accessible k12 and postsecondary textbooks Archives - Page 10 of 12

Published August 28, 2012

Top 10 Bookshare Tips for Back-to-School

Many educators working with students with print disabilities seek new ideas to motivate their students to read more. Giving students individual memberships, according to multiple anecdotal reports, does encourage independent reading, change students’ view of their ability to learn, and improve self-esteem, among many other benefits. From teachers around the country, we’ve gathered a list of ten top tips that have worked to get students to start reading more. Perhaps you’ll want to try some of these! Before Back-to-School night, print individual membership forms for all your students. Then at Back-to-School night, get parents to sign them. Gather the forms…

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Published August 21, 2012

Texas AT Specialist Champions Large Scale District Accessible Book Initiative

You’ve heard it before… all it takes is one person to start a ball rolling. For equal access to reading and educational books for students with print disabilities, that person is Jessica McKay, an AT Specialist in Ysleta ISD, Texas. The Ysleta district will roll out their widespread initiative this fall (2012) across 60 campuses, to hundreds of K to 12th graders who are blind, have low vision, a physical disability, such as cerebral palsy or a severe reading disability, like dyslexia. Jessica, with the support of her supervisor, Leslie Armbruster, championed the initial cause. “Jessica has this amazing ability…

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Published August 16, 2012

This Fall, Think about Students Who Would Qualify for Bookshare

A guest post by Stephanie Caceres, AT Specialist and Special Education Teacher, Maryland I’m a Special Education Teacher in Worcester County, Maryland, and I’m always on the lookout for new tools that will benefit students with learning disabilities. Recently, I had an 8th grader who is intelligent and quite verbal, and now attends the Alternative Education Program at our school due to failing grades and behavior issues. This young man was frequently suspended for acting out in class. Why? Because he couldn’t keep up with his reading assignments; since he couldn’t talk about a book, he made trouble for teachers…

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Published August 14, 2012

Are You Using Open Educational Resources (OER)?

Open Educational Resources (OER) are digital teaching materials that can be used freely by anyone. They are published under creative commons licenses which allow uses of materials that would not be permitted with materials published under traditional copyrights. As free digital teaching resources, many schools, districts, community colleges, universities, and some states are beginning to use and adopt them instead of textbooks. However, just because OER are digital, they are not necessarily accessible. Several OER publishers including CK-12, Flat World Knowledge, Connexions and Curriki, recognize that their formats are not accessible to all students and contribute files to Bookshare for…

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Published May 31, 2012

26 University Presses Now Partner with Bookshare

A lot has happened over the year with university press partnerships. With three new partnerships in the last few weeks, I realized it was time to post an update. These three new university presses signing agreements to contribute digital files with world rights to Bookshare bring the total number of university press partners to twenty-six. The new partners are: Edinburgh University Press. As the imprimatur of one of Britain’s oldest and most distinguished centers of learning, they publish books of the highest academic standards. Their main subject areas are American Studies, Classics & Ancient History, Film & Media Studies, History,…

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Published May 22, 2012

Congratulations to Sallie Spencer, Top Bookshare Mentor Teacher!

The 2012 Mentor Teacher selected to win the top prize, an iPad, is Sallie Spencer! Sallie is a middle school Special Education Teacher at Olivet Middle School, in Olivet, Michigan. As a Mentor Teacher, she met with district special education staff both in groups and individually, and walked them step-by-step through the process of finding and downloading Bookshare books for their students. She also worked one-to-one with general education staff with Bookshare-qualified students in their classes. Sally believes that Bookshare “is not used enough so I truly want to put the word out!” Sallie adds that she regularly promotes Read2Go…

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Published May 18, 2012

Individual Memberships for Change and Transition

Mary Carney, a 7th grade English teacher at Lowville Academy Central Middle School, NY, wanted to change the way some of her students thought about reading, and the way they read. She knew that if she could find a way to help her students feel more confident and independent as readers, they would be more successful in her English class. Carney signed her qualified students up for Bookshare organizational memberships. “I believed the federally funded library (free to U.S. students who qualify) could support my efforts to turn around students who were falling behind their grade level reading.” One of…

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Published May 15, 2012

New Jersey Task Force Researches Services to Students with Reading Disabilities

We recently learned about the work of the New Jersey Reading Disabilities Task Force from Kathy Stratton, the mother of a Bookshare member. Appointed by the governor, this 11-member task force is researching the services available to students who struggle with reading to find out if the state is meeting the needs of its students with reading disabilities. On April 30, the Task Force held a public hearing to gather testimony; over 130 attended and 60 spoke. In Kathy’s words, “The theme was clear and consistent – schools are not meeting the needs of students who struggle with reading. Parent after…

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Published May 8, 2012

Bookshare Helped Student Transition to College

Zach Bryant pulled straight A’s in his Maryland high school. He liked to read all kinds of books then, but that wasn’t always the case for Zach. He has Cerebral Palsy (CP) which prohibits him from speaking and walking. To communicate and write his thoughts down, he uses an augmentative communication device (AAC). Simple tasks, like turning a printed page or finding the last chapter he read was frustrating for him. According to his mom, this experience happens to many children with CP. “They get frustrated and don’t want to read, but access to digital books and reading technologies changed…

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Published April 20, 2012

Words of Wisdom on Transition from a College Freshman

How does a very talented, bright, highly motivated young woman with severe dyslexia succeed in college? How is she getting almost a 4.0 GPA, top grades in all her classes, without her mom sitting beside her, patiently reading every word in every book as she did for twelve years? All incoming freshman experience some college jitters, but this driven young woman, Elizabeth, was justifiably concerned about succeeding in classes with hundreds of others students who didn’t have dyslexia. Her story about her transition should inspire many high school seniors in similar situations: “When I applied to college, I asked for…

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