Accessible reading resources for blended learning Archives - Page 2 of 4

Published October 28, 2014

Bookshare’s Updated Website Is Live and Helps You Do More!

Bookshare’s updated website is live, so please tell everyone you know who uses the library! This year, our team has been working extra hard to make some great new improvements to our website while keeping many core features you know and love. What’s extra cool is that the updated website is now mobile-friendly, so members can enjoy an improved on-the-go reading experience on tablets and smartphones. And as always, our website continues to be fully accessible. Let’s check what’s under the hood with the updated site! What’s New? Clear, streamlined information—Find out if Bookshare is right for you, and read…

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Published October 16, 2014

College Bridge Program Helps Teens with Learning Disabilities Transition to Postsecondary

GUEST BLOG POST: BY JENNIFER JOLLIFF AND SARA SMITH, PROGRAM COORDINATORS AT MISSION MIDDLE COLLEGE Recently, we caught up with Jennifer Jolliff and Sara Smith, Program Coordinators at Mission Middle College, CA, to talk about their college bridge program in the Santa Clara School District. This collaboration gives high school seniors who are not performing well academically a second chance at making successful transitions to college. In this blog, Jennifer and Sara describe how students with learning disabilities feel about attending college and their approach to provide a new learning environment. They also offer some great recommended reading resources. Believing…

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Published September 30, 2014

Build Independence with Bookshare Web Reader

Do you know someone who is ready to read on their own? Bookshare Web Reader is a free, easy-to-use reading tool for Individual Members. Readers like Kevin and Kelly use it to read books for school and fun on any computer with Internet access. What makes Bookshare Web Reader so great? Read books directly from a supported Internet browser on your computer (no need to install specialized software) Log into Bookshare, find a book, and select “Read Now” Read with text-to-speech voices and word highlighting (on supported browsers) Ready to get started? Make sure you or your student has an…

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Published September 29, 2014

Individual Members Inspire Us to Read Independently with Bookshare Web Reader

Our members continue to inspire us! That’s why in this post, we’re sharing two stories of teen members who use Bookshare Web Reader to read about the things they love…independently. Bookshare Web Reader is a free reading tool for Individual Members and is a great way to access Bookshare books quickly and easily with an Internet browser. This web-based reader does not require specialized software. Read these inspiring stories now, and please share with others who want to read on their own! Kelly Enjoys Reading Freedom! Kelly Schneider is a 17-year-old Bookshare Individual Member who loves the flexibility of reading…

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Published September 2, 2014

Carson’s Journey with Technology Makes English Teacher Proud!

Earlier this year, we featured a blog and video by Bookshare Student Member, Carson Maxson. He and his English teacher, Sallie Spencer, from Olivet Middle School, Michigan, created the video “How Read2Go Moved My Life” for the first White House Student Film Festival. They wanted to demonstrate how Carson’s reading ability changed once he was introduced to portable technology and accessible ebooks to accommodate his learning disability. Carson’s story is not so unusual for kids with learning disabilities. They fall behind at an early age and cannot keep pace with other students. By fourth grade, Carson read at a first-grade…

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Published July 25, 2014

NEW! Bookshare Parent Ambassador Program

A post by Lisa Wadors Verne, PhD, Manager of Bookshare’s Parent Outreach Program. Over the years, we’ve met many amazing parents who advocate on behalf of their children for accessible books, reading technologies, and educational resources like Bookshare. As a result, we’ve published some great stories about dedicated moms and super dads who have performed heroic acts to ensure their children get equal access to learning. We know that there are many more parents doing similarly amazing things for children with print disabilities every day. They may tell other parents about how their child uses Bookshare at home, advocate at…

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Published May 27, 2014

Bookshare Community Rocks First Live Twitter #PoetryJam!

In April, we celebrated National Poetry Month by featuring poets and poetry books in our social media channels. We also invited our Twitter friends to join us in creating poetry online together. During the week of April 21st through 25th, we switched our focus from reading poetry to writing poetry and experimented with an interactive Twitter event: our first-ever Bookshare Community Poetry Jam! You, our fun-loving Bookshare members, educators, volunteers, parents, and accessibility advocates, rocked this event with creativity, sentiment, humor, and love. During the week, anyone could tweet lines of poetry day or night using the #PoetryJam hashtag. Our…

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Published May 11, 2014

Cheers to Bookshare Moms—Our Heroes and Ambassadors of Accessible Books!

Today on Mother’s Day, we shout out a Happy Mother’s Day to Bookshare moms! Thank you for dreaming of a world where all children enjoy the best possible reading experience. Through your extraordinary efforts to advocate for accessible books and technologies, tens of thousands of children with print disabilities can now study alongside their classmates, read a popular children or teen series, and learn independently for the first time. In this blog, we’re sharing stories about extra special moms and kids who believe in this mission. We also want you to know about the new Bookshare Parent Ambassador Program and…

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Published May 6, 2014

Sharing Best Practices to Celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Day!

Today we recognize educators everywhere for their dedication to teaching. That’s why we’re featuring some of the country’s most effective educators and specialists who work with students with print disabilities. Did you know that across the country, there are nearly 500 Bookshare Mentor Teachers? They use the online library and reading tools in innovative ways in their classrooms and to train other teachers, students, and parents. Why Do Bookshare Mentor Teachers Do What They Do? When asked, they’ll tell you it’s for the children, teens, and older students who could not enjoy reading a book or studying advanced curriculum.…

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Published April 8, 2014

School-to-Home Access for Print-Disabled Students Includes Digital Books, iPads and Apps

We want to thank Jessica Chandler, an Ohio Teacher of the Visually Impaired and Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist for sharing this article. It’s about the spirit of teamwork in her district and working together to extend reading opportunities for students with print disabilities from school to home. Ms. Chandler is a Bookshare Mentor Teacher. Kudos to District’s Special Education Administrator! Jessica credits her district’s Special Education Administrator, Dr. Deborah Turner, for her forward-thinking approach. “I applaud Dr. Turner’s vision to use digital accessible books and reading technologies to help students prepare early for reading assignments and to train all…

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Category: Accessible reading resources for blended learning