General news Archives - Page 14 of 16

Published October 19, 2010

Wait for Superman? Or Borrow His Cape!

I had the opportunity to watch “Waiting for Superman” last week, and as promised, the movie exposes many flaws in our educational system and discouraging statistics about student performance. The U.S. currently ranks 23rd out of 29 of the top world economies in graduation rates. The movie portrays failures in administration, teaching, and attitudes. It portrays “drop out factories,” or high schools with inordinately high percentages of high school drop outs. It also exposes motivation and eagerness on the part of some students, the qualities that as a nation we need to recognize and encourage. The movie follows five students…

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Published October 18, 2010

Assistive Technology Center in Qatar Partners with Bookshare

500 Qatari Citizens Gain Access to World’s Largest Accessible Collection of Copyrighted Content People with disabilities in Qatar now have a place where they can fully develop their potential thanks to Mada (the Qatar Assistive Technology Center) which has been working to connect people to the technology that will improve their lives. Mada recently announced a partnership with Bookshare to provide 500 individuals with print disabilities in Qatar access to over 13,000 accessible English-language books in Bookshare. The center will give anyone with a qualifying print disability who wishes to join Bookshare a one-year membership allowing them to download and read any number…

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Published October 15, 2010

What We’re Reading {October 15 2010}

This week’s What We’re Reading brings you five of October’s best sellers. Something for every age group. The Heroes of Olympus, Book One: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan — Heroes of Olympus will be a five-book series. It is set in Percy Jackson’s world, and Percy has an important role to play in the series. At different points in the series, you will get to catch up with most of the characters from the first series, but The Lost Hero also features a new cast of main characters, so Riordan has been careful not to call it a “Percy Jackson series.”…

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Published October 5, 2010

Nichole Maples Wants People with Disabilities to Share her Joy of Reading

In rural Tupelo Mississippi, there’s a teenager who cannot speak or hold a book, yet is so passionate about encouraging people to read, she visits her local library to make sure reading happens for people like her. Nichole Maples, now 17, has severe Athetoid Cerebral Palsy, a disability caused by damage to the cerebellum or basal ganglia, an area of the brain that coordinates body movements. Nichole has little control of anything except her eyes, but she loves to read with the help of her computer and can listen to stories read aloud. For this bright young gal, reading has…

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Published October 4, 2010

Bookshare on the Rachael Ray Show!

Bookshare on the Rachael Ray Show Set your TiVOs, DVRs, or tune in Wednesday, October 6th to the Rachael Ray Daytime Talk Show. Bookshare is featured on a segment with Chrissy Steltz. Chrissy is an amazing woman. When she was just 16, a gun accident shattered her eyes, cheeks, nose and part of her jaw. She lost a major portion of her face in the accident and was left blind as a result. Since the accident she has worn a sleep shade whenever she was in public. After a year-long process, months of surgeries, and a week of face molding, the…

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Published September 30, 2010

Summer Roadtrip Reading Contest – Announcing the Winners!

Drum roll please. This year’s winners for the 2010 Bookshare Summer Road Trip contest are… each of the 340 students who registered and participated! The contest was a “virtual road trip” where students downloaded and read books about our U.S. 50 states. After reading, they submitted a short review, including one “cool” thing they learned about that state. Collectively, these students downloaded, read, and submitted reviews for over 840 books… way to go! Everyone who participated should feel a great sense of accomplishment. Bookshare also wants to acknowledge our most active Road Trippers. These are the top downloaders and readers for…

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Published September 28, 2010

Parent Spotlight – The Impact of Digital Literacy on One Child, sponsored by Kurzweil, a Bookshare partner

Special thanks to Darla Hatton, a certified reading specialist who sent us this article. Mrs. Hatton created Dyslexia Facts (http://www.dyslexiafacts.net/) to provide information and resources to parents of children with dyslexia. Her mission is to encourage parents to be better informed and to seek early interventions for their school-age children. “As a mother with a familial propensity for reading difficulties, I knew that my preschool daughter was struggling. Her name is Kaila. She is dyslexic and was officially diagnosed in third grade. In her 5th grade year, I reviewed the required paperwork and signed her up for a Bookshare account.…

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Published September 27, 2010

Federal Technology Leaders Discuss 21st Century Learning

Broadband, mobile, digital: three words repeated frequently by Julius Genachowski, Chairman of the FCC, and Karen Cator, Director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Dept of Education, at the “Learning in a Digital Age” conference last week that Bookshare attended in Mountain View, California. These three words paint a vision that has the potential to transform education. Chairman Genachowski discussed a modernization of the e-rate plan that in its first wave brought the Internet to almost all schools. The modernization will equip schools for mobile. He envisions connected schools, the most up-to-date textbooks – digital, of…

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Published September 24, 2010

What We’re Reading {September 24 2010}

This week “What We’re Reading” recommendations come to us from our Facebook fans. Several weeks ago we asked our fans to share some of their favorite books with us, recent reads that left them wanting more, books that they consider the best of the best. This list is long and covers many grade levels and genres. Perhaps, like me, you’ll discover some new authors or find a new favorite title! Be sure to comment and let us know what your must-read titles are! This I Believe – Based on the National Public Radio series of the same name, This I Believe features eighty essayists—from the famous to the unknown—completing…

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Published September 21, 2010

Will Correy Crawford Win the Contest?

This summer, eight-year old Correy Crawford read more than 114 digital accessible books through the Bookshare Summer Reading Roadtrip Contest, a reading program developed for children with print disabilities. Correy was one of 350 youngsters and teens who participated in the contest. He is dyslexic and finds it difficult to decode words, especially vowels. He can read digital accessible books from Bookshare, an online library with over 90,000 books, because the free Bookshare software he uses to read highlights words and reads them aloud simultaneously. This multimodal combination of letters and sounds helps with decoding. Laurie Crawford, Correy’s mom, feels…

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Category: General news