Bookshare as an Adaptive Technology Resource
This week’s readings were on making
libraries and classrooms accessible for children with disabilities. According
to the article entitled, “School Librarians of the 21st Century”,
Having a child come into the library-whether on their very first visit or one
of many visits-means that we, as school librarians have the incredible
privilege- and responsibility- to make that child feel welcome and to support
her learning process in every way we possibly can (Copeland,
2011) . As a new librarian, one of my main goals is
to make my library equally accessible for all patrons. By doing this, I started
with weeding and categorizing books based on the genre and children’s reading
levels. I also noticed that quite a few of our students were either struggling
with reading. I asked teachers to provide me with a list of their struggling
readers. From list, I made a request for
students to visit the library more frequently throughout the week so that I could
work more closely with them.
One
task I thoroughly enjoy doing is finding ways to incorporate technology into
the classroom. However, most of the resources that I find don’t cater towards
my students with learning disabilities. After this week’s readings, I
challenged myself to find a better online digital tool that could be used as a
resource for students with reading disabilities.
Bookshare is
catered especially towards people with reading disabilities, as it makes
reading easier. Children with dyslexia,
blindness, cerebral palsy, and other reading barriers can customize their
experience to suit their learning style and find virtually any book they need
for school, work, or the joy of reading (Read your Way Ebooks for People
with Reading Barriers , 2002) . This tool also has
customized reading with ebooks, large fonts,, almost 700,000 titles, and
students can use it anywhere on any electronic device. It simply allows students to read in ways that
works for them. I have posted links below to video tutorials that can help teacher and librarians better understand what bookshare is, the benefits, and instructions to signing up school up. Most importantly, it has testimonies of individuals who have used bookshare.
As technology becomes more dominant in the world, it is important that we introduce our children to new technology as much as possible. This is a great online digital tool to use in the library or classrooms as an adaptive technology resource to enhance children's reading skills. This is a tool that I would definitely love to add to my library resources in the future.
Copeland, C. (2011). School Librarians of the 21st
Century . Knowledge Quest, 64-66.
Read your Way Ebooks for People with Reading Barriers
. (2002, 03 03). Retrieved from
https://www.bookshare.org/cms/
"It's a door opener!" That is what one of the children in the videos said about the BookShare app. I think that's what inclusion is, opening the door for everyone, no matter their abilities or disabilities. If we can offer programs and tools that include assistive technology features then we allow students to feel included instead of secluded. One of the kids in the video said that when he was diagnosed with dyslexia, he heard people say he wouldn't make it, he would be held back in school, he wouldn't amount to much, but something as simple as the BookShare app has him reading The Bourne series books, which is pretty impressive. I have enjoyed reading about the assistive technology tools that people have found this week, please let us know how this app works out when you introduce it to students who frequent your library. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete-Michelle Swearingen