A Parliamentary Presentation

A research assistant from the University of Teesside has delivered a presentation to Members of Parliament at a special event at the House of Commons. The event outlined a special project to help people with severe learning difficulties to learn independently using computers.

The Portland Partnership is a joint project between the University, Portland College, a specialist residential college in Mansfield, a private software development firm Cambridge Training & Development Ltd and four further education colleges. Its aim is to create a Virtual Learning Environment, using both hardware and software, that replaces letters and numbers with easy to use on-screen icons and pictures, all of which can be tailored to suit an individual’s needs.

Claire Stockton, 27, originally from Lancaster, Lancashire, research assistant with the University’s Special Needs Computing Research Unit (SNCRU), visited the House of Commons to deliver the presentation about the project, using a poster she designed with the help of School of Computing lecturer Stephen Murray, and Dr Elaine Pearson, Leader of the SNCRU. The trip to the House of Commons was to take part in ‘Set for Britain’, an event featuring presentations by young scientists, engineers and technologists from universities around the UK.

Claire, who also graduated the University of Teesside with a BA (Hons) in Social Policy and an MSc in Multimedia Applications, said: “It was a great experience to go down to the House of Commons and explain the Portland Partnership to the MP’s and other VIPs. Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland, came along and was really interested in what we are doing. The Portland Partnership is a really important project and I’m sure that many people will benefit from it for years to come.”

The software will be made available to users in May 2005 and there is a possibility that the project itself will be extended beyond that date. The University of Teesside’s Special Needs Computing Research Unit research team can be contacted on 01642 384608

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