Assistive Technology Archives - Page 15 of 16

Published September 1, 2010

Digital Resources in the Classroom?

A guest post from Robin Seaman, Publisher Liaison for Bookshare “At the revamped Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) summit, the opening session took a unique tack. Months earlier, the AEP decided the best way for traditional publishers to understand what teachers needed and wanted in digital resources in the classroom was to hear from the teachers directly – using the digital tools already at the teachers’ disposal,” explained Frank Catalano, the noted educational consultant. Frank worked with the AEP and the social networking site edWeb.net to solicit teacher videos to be submitted via YouTube and he posted the following in…

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Published August 31, 2010

Get the Most Out of Study Time with Textbooks From Bookshare

This very informative article written by Deborah Armstrong, Alternate Media Specialist at De Anza College in Cupertino, CA, provides some great tips and ideas to get the most out of your study time reading textbooks from Bookshare. She is a lifelong learner who is addicted to reading and says that she’s downloaded over 1,075 books and has read over 900 of them. While this post is a bit longer than others, it’s really good. ****************** If you are new to electronic books, or don’t read much, you’ll find study skills training intended for print readers might not work well for you. Worry…

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Published August 28, 2010

What We’re Reading {August 27 2010}

The Bookshare team reads avidly. And we read a lot of books every week. And so do our children, friends and families. Among those, there are always a handful of standouts — the shortlist, the books with buzz–perfect for children, tweens, teens, college students, and young adults. “What We’re Reading” brings you picks of the most interesting recent reads, along with short descriptions; sometimes we’ll even include candid comments and notes from the team. We’ll be bringing you “What We’re Reading” every Friday, be sure to look for it and download some great books! Mockingjay (The Hunger Games Trilogy #3) by Suzanne Collins – Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has…

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Published August 26, 2010

Collaborative Philanthropy: Deepen Your Commitment to Bring Social Change to Low-Income Urban Neighborhoods and Rural Communities

By Marcy Guttman, Summer Associate for Corporate Philanthropy Wisdom can often come from unexpected places. I remember a message that I read when traveling in the New York City subways: “kindness is contagious, and it begins with you.” Huddled in the crowded masses of people, holding on to bars and handles touched by thousands of other travelers, I generally tried to avoid “catching” anything. However, reading those seven words made me realize that kindness is something that I not only wanted to “catch” but also desired to pass on to others. The gratification of doing something kind for another consistently…

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Published August 20, 2010

What We’re Reading {August 20, 2010}

The Bookshare team reads avidly. In fact, we read a lot of books every week. And so do our children, friends and families. Among those, there are always a handful of standouts — the shortlist, the books with buzz–perfect for children, tweens, teens, college students, and young adults. “What We’re Reading” brings you picks of the most interesting recent reads, along with short descriptions, sometimes we’ll even include candid comments and notes from the team. We’ll be bringing you “What We’re Reading” every Friday, be sure to look for it and download some great books! The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot – Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists…

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Published August 2, 2010

A Few Weeks Left This Summer to Read and Move

From legislation to lunchtime reading, the U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Special Education Programs care about literacy in this country. Picture the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, holding a book, and Kareem Dale, the Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy, reading If I Ran for President in braille to about 100 attentively listening young kids, ages 4-8, and their parents. Soon Congressman Jim Langevin from Rhode Island joined the group and read House Mouse, Senate Mouse. The event was the Department of Education’s “Let’s Read. Let’s Move” summer enrichment program on July 30 in…

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Published July 30, 2010

Is Braille Now Optional?

Is learning braille now optional? If so, why? Or is optional braille another example of the weakness in today’s educational system – decried by the Obama administration – that allows students to get by, not learn the tough subjects, and not graduate ready for college or a career? In letting today’s youth skip braille, are we handcuffing them for life? Most would agree that learning can occur auditorily and that for many, auditory learning is the preferred mode. Many software applications (including those available from Bookshare) and devices render printed content as spoken language for readers with visual impairments and…

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Published July 23, 2010

A Family with Disabilities Volunteers for Bookshare

Hello Bookshare Readers! Our family has taken so much pride in volunteering for Bookshare. I want to thank everyone who makes volunteering such a joy! Before Bookshare, our family could count on one hand how many books we had read together. I have severe dyslexia, my husband, Doug is a quadriplegic and my daughter, Nichole, has cerebral palsy. We first became acquainted with Bookshare about six years ago when our older daughter, Cindy, wanted to be able to read books in a digital format. She passed away four years ago at the time Nichole, our second daughter, was starting to…

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Published July 20, 2010

Postsecondary Students Benefit from Individual Memberships

A University of Michigan – Flint student, with an individual membership says “Bookshare Rocks!” Ashley Seymour, a college junior majoring in health care at the University of Michigan-Flint, has been blind since birth. She says, “Bookshare is expanding fast! It’s easy for me to get my books from one source. I don’t have to wait. I just download my books, convert to MP3 files for my iPod, and go to class.” Ashley has found books and background information in communications, ethics, literature, psychology and medical sciences. She uses Bookshare to find material for reports, study biographies and locate accessible titles…

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Published July 9, 2010

NFB 2010: Hot Weather or Human Warmth?

Texas treated NFB 2010 attendees to hot, humid, Texas-like weather, but the weather couldn’t hold a candle to the infectious human warmth inside the conference hall, in spite of the air conditioning. From this conference, I am redoubled in my conviction that coping with challenges in life makes people better people, and knowing people who live with challenges of any variety makes all of us better people. The NFB 2010 convention reminded me of this principle. Nowhere has there been a gathering that exuded goodness and warmth and caring than the group gathered at NFB. It wasn’t just the outpouring…

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Category: Assistive Technology