Credit for this post goes to Bryan Wendell, with the Boy Scouts of America. Here’s the original. For some boys, reading doesn’t come easy. And that makes the Boy Scouts of America a challenging place. The Boy Scout Handbook. Merit Badge pamphlets. BSA training manuals. Daunting prospects for boys with print disabilities. Fortunately, the BSA has some great resources for those Scouts. Starting with Bookshare. This summer, the BSA signed a memorandum of understanding that cements a partnership aimed at improving the Scouting experience for boys and girls with print disabilities. Bookshare’s cool online library (bookshare.org) allows Scouts in your…
1 CommentCategory: learning disabilities
Let Reading Come Alive! Download 5!
If you, our teachers in schools with Bookshare accounts, could do one thing to help turn your non-reading students with print disabilities into readers, would you do it? This fall, we’d like you try something. For each student, download 5: 3 for school and 2 for cool. Get them their textbooks – let’s say at least 3 – and then get 2 more that you think your students will enjoy reading for fun. Many students tell us that using Bookshare for their school work has opened up the world of books. They now read on their own and even download…
7 CommentsMaking Research Fun With Bookshare – Part Three
Guest post by Deborah Armstrong, Alternate Media Specialist, DeAnza Community College, CA Different Reading Devices…Is it Time for a Change? If you don’t like reading books on your computer, have you tried portable reading devices? I found portable devices tedious so I taught myself how to use the two screen-reader friendly DAISY readers for Bookshare members –Victor Reader Soft and Amis. Both applications let me sort through books on my computer first. After I do that, I move the books to my portable device to read them. Also, consider downloading the free Read:Out Loud Bookshare edition text reader. This way…
1 CommentWin an iPad 2 in the “Bookshare Everywhere” Summer Contest!
Tell us all the ways Bookshare made your summer fun! One of the best things about Bookshare is that you can take it anywhere you want. Whether you go on vacation, hang out at a local park, or curl up on a comfy chair at home, you can enjoy Bookshare books wherever you want. This summer, don’t just have fun reading with Bookshare, enter the summer contest and you might win some totally awesome prizes, like an Apple iPad 2! Who can play: Contestants must be U.S. Individual Members of Bookshare in grades K-12 and college. Don’t have an individual…
13 CommentsFind Hidden Savings in Textbook Purchases
When a state or district has or had money to buy new textbooks, textbook selection committees comprised of curriculum specialists, teachers, administrators and others review the available options and select the books that best fit the curriculum. The complex process takes many months, and may include previews of the choices in districts around a state, before the best new textbook is chosen. The process lumps the learning styles of 90% to 98% of the students into one learning style, although every classroom teacher knows that all students learn differently. The needs of between 2% and 10% or more of the…
1 CommentIt’s about COMMUNITY
Community is very important at Bookshare. Student members, parents, teachers, and advocates all contribute to a vibrant Bookshare community that continually strives to support our children. This blog post focuses on the many ways students and families can participate in the Bookshare community. Bookshare in the community Although Bookshare is a small California nonprofit, we do all that we can to get out and meet families around the U.S. Often, we do this by attending and providing trainings at conferences and events. Last month, we attended two notable conference events for families. The PEAK Parent Conference on Inclusive Education…
Leave a CommentA Very Special Collection: The Schneider Family Book Award
Credit goes to Carrie Karnos, Bookshare’s Manager of Scanning and Proofing for this post and the collection. The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. Three annual awards of $5000 and a framed plaque are given in the following categories: birth through grade school (age 0–8), middle school (age 9–13) and teens (age 14–18). (Age groupings are approximations). The book must emphasize the artistic expression of the disability experience for children and or adolescent audiences. And the book must portray some…
1 CommentThe Power and Role of Technology in the Field of Learning Disabilities
Many excellent paper-based tools exist to teach reading to students with learning disabilities (LD), and for years, educators have relied on them. At the LDA conference in Jacksonville last week (February, 2011), I decided to explore the power and role of technologies such as digital books and content in addition to paper-based approaches in the LD field. The consensus of the hundred-plus educators attending my session entitled “Get Ready for Digital Books” was that the LD profession recognizes that digital books and content are here. The question is not “are you ready,” or do you want to incorporate digital content,”…
5 CommentsAnnouncing the Read2Go App: The DAISY reader for Bookshare on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch
Our members talked, and we listened! Announcing the new Read2Go App, the DAISY reader for Bookshare on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. Read2Go is an accessible e-book reader that was developed by Benetech (the parent nonprofit for Bookshare), in partnership with Shinano Kenshi Co. Ltd (best known for its PLEXTALK® brand of digital talking book players). Read2Go is the most full-featured, accessible DAISY reader for the Apple device market. This very easy-to-use app for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch connects directly to Bookshare for immediate on-the-go reading. From within the app, individual users and schools supporting students can…
36 CommentsAttention MAC Users…Read:OutLoud Version 6 Bookshare Edition 2.0 for MAC and PC Now Available!
Read:OutLoud Version 6 Bookshare Edition with support for Snow Leopard on Macintosh computers is now available! But it’s not just for MAC users. We highly recommend ALL Members upgrade to this version for better performance with large books. Read:OutLoud Version 6 Bookshare Edition is a DAISY reader designed for people with learning disabilities. Read:OutLoud allows users to read multi-modally, take notes, look up definitions and more. It is not recommended for use with screen readers and can only read Bookshare books. Read:OutLoud Version 6 Bookshare Edition includes the following enhancements: • Supports Mac OS 10.4 – 10.6 and Windows XP, Vista, and 7 • Opens books faster • Supports…
Leave a Comment