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One of the problems with being a SENCO or a SEN co-ordinator is that you are somewhat isolated in your own institution. If you need to ask someone about a specific ICT problem which relates to SEN it can be difficult to find an expert locally. One of the best ways to get round this problem is to subscribe to one of the Internet email forums. This may sound daunting and it also sounds like it will cost you something. The good news is that joining the groups is easy and it is also free.

The best forums to join are probably the Becta SEN forums. If you have not visited the Becta site. The Becta site hosts these moderated email forums for discussion of relevant topics. The term moderated means that there is someone who keeps an eye on the content and tries to make sure the discussions stay relevant. These forums are very civilised and not at all like other unregulated email forums. The current list (at the time of writing) of SEN forums includes the following forums. The underlined titles will take you to the relevant page on the Becta web site if you have a "live" Internet connection.

Community Languages: for those interested in what is going on in the world of Community Languages and ICT.

eal- bilingual: for teachers of English as an additional language.

Easyspeak: for exchanging ideas about the education of children and young people with language and communication difficulties.

EBD-Forum: a forum for discussing issues relating to the education of pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Fforwm-aaa: a discussion group relating to SEN issues in Wales which welcomes contributions in the Welsh language.

High-Ability: a forum for discussing issues relating to the education of able children.

Index-inclusion: a forum for users of Index for Inclusion materials - including schools, education authorities and researchers to make comments about the index.

Pd-net: for professionals involved in the education of children with physical and neurological disabilities.

PRU-talk: a mailing list for managers of pupil referral units.

SCENT: for professionals involved in the delivery of education to learners with medical conditions.

Senco-forum: for discussing issues relating to SENCOs' work

SENIT: for those with a particular interest in finding out about IT solutions to support pupils.

SLD-forum: for professionals involved in the education of learners with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties.

ToD: for Teachers of the Deaf and associated professionals involved in teaching deaf learners in schools

Trav-ed: for practitioners with an interest in Traveller education.

In the next section we will show you step by step how to subscribe to one of the forums.

1.Go to the following Becta web site and double click on the forum you are interested in.

http://www.becta.org.uk/inclusion/discussion/bectalists.html

2. When you have done this it should take you to another page, which gives you instructions on how to become a member of one of the forums. The next step is to load up your email software.

In the "To.." box type This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Do not put anything in the Subject box

Then type only subscribe senco-forum or whichever forum you want to subscribe to in the body part of the email. Click on send and you should receive two automated emails from Becta informing you that you are now subscribed and instructions for using the forums. You can find out more information about the process from this page http://www.becta.org.uk/inclusion/discussion/how.html

3. What do you do now? When someone posts a message to the forum the email should be sent to everyone on the forum. The best advice is probably to read what is posted for a while for you to gain an idea of what is discussed. When you are brave enough to want to send your first message here is what you do to add to a discussion.

4. To post to the particular forum you have subscribed to you need to type in the "To.." email box in a new message.

This message will be sent to all the people subscribed to the forum, including you.

5. What do you do if you want to reply to a message sent to the forum?

Open the original message and click the Reply button. The list is set up to send replies to the original author, but if you think your answer might be of interest to others in the group, type in the Cc.. box This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Edit the original message by cutting out irrelevant sections. Add your contribution and click on send to post your email message.

6. What do you do if you want to leave the forum?

Open a new blank email message

Send the message: unsubscribe senco-forum

To: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (leave the subject line blank).

If you have followed all of this (well done!) you should now be familiar with how to gain from the vast wealth of knowledge and experience of the people who subscribe to the Becta forums. This is a great place to find out things you would have trouble-finding elsewhere.