Resources & Technology

Aurora Plains Academy

The Aurora Plains Academy offers state-of-the-art technology to aid children and adolescents in learning, as well as provide an additional communication link to families during therapy sessions when travel is not a viable option.

Video Conferencing

The Aurora Plains Academy uses video conferencing technology that allows two or more people in different locations can see and hear each other at the same time. Clinicare, the Academy's parent company, has built an advanced video conference network around the Midwest that consists of 15 separate video conference sites.

Video conferencing is a cost-effective communication tool that can save time away from work for parents, agencies, and clinicians by eliminating the need for travel. Placing a video conferencing call is much like placing a telephone call. Once connected people can see and hear the other person or persons in live high definition video.

Benefits to using video conferencing include:

  • Improves communication
  • Increases depth of clinical programming
  • Heightens motivation
  • Bridges the travel gap
  • Saves time away from work
  • Increases safety/reduces "travel risks" for youth

Practical uses for video conferencing include:

  • Family therapy
  • Clinical staffing
  • Administrative reviews

SMART Boards

The Aurora Plains Academy utilizes the latest technologies in teaching, including SMART Boards that let the students and teachers interact with the exercises and lessons presented on a 'whiteboard-like' screen. SMART Boards are powered by computers and have the same capabilities and opportunities as learning on a computer, only using a touch-screen, large format monitor for increased interaction and allowing input from the other students for more in-depth learning.

RealCare® Baby - Infant Simulator

In order to help students learn the responsibilities of parenthood, as well as how to care for infants, the Aurora Plains Academy utilizes an infant simulator called the RealCare® Baby. These lifelike computerized simulators make real noises, react to real-time situations, and track and record all activity. Not only does the RealCare® Baby give students a short-term taste of parenthood, but it can also open their eyes to the attention and needs that a baby requires, helping them to become more confident, capable, and attentive caregivers.