SPIRIT LAKE CONSULTING, INC. PILOTS NEW COMPUTER-INTEGRATED TRAINING APPLICATIONS
IN NORTH DAKOTA AND AROUND THE COUNTRY

The Spirit Lake and Turtle Mountain Reservations will be the site of testing of a new computer-based training application, developed by local business, Spirit Lake Consulting, Inc. Within one month of notice of receiving a prestigious USDA Small Business Innovation Research award to develop the Caring for Our People training application, vice-president Dr. AnnMaria De Mars was already presenting a prototype at the annual conference of the Consortium of Administrators of Native American Rehabilitation (CANAR) in Seattle, WA. Conference attendees were able to see a demonstration of all of the components of the Caring for Our People product; course web pages, Virtual Library, Commons Area, and experience a sample of the workshops that are currently being conducted on the Spirit Lake and Turtle Mountain reservations . COPT courses include on-site instruction, web-based training, emailed newsletters, and group activities in a workshop setting with others working in the field. The Virtual Library includes handouts, booklets, even entire books, that give the participants more information on the disability that they are researching. The Commons Area contains newsletter articles, advice posted by staff members, tribal members with disabilities and families and virtual field trips of interesting websites. Designed for rural communities where high-speed Internet access may be limited by affordability and geography, the COPT application provides several hundred web pages on each CD-ROM as well as thousands of pages of books, articles, and other documents.

From Seattle, testing moved to Devils Lake and Belcourt, North Dakota, where pilot sessions were completed in December through March. The first section of the series, Introduction to Disability & Culture, is now in commercial development. Significant revisions were undertaken following field-testing to increase the ease of navigation of the website and CD-ROM as well as to strengthen the cultural content. The second training program, Special education for tribal members with disabilities and chronic illness, will be piloted on both the Spirit Lake and Turtle Mountain Reservations in June. Staff working in programs serving people with disabilities are encouraged to contact Dr. Erich Longie at (701) 351-2175 or [email protected] . As well as free training and a free CD-ROM, participants will receive a $50 stipend.

Spirit Lake Consulting, Inc. is an Indian-owned business that serves residents of rural reservations, acting as a resource to American Indian and other disadvantaged communities by providing training, evaluation, data analysis, and technical assistance services. The COPT project is a computer-integrated workshop series designed for staff who work with people with disabilities and chronic illnesses living on American Indian reservations.

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