Blog Post 5: Bookshare
In education, learning opportunities should be equal for all
students, different and typically abled alike. According to “A Summary of
Evidence on Inclusive Education,” “there is clear and consistent evidence that
inclusive educational settings can confer substantial short- and long-term
benefits for students with and without disabilities” (2016, p. 2). Essentially,
inclusion classrooms offer students who are differently-abled knowledge and
experience that they would not get in separated or self-contained classrooms. Likewise,
typically-abled students have to much to learn from differently-abled students
as well. Thought this is critical for the classroom, school libraries also need
to create environments where inclusion is possible. At its most basic level, the
school library is meant to be an online and physical place where student can
access information that they desire. For this to be possible, it is imperative that
differently-abled students are given tools to ensure that they have access to
the same material and services as typically-abled patrons (Copeland, 2011).
Though there are many things librarians can do to the physical space to help students, there are also many 2.0 web tools that libraries can utilize to serve users who have various print disabilities. One of the tools I have found is Bookshare. Bookshare is an awesome online database that resources for users who have various differently abled abilities. Bookshare has over 300,000 textbook and recreational reading books, articles, online magazines, and newspapers for patrons to use (Bookshare, 2014). Bookshare also adds over 2,000 new items to its collection each month. To access the material in the best way that serves patrons, users can download materials in Bookshare web reader (an online reading services), Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY), Braille Refreshable Format (BRF), Mpeg audio layer 3 (MP3), and DAISY audio (Bookshare, 2014). Overally, users have access to a wide range of materials and can access them in the best ways that fit their needs.
Bookshare is a great web 2.0 tool to use in the library because it is a platform that provides users with differently abled needs to still have access to a wide variety of different resources. For example, a student with severe dyslexia may have never really given reading a try because it is so hard for her to access resources that work for her. Because Bookshare has so many different options, this student could find something she likes online and listen to the audio version as she follows along. At my current high school, many teachers offer a silent sustained reading time at the beginning of class for students to interact with a book of their choosing. By giving this student the option to work with Bookshare, she can also work with a book of her choosing, without the added stress that comes with someone who has severe dyslexia. Overall, Bookshare is a great online tool that libraries should have to ensure that all users have equity of access.
References:
Bookshare. (n.d.) Bookshare. Knowledge Quest. [Image]. retrieved
from https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/school-librarians-know-bookshare/
Bookshare
(2014, October 27). What is Bookshare? [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExqTYgbwS7E
Copeland, C.
A. (2011). School librarians of the 21st century. Knowledge Quest, 39(3), 64–69.
Hehir, T.,
Grindal, T., Freeman, B., Lamoreau, R., Borquaye, Y., and Burke, S. (2016). A
summary of the
IAPB/VISION.
(2020). Flickr [image]. https://www.flickr.com/photos/iapb/43427423690
Book share sounds like an amazing tool to use with all students! I love that this platform allow students to access a variety of resources (books, magazines, newspapers, articles, etc.). This allows for differentiation and choice. Does your school subscribe to this tool? The video talks about patrons that have it have a membership. I wonder what is the price for individuals and schools? Thank you for sharing such an amazing too that can help all learners!
ReplyDeleteRichelle Sexton
Your summary of the info presented in the "Summary of Evidence on Inclusion" hits many of the high notes. I was definitely of the impression before that inclusion might result in less achievement for the typically abled students in the class, so this definitely opened my eyes. On page 7, that document says, "Non-disabled students either experienced no effects (58 percent of studies) or experienced positive effects (23 percent of studies) on their academic development as a result of being educated alongside students with disabilities" (Kalambouka, Farrell, Dyson, and Kaplan, 2007). With the reasonable caveat that this only applies when inclusion does not result in too many disruptions, this data is essential for all educators to consider.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing BookShare; it has a lot of useful features that could make reading, for pleasure and otherwise, more accessible to a wide variety of differently abled people!
-Tiffany Taylor Brewer