in Uniformed Services, or any other characteristic protected by law.

This policy governs all aspects of education, including Perkins eLearning.

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Universal Accessibility

Perkins is committed to Universal Accessibility and insures access to its Training and Educational Programs.

The Perkins Training Center conference rooms are barrier-free and ADA compliant. When scheduling on-site training away from the Perkins campus, Training Center staff will advocate for the most accessible training space available at the site.

The online workshop platform has been built and tested for accessibility. Individual online learning activities are formatted to allow individual accessibility settings, such as font size and contrast, and are screen reader compatible.

Workshop materials will be presented in accessible formats, or alternate formats made available for students who request them, according to the Perkins “Guidelines for Outside Presenters/Consultants,” including

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Student Grievance Policy

Participants are strongly encouraged to resolve conflicts and disagreements with facilitators or classmates within the structure of the workshop. The following procedures address student grievances which have not been resolved through this informal approach. Workshop participants must file their grievance in writing (print letter or electronic mail) to the Educational Resources Manager, outlining the facts of the issue, the action taken to date, and the resolution sought.

The Educational Resources Manager will render a decision on the matter within 5 business days of receiving the grievance. The participant may appeal the decision to the Director of Training and Educational Resources; this appeal must also be in written form and include reasons for dissatisfaction with the Manager’s decision. The Director will have an additional 5 days from the receipt of the appeal to decide on the matter.

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Perkins Department Registration

Departments sponsoring employees in instructor-led courses and Perkins Training Center workshops should contact TERP to arrange interdepartmental transfers. Perkins departments may not use institutional credit cards for registration.

Perkins Training Center: 617-972-7712 [email protected]
Perkins eLearning: 617-972-7720 [email protected]

Employees paying for their own professional development are encouraged to pay online with personal credit cards to register for courses. Please retain all your receipts and confirmations for tuition reimbursement if that applies to you, including receipts from Fitchburg State University for graduate credits. Employees are responsible for submitting their credit certificates and other documents to Human Resources for tuition reimbursement.

We are unable to invoice individuals for payment.

Textbooks used in eLearning courses can be borrowed from the Hayes Research Library within the Howe Building.

Self-Paced tutorials are available to all Perkins employees when you use the Perkins voucher code on checkout. These are online classes without instructors, with open start and end dates. Refer to Ask Howe for the current voucher code.

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Cancellations and Refunds

Perkins reserves the right to cancel a workshop due to insufficient enrollment or scheduling difficulty. In the event that a workshop is canceled, registered participants will be notified within 14 days of the scheduled start of the workshop. All fees paid by the participants will be refunded in full. Once a workshop has begun, it is the facilitator’s responsibility to notify participants of any changes to the workshop schedule.

In the event that a participant elects to withdraw from the workshop for any reason, fees may be refundable according to the following schedule:

Participants must notify the workshop facilitator in writing (print or electronic mail) that they are withdrawing from the course upon a stated effective date.  Discontinuing participation is not considered a formal withdrawal from the workshop, and no fees with be refunded.

A participant who requests a refund due to dissatisfaction with the workshop must submit their request to the Director of Professional Development.

Perkins eLearning commits to defining these policies in all workshop promotion, registration, and confirmation materials.

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Statement of Commercial Interest

In instances where a product or publication created or sold by Perkins is the primary focus of an activity, or where Perkins products and publications are mentioned as additional resources for the activity, all promotional and registration information must contain a statement of commercial interest as defined below.

In instances where Perkins identifies a commercial interest in the topic of, or materials represented in, an activity, Perkins will:

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Student Feedback

Perkins will utilize learner feedback and evaluations to assess participants’ perceived satisfaction with, and value of, professional development activities provided. As a record of the activity, Perkins will secure records by ensuring that file storage is secured. Only the staff involved in the production of professional development activities will be able to access these records.

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