K12 learning 2.0:  Tools for 21st Century Teaching & Learning

THING “Five” (Session Three)

Task:  Part 2 – Reflective blog about an item of interest from RSS . . .

After entering my Google reader, I added three blog feeds, Students 2oh, Infinite Thinking machine and TechLearning Blog.  As I was browsing through the headings of the TechLearning Blog feed, my eye caught an article entitled, “Online Library for People with Print Disabilities Offers More Accessibility.”

So, what is a library for people with “Print Disabilities?”  This site is called Bookshare.  It claims to have a growing collection of more than 43,000 digital books comprising a wide range of general fiction and non-fiction, educational books, children’s literature, textbooks and best sellers.  They make available these books to readers with “print disabilities.”

Then, I must ask, what is the meaning of “print disabilities?”  This article did not clearly define this for me.  There were references to blind and low vision readers.  Also, there were some references to those with learning disabilities.  I did a search on the meaning of this phrase and found the following definition at MainAIM.

“The definition of a print disability is generally considered a functional definition. That is, a student with a print disability is one who is unable to gain information from printed materials at an anticipated level for their grade, and needs alternative access or a specialized format (i.e., Braille,  Large Print, Audio, Digital text) to access that information. This includes students with blindness, visual impairments, specific learning disabilities or other physical conditions.”  (MainAIM)

Bookshare qualifies students that have learning disabilities to be eligible for downloading the material that is formatted in ways for them to be able to read.  It’s great!  One example was given of a vision impaired student downloading text and enlarging it using ZoomText.

The library consists of over 43,000 books and adds over 1,000 monthly.  It is well funded from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and is offering a much needed service to special education students.