print disabilities Archives - Page 9 of 12

Published February 3, 2014

Winter Olympics 2014—Let the Games Begin!

The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, start on February 6! To help inaugurate this amazing international competition, the Bookshare Collections Development team has put together a wonderful list of books for all ages. Do you want to know how and when the first games started? Do you want to learn more about specific events like hockey or skiing? Do you want to read about Winter Olympic athletes, like speed skater Apolo Ohno? Get ready for the winter games with these great books, add them to your Reading List, and share with others! Books for Children and Adolescents Tacky and…

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Published January 28, 2014

Teacher-Recommended Titles for Black History Month

Earlier, we wrote about Black History Month. In this blog, we want to share some great reading recommendations from one of our amazing sponsor members, Donna Schneider. Donna is an Assistive Technology Specialist and Bookshare Mentor Teacher. She gave us her list of teacher-recommended books to read and learn about black history. Some titles meet Common Core Standards, so please share them with other teachers and students. Here’s a tip! Use Reading Lists to save, organize, and share these books with students who have Individual Memberships. View this tutorial for educators or this tutorial for Individual Members. * * *…

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Published January 25, 2014

Leading Accessible Communities – LIVE Discussion with Online Community Managers

January 27, 2014 is Community Manager Appreciation Day and we’re thrilled that two of Benetech’s employees, BJ Wishinsky, Bookshare’s Social Media Coordinator, and Allison Hilliker, Benetech’s Operations Associate, will team up to talk with community managers around the country on the important topic of accessibility. Online Community Managers help individuals and organizations build connections online around common goals and personal, social, or business interests. BJ and Allison’s goals are to help more community managers understand their role in removing barriers to access and inclusion for community members with disabilities. They will help other leaders in the field to learn about…

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Published January 23, 2014

January Is Braille Literacy Month

Louis Braille was born on January 4, 1809, in Coupvray, France. He is the inventor of the braille code, and students of all ages can read and learn about him in many titles in the Bookshare library. At age 16, Louis attended the National Institute for Blind Youth in Paris. He and other blind students would read by tracing raised letters in print with their fingers. Writing required memorization of these letter shapes to reproduce them on paper. The task of reading and writing were painfully slow, and few blind students mastered the technique. Some say that Louis would poke…

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Published January 13, 2014

Two FREE “Bookshare for Educators” Workshops during ATIA 2014 Conference in Orlando

Educators near or close to Orlando, Florida, and those who will attend the ATIA 2014 conference, reserve your seat now for FREE Bookshare training workshops on Friday, January 31. This is your chance to get hands-on training and answers to questions directly from our Bookshare trainers. You do not have to register for ATIA to participate. The events will take place at the Caribe Royal Hotel in conjunction with ATIA 2014. Once we reserve your spot, we’ll send you details in a confirmation email. Space is limited, so please sign up on the waiting list for these in-depth training sessions:…

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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 19, 2013

Bookshare Listed Among World’s 100 Most Inspiring Applications of Digital Technology for Social Innovation

This post is reposted from the Benetech Blog. The Nominet Trust, a United Kingdom leading social tech funder, included Bookshare, a Benetech Global Literacy initiative, on its list of 100 global ventures using digital technology to solve some of the world’s biggest social problems. Through its innovative technologies, Bookshare is raising the floor for people with print disabilities (such as visual impairments, physical disabilities, or severe learning disabilities) by providing them with the world’s largest collection of accessible copyrighted content and reading tools. Bookshare currently has over 250,000 members and a collection of more than 220,000 titles, which are delivered…

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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 25, 2013

November – A Time to Give Thanks!

Any day is a good day to honor people, and November is the time to celebrate families, sacrifices made and the human spirit. So today, we give thanks for you! Our members, volunteers, teachers, sponsors, parents, disability advocates, Veterans, and everyone who works to make the world a better place. There are many ways we can express gratitude, such as painting a picture of loved ones, praising your child for reading a book, honoring a Veteran, sharing a life experience, hugging a pet, or enjoying a movie that is closed-captioned and accessible. Whatever holiday or tradition you celebrate this week,…

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Category: print disabilities