accessible k12 and postsecondary textbooks Archives - Page 9 of 12

Published January 31, 2013

The Year That Was and the New Year Ahead

2012 was a year of titanic shifts in the fields of consumer technology, education, and publishing, along with the requisite challenges brought about by such rapid change. At Benetech, where innovation is the engine behind our mission, we did our best to make the most of it and help lead the charge into the future. Bookshare and our other Access to Literacy initiatives, including the DIAGRAM Center and Route 66 Literacy, all made big strides this year through the significant dedication of the community that makes it all happen. We celebrated the tenth anniversary of Bookshare—both online and with in…

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Published January 16, 2013

Do You Know These Read2Go Answers? #2

Do you know how to get a book with images onto Read2Go on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch? Educators, do you know the two ways to get NIMAC* books for a qualified student onto a device? Do you know the proper way to download books and provide them to your students so they can begin reading? See if you know these answers: Sponsors: Log in to Read2Go and download the book on behalf of the student following the steps in this solution (it’s like downloading any other book). But, please note that once the book is downloaded, you should…

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Published December 12, 2012

Bookshare Supports Computer Science Education

This week is Computer Science in Education Week. Congress set the week aside in the fall of 2009 “to recognize the transformative role of computing and the need to bolster computer science at all educational levels.” You can read more about the week and gather educator resources at the CSedweek website; the Computer Science Teachers Association website also has resources. Students with print disabilities can be computer scientists! Two Bookshare members with computer science degrees have shared their inspiring stories: A Computer Science Degree to a Job with Bookshare Bookshare Member Develops Amazing Flight Simulator Game for Blind People For members who…

Meet An Image Description Volunteer

Bookshare volunteer, Steven Obenour, lives in Jacksonville, FL. He currently supports the Poet image description project with a special focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) texts. Steven has worked more than 32 years in various technical occupations including manufacturing and process engineering, software development, and the robotics industry. Technical writing is always a big part of his work responsibilities. Steven continues to work in temporary and contract employment positions. He says the volunteer opportunities with Bookshare improve his creativity and writing skills. He enjoys setting daily goals and targets for completion of image descriptions and finds that even…

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Published November 30, 2012

Indications of Improvements in Reading

From time to time, we receive indications of improvements in test scores of students who use Bookshare. To be clear, these improvements cannot and should not be attributed directly to the use of Bookshare because many factors contribute to scores. However, the improvements are encouraging signs that digital accessible text can make a difference. At the recent OSEP (Office of Special Education Programs) demonstration event at Toyon Elementary School in San Jose, California, special education teacher Tammy Irvine said, “We’re seeing results not just in their motivation and enjoyment of reading, but in their standardized test scores. While many factors…

Parent Determination Leads to Son’s Success

This article was originally published on NCLD.org. My name is Kathy Thompson and my son Jeffrey is a great kid and an excellent athlete. You would think that he doesn’t have a care in the world, except to make the first string on his football or wrestling team, but that is far from the case. Since kindergarten, Jeffrey struggled to read. As his school assignments got tougher, the pain grew more visible and homework nights were met with frustration. Words stuck in his brain. We often talked about why his friends could read well and he could not. By sixth…

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Published October 2, 2012

Understand Dyslexia in National Dyslexia Month

An adult with dyslexia watching the new HBO documentary “Journey into Dyslexia” suddenly began to understand a tremendous array of memories and emotions never understood before. The opening title screen with words artistically drawn at angles was reminiscent of how words can swim on the page for a dyslexic reader. He said, “I felt like when I read a book, I had to force the letters to stay in a consistent line across the page.” From those opening screens, the movie captures the frustration and isolation of being a dyslexic very well. According to the movie, 10% of the population…

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Published September 27, 2012

Students Volunteer to Make Textbooks Accessible for Bookshare Members

The Bookshare textbook image description volunteer program is excited to announce two partnerships kicking off the new school year. Last winter, Bookshare launched a partnership with BYU students through their Peery Social Entrepreneurship program. The partnership was so successful (and fun) that BYU, led by returning student Ted Jackson, chose to continue the work begun last term. The BYU charter promotes volunteerism by recruiting fellow students to write image descriptions in Bookshare textbooks. Last spring, the BYU Bookshare charter contributed hundreds of descriptions and developed a facilitator’s guidebook for establishing such charters on other college campuses. This fall, their goals…

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Published September 20, 2012

Personnel Development on Assistive Technology and Digital Books

Do you teach future classroom teachers, existing teachers, or other professionals who want to know more about assistive technology and digital books? Teachers, counselors, and other professionals who work in special education and rehabilitation need to know about all available resources to find the right resource for each student. For example, these specialized teachers and professionals need to know that students with print disabilities benefit when they have access to assistive technology and books in alternate formats. They need to know how to use these resources in the classroom. To help provide a single source of instructional materials about assistive…

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Published September 14, 2012

It Takes a Village and This Is What It Looks Like

Key U.S. Department of Education officials, administrators, teachers, parents, and students all participating in an event showcasing one of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs’ (OSEP) investments, and all seated together at a table, inspired Betsy Beaumon, Vice President and General Manager of the Literacy Program at Benetech to say, “It takes a village and this is what it looks like.” On September 11, 2012, the “village” at Toyon Elementary School in San Jose, CA, welcomed Melody Musgrove, the Director of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), and Sue Swenson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Office…

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Category: accessible k12 and postsecondary textbooks