March 3, 2015
The " Notable Children’s Recordings" for 2015 are out from the American Library Association that can boost learning for children who struggle to read traditional books in print or inaccessible digital text formats.
High qualityA committee representing seven states from the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) chose the...
February 18, 2015
For some students, hearing passages aloud is enough for them to understand the content. For those learners, human and/or electronic readers keep them involved with learning across the curriculum. Sometimes those learners combine an audiobook and keep a printed copy in hand or on their lap. They also do well if the assigned text is converted to an accessible digital format that runs on their...
February 17, 2015
Short videos can go a long way to tell a promising story of how students with dyslexia and other special needs who learn differently can succeed in school. The videos chosen here run less than seven minutes. Each can be a resource to raise community awareness or to impart the latest thinking to aid professional development.
From AIM-VA Partners:
BookshareIn...
February 13, 2015
"Leap Into Learning Differently," a new website by Sharon LePage Plante, is crafted carefully to include "amazing people who care about learning for all students." She is site founder and also a tireless teacher, tech director, and social-media-in-education aficionado who...
February 16, 2015
Accessible digital text is the way to go when students have differing abilities. Meanwhile, flexible digital learning also supports the variability that any single learner experiences in the course of a day.
Accessible materials, both finding and locating them, can be a complex business. Educational product features and built-in supports vary widely. For that reason, the...
January 26, 2015
Students who use a device to support their access to the curriculum often struggle because assistive technology (AT) can make them feel different from their peers.
Devices as strengthsIn...
January 22, 2015
Hopefully, all educators have New Year's resolutions in place to improve professional practice. "POWER Up What Works," an activity of the federal education department, is lending a hand by publishing five proposals by Judy Zorfass related to improving teaching...
January 16, 2015
I raved about Karen Janowski's wiki UDLToolkit and the serious matter of achieving academic accessibility in classrooms when the AIM-VA blog started publishing in 2014. I turn to her recommendations today as 2015 gets rolling.
Removing ObstaclesJanowski's work as a...
January 12, 2015
With IEP "season" just beginning, says the National Center for Accessible Educational Materials (AEM), two webinars are coming in February to help educators and families know the basics and determine a student's eligibility for alternatives during instruction when books in print are barriers to learning.
Alternatives to print help to assure that students with print disabilities are...
December 31, 2014
Bravo to carefully curated lists by reliable sources where the raters and choosers share what they love best.
Here are recommendations from great sources. Raters evaluated and selected books, apps, and media that were offered during 2014 or remained top recommendations chosen in the past. The selections that follow are a mixed bag suitable for various ages. Specific age levels and...
December 29, 2015
"One Hundred Books Famous in Children's Literature" is on display for a limited time in New York City. Many books on this curated list that once were only in print are available from AIM-VA partners including Learning Ally, Bookshare, and the...
December 17, 2014
The author of Clifford the Big Red Dog series died this week. For students with print disabilities, "ear reading" Norman Bridwell's famous books by using audiobook versions is a must. Overcoming or bypassing their disability and accessing text in the way the student learns best helps them join with peers to discuss Bridwell's stories, his life (author studies), and books by other...
December 11, 2014
Teaching students with dyslexia and other print disabilities requires informed school administrators, teachers, related services personnel, and parents working together. Their efforts to establish eligibility for accessible educational materials (AEM=AIM) can assure that students who need it can access grade-level content in order to meet or exceed state standards.
Asessments,...
December 8, 2014
Bookshare, an AIM-VA partner in providing accessible books to students with print disabilities, recommends titles filled with humor as 2014 draws to a close. The following staff choices have witty and quirky holiday themes. Put serious books aside for a bit, Bookshare says. Make some time for smiles and joy.
Here's the link for the full...
December 3, 2014
A flurry of built-in accessibility features involving voice and dictation from Apple are the latest operating system upgrades that benefit students who are frustrated and turned off when their textbooks and trade books come only in print.
New ToolsThe additions mean students who learn differently have choices in the supports they use during a digital learning opportunity. No user is...
November 28, 2014
Teachers as "learning engineers" was a theme of a 2014 webinar focused on how to structure successful learning for students with disabilities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education using technology and apps.
"I want you to think less like a teacher and more like an engineer," Jamie Basham told his webinar audience as part of a project of the...
November 24, 2014
Teachers were buzzing about and checking out many wonderful books in the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Exhibit Hall on Nov. 22. Having so many wonderful books in print to examine was like a picnic for some who browsed and chatted happily at this 2014 annual conference.
A crowd lined up way in advance (like shoppers at Best Buy before a big sale) for the freebie books...
November 17, 2014
Students with print disabilities using text-to-speech assistive technology (AT) have a good chance to acquire content in general education classes and to learn independently as compared with a learning aide reading information aloud to them from a computer screen.
This act of "reading with your ears" is a very good thing, says...
November 19, 2014
Can teachers better target and achieve learning objectives using lessons that engage students with multiple digital learning tools? The Senior Manager of Digital Learning at Common Sense Media, Darri Stephens, wondered. Graphite is a platform created by...
November 10, 2014
E-Books can be a better read, says Michael Kozlowski, a mainstream writer and book reviewer who specializes in horror, self help, humor and comedy.
On the website "Goodereader.com," Koslowski reports that there are good reasons to go with e-Books; and he spells them out in a recent article,...
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