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May 7, 2004 - By: Corey Murray, eSchool News - MD,USA For special-education teachers, providing required reading for blind and learning-disabled students is a significant challenge. Now, thanks to the aid of Bookshare.org, a non-profit digital book service based in Palo Alto, Calif., educators have access to a library of thousands of titles they can download and reproduce for use on screen readers or as MP3 files. Across the country, special-education teachers are turning to Bookshare.org to help provide the visually impaired with volumes of textbooks and literary works they otherwise might not have access to. Advocates of the technology say the paperless books make in-class reading assignments easier for these students, many of whom get left behind while educators labor to scan printed text into cumbersome Braille embossers and other assistive-learning devices, such as screen readers and MP3 players. JoEllen Waddell, program support teacher for Cooperative Education Service Agency 5, one of 12 such organizations across the state of Wisconsin responsible for helping educators implement special-education plans and other services, said at least 20 students enrolled in the three schools she oversees currently have access to Bookshare. | |
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