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Teacher educators must find ways to teach course content situated within realistic K-12 contexts so that their preservice teachers can better understand how to apply that content effectively in situations they will face as professionals. Video-conferencing (VC) technology has emerged as a useful tool in teacher education, evincing a wide range of instructional functions. Users who integrate VC in teacher education coursework fundamentally enhance the potency of their instructional outcomes by enabling preservice teachers not only to learn about classroom settings, but also to interact with students and teachers within classroom settings. Video conferencing allows one to observe classrooms and other school-based environments unobtrusively; to engage in discussions with school-based professionals, students, and families; and to mentor, coach, and evaluate preservice and novice teachers-all from physically remote sites. The purposes of this article are to (a) describe, and present a rationale for employing, this technology in preparing special educators; and (b) showcase the utility of video-conferencing technology within one midwestern special education teacher preparation program. The article concludes with some lessons learned and implications for research regarding the use and efficacy of this technology.

Interactive videoconferencing (IVC) consists of live, synchronous audio and video communication via a computer or digital phone network among sites in different physical locations. Many productive but not always obvious benefits, such as increased learning opportunities, student motivation, and instructor—student communication, are possible through IVC. This article discusses IVC as a useful medium for teaching and learning in higher education teacher preparation programs.

In many schools, supports for children with a dual diagnosis of mental retardation and behavioral disorders are inadequate or nonexistent. Often these students are placed with teachers who, although appropriately trained and licensed, are not familiar with support strategies for meeting the behavioral and emotional needs of these students at an appropriate cognitive representational level. This article describes six evidence-based visual support strategies, their benefits, and simple methods for implementing them in the classroom.

The author examines the potential responses to external stressors in order to define the hallmarks of healthy coping with the September 11, 2001, attack and its aftermath. Observations from a psychology practice with trauma survivors suggest these stressors also catalyzed maturation in people able to do the necessary psychological work. Examples follow of healthy resolution of the tensions between compassion and isolation, gratitude and superiority, responsibility and illusion. The author concludes that September 11 provided not only harm but also opportunities to grow.