As one of your trusty support specialists, I often receive calls from teachers asking how students with Individual Memberships and IEPs (Individualized Education Plans) can access textbooks, particularly those from the NIMAC repository. I tell them that this can easily be done with Reading Lists! Reading Lists are virtual bookshelves that let teachers and members save books for future reading. Teachers can create Reading Lists with assigned reading, including NIMAC-sourced textbooks for students with IEPs, and share them with students linked with their organization. (Note: Students must have an Individual Membership to access shared Reading Lists.) To read the books,…
Leave a CommentCategory: free reading technologies
How did an Occupational Therapist Help to Build Statewide Delivery of Accessible Instruction Materials?
In 2010, the Iowa Department of Education (DOE) developed True AIM, a statewide initiative to ensure that all students with qualified print disabilities receive timely access to accessible instructional materials (AIM). To deliver on this promise, the Iowa DOE partnered with Benetech, Bookshare’s parent nonprofit. Nancy Dunn, an occupational therapist and Bookshare Mentor Teacher, supported this initiative at the Iowa Heartland Area Education Agency. She and others on the assistive technology team trained educators about the benefits and delivery of accessible instructional materials. Their efforts helped to build capacity in more than ten Iowa districts. What did Nancy and the…
Leave a CommentUpdated Bookshare Web Reader Now Lets You Read on Safari!
Bookshare Web Reader, the popular and free reading tool, can now be used on current versions of the Safari browser for Mac! With this newest update to Bookshare Web Reader, Mac users can use Safari to find, open, and read Bookshare books directly within the browser. In addition, they can also listen to words read aloud and follow along with synchronized word highlighting. This full set of reading features was previously only available only on Google Chrome. This is a particularly great update because in addition to using the Safari browser, Mac users can take advantage of high-quality voices available…
Leave a CommentBlind U.S. Army Captain Teaches Us to Keep Learning and Serving!
In honor of Veterans Day, we salute Timothy E. Hornik, a Bookshare member and U.S. Army Captain who has a lifelong ambition to help Veterans who are visually impaired make successful transitions to civilian life. In 2002, Tim earned his military commission from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. In September 2004, he was deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom. That same year, sniper fire caused Tim to become blind. For the next eight years, Tim remained on active duty managing operations, and he was able to fulfill his desire to serve others. Today, he is a Licensed Master of Social Work at…
Leave a Comment