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Category: Higher ed

More Training Opportunities for Bookshare Web Reader and Bookshelf!

In case you were unable to attend the February webinars about the new Bookshare Web Reader and Bookshelf, we have several more scheduled in March. If the date and times don’t work for you, sign up anyway and you will be sent a link to the recording after the webinar is over. Learn more about Bookshelf and the Bookshare Web Reader Wednesday, March 6, 2013 4:00 PM ET, (3:00 PM CT, 2:00 PM MT, 1:00 PM PT) Register Here OR Thursday, March 14, 2013 3:30 PM ET (2:30 PM CT, 1:30 PM MT, 12:30 PM PT) Register Here Reading Choices:…

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Plan Your CSUN Schedule

Are you going to CSUN? Look for our booth, #712, in the conventional hall and stop by for a demo and training on the new tools, Bookshare Web Reader and Bookshelf. Here’s quick look at all the Bookshare presentations, trainings, and events. Mark your calendars with items of  interest. Event Day Time Location Presenter Latest Developments in Math Accessibility Fri 8:00 am Ford C, 3rd floor Anh Bui Born Accessible: Inclusive Publishing Thur 1:50 pm Ford C, 3rd floor Betsy Beaumon Reading Technology: What Works? Thur 9:20 am Ford C, 3rd floor Kristina Cohen and guest teacher from SDUSD Making…

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Bookshare Supports Computer Science Education

This week is Computer Science in Education Week. Congress set the week aside in the fall of 2009 “to recognize the transformative role of computing and the need to bolster computer science at all educational levels.” You can read more about the week and gather educator resources at the CSedweek website; the Computer Science Teachers Association website also has resources. Students with print disabilities can be computer scientists! Two Bookshare members with computer science degrees have shared their inspiring stories: A Computer Science Degree to a Job with Bookshare Bookshare Member Develops Amazing Flight Simulator Game for Blind People For members who…

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American Bar Association Titles in Bookshare

As Bookshare followers know, many publishers have relationships with us and submit files electronically. Recently, The American Bar Association (ABA) submitted a series of titles from the Legal Practice Management division that produces books to help lawyers in their work. Today, Election Day 2012, seems like a fitting day to tell readers about these legal works. There are many titles of interest to law students and practicing lawyers on building a practice, using social media, using technology, and more. Below are links to ten: iPad Apps In One Hour for Lawyers – Finding the best apps often can be an…

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Students Volunteer to Make Textbooks Accessible for Bookshare Members

The Bookshare textbook image description volunteer program is excited to announce two partnerships kicking off the new school year. Last winter, Bookshare launched a partnership with BYU students through their Peery Social Entrepreneurship program. The partnership was so successful (and fun) that BYU, led by returning student Ted Jackson, chose to continue the work begun last term. The BYU charter promotes volunteerism by recruiting fellow students to write image descriptions in Bookshare textbooks. Last spring, the BYU Bookshare charter contributed hundreds of descriptions and developed a facilitator’s guidebook for establishing such charters on other college campuses. This fall, their goals…

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Personnel Development on Assistive Technology and Digital Books

Do you teach future classroom teachers, existing teachers, or other professionals who want to know more about assistive technology and digital books? Teachers, counselors, and other professionals who work in special education and rehabilitation need to know about all available resources to find the right resource for each student. For example, these specialized teachers and professionals need to know that students with print disabilities benefit when they have access to assistive technology and books in alternate formats. They need to know how to use these resources in the classroom. To help provide a single source of instructional materials about assistive…

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Are You Using Open Educational Resources (OER)?

Open Educational Resources (OER) are digital teaching materials that can be used freely by anyone.  They are published under creative commons licenses which allow uses of materials that would not be permitted with materials published under traditional copyrights. As free digital teaching resources, many schools, districts, community colleges, universities, and some states are beginning to use and adopt them instead of textbooks. However, just because OER are digital, they are not necessarily accessible. Several OER publishers including CK-12, Flat World Knowledge, Connexions and Curriki, recognize that their formats are not accessible to all students and contribute files to Bookshare for…

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Books to Help You Prepare for Those Big Tests!

Good preparation can make that important day when you take the big test so much less stressful.  Bookshare has a variety of resources that will help you get ready.  You’ll find books from all the popular test preparation publishers, including Peterson’s, Barron’s, and Kaplan.  If you don’t find the book you want, search by the name of the standard test in our collection, and you’ll find lots of choices. These books give you lots of opportunities to take practice tests and look more closely at subjects that you want to review more intensively. Here are some general titles to get you…

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A Computer Science Degree to a Job with Bookshare

I learned about Bookshare in 2004 just before my senior year of high school. Bookshare wasn’t free for qualified students back then, so I paid for my first subscription with money I received for my high school graduation. I joined six weeks before I started college, knowing I would need as many sources of accessible materials as possible. While there weren’t many textbooks, I thought I would find materials that would help with research papers. However, another use was rather surprising. For a political science class, I was required to read the newspaper, e.g. The New York Times, several times…

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Bookshare Helped Student Transition to College

Zach Bryant pulled straight A’s in his Maryland high school. He liked to read all kinds of books then, but that wasn’t always the case for Zach.  He has Cerebral Palsy (CP) which prohibits him from speaking and walking. To communicate and write his thoughts down, he uses an augmentative communication device (AAC). Simple tasks, like turning a printed page or finding the last chapter he read was frustrating for him. According to his mom, this experience happens to many children with CP.  “They get frustrated and don’t want to read, but access to digital books and reading technologies changed…

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