free reading technologies Archives - Page 8 of 10

Published January 8, 2014

Calling All K-12 Bookshare Members: Enter the White House Student Film Festival by January 29 2014!

Are you or do you know a Bookshare student member in grades K-12 who enjoys filmmaking? Do you use Bookshare to help with your studies at school? If yes, President Obama has a super cool contest for you! Enter the White House Student Film Festival! The White House is holding its first ever film festival to showcase the power of technology in schools and students who win may get to visit the White House! We know that you use Bookshare to learn all sorts of amazing things. Do you use Bookshare Web Reader to read and listen to your textbooks and…

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Published December 26, 2013

Praise for Accessible Books and Reading Technologies by Bookshare Mentor Teacher

As 2013 comes to an end, we want to send our heartfelt thanks to all educators, sponsors and Bookshare Mentor Teachers who continue to partner with us to provide accessible educational opportunities to their students. With that sentiment, we’d like to share this letter from Theresa Brousseau, a teacher of the visually impaired, who wrote us this letter. “Thanks to Bookshare, I feel good that I’m able to help more students with print disabilities achieve their goals, make progress and be successful! As a VI teacher, the students I work with require reading assignments in accessible formats to access the…

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Published December 9, 2013

Happy Holidays and to All Good Cheer!

Whether you’ve just celebrated Hanukkah or are getting ready for Christmas, Kwanzaa, or many other wonderful holiday traditions, we are sending much good cheer from our family to yours! December is a great time to wrap up important events—like wrapping up a handmade gift or wrapping up with a cozy blanket to read a good book with a child or loved one. Here at our offices, we’re wrapping up the year with more than 200,000 titles for our Members to enjoy! We thank our Bookshare collections team for putting together this joyous list of winter holiday titles for all ages.…

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Published November 29, 2013

NYC Tech Coach for Visually Impaired Students Shares Value of Bookshare’s Online Library

David Cohen, the Vision Technology Coordinator for the New York City Department of Education’s District 75/Citywide Services, is considered the go-to guy for anything tech-related. David has 18 years experience working with students who are visually impaired (VI) in one of the largest districts in the United States. He says a good portion of VI students in his districts now attend general education classes and that “technology is an empowering learning solution for students and the district.” David’s main job is to work with staff, students, and parents to help them evaluate personalized learning needs. Whether it’s assistive technology, digital…

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Published November 4, 2013

FREE Trial Membership to Online Library Opens Lifeline to Reading for Disabled Veterans

Today, November 4, 2013, Benetech and Bookshare released this press announcement. Disabled Veterans Who Qualify Can Download 20 FREE eBooks with 30-Day Trial Membership! The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor and Statistics estimates that 13 percent of all U.S. Veterans, over 2.8 million individuals, now live with blindness, physical disabilities, or traumatic brain injuries. These print disabilities make it difficult, if nearly impossible, to read a newspaper, study a textbook or enjoy a bestseller. With the evolution of digital accessible books, disabled Veterans may have a new lifeline to reading through Bookshare, the world’s largest online library of…

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Published October 31, 2013

Journey with Dyslexia – Guest Blog by Robbi Cooper, a Bookshare Parent Member

Special thanks to Robbi, Andrew and Ben Cooper for their story and to the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) for showcasing the Cooper Family. Our October blog recognizes National Learning Disabilities Month. ************************************ My husband and my son are dyslexic. My husband, Andrew, did not understand that he was dyslexic until adulthood, long after reading difficulties in school left him frustrated – a fate that we did not want for our son. My son, Ben came into the world a bright and vibrant child, but when he entered kindergarten we were told that he was not learning the way…

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Published October 18, 2013

Fifth Grader Builds Independence with Bookshare’s Individual Membership and Reading Tools

Kevin Leong is a bright fifth grader in Palo Alto, CA, the heart of Silicon Valley. He is an avid Apple computer fan, and on a typical day he may use several technology devices at home, school, or on the go. As you watch Kevin adeptly use these devices, you would never guess that this voracious learner with impeccable social skills is visually impaired. Kevin has optic atrophy, which makes reading time very slow and frustrating for him. “It takes me much longer to read than other students,” he says. “By the time I look up a page in the…

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Published October 16, 2013

Guest Blog: “Dyslexia Should Be About Strengths, Not Shame,” by Ben Foss

Experts in dyslexia have for many years focused on teaching children to read in the conventional way. But there are hidden costs that impact many children who have a hard time in a mainstream classroom: shame and bullying. I’m dyslexic. When I was a kid, my mom read aloud to me. When I went away to college, I used to fax my term papers home to her in New Hampshire and have her read them to me over the phone so I could find my own spelling mistakes. I went on to become the Director of Access Technology at Intel…

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Published October 7, 2013

Dyslexia Specialist Says, “Introduce Children with Print Disabilities to Technology Early to Help Them Be Independent!”

Cathy Wilson is a dyslexia specialist at Coppell ISD, TX, and a Bookshare mentor teacher. She trains her colleagues and students who qualify how to use the online Bookshare library and reading technologies. Last year, Cathy had nearly 40 youngsters on her Bookshare organizational account. This allowed her and other approved teachers, or sponsors, to find and download books for students who qualify. She has helped more than 90 percent of these students get individual memberships. “Introducing children with print disabilities to technology early helps them to be more independent and eventually find and download books on their own,” she…

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Published October 1, 2013

Get Students a Bookshare Individual Membership at Home!

Throughout October, parents and educators often meet to discuss how students are progressing through the school year. Parent-teacher conferences, IEP meetings, and other face-to-face opportunities are the perfect time to discuss how students can take reading and studying to the next level with Bookshare. How? Get qualified students access to Bookshare at home. Most of our student members access Bookshare through their school account. This means that educators find and download books for students. A fast growing number of students are also getting individual memberships. This allows them to discover books on their own, download independently, and develop a personal…

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Category: free reading technologies