Software for Digital Talking Books

List of Software for DTBs from the National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials:

These applications are designed for use with digital talking books, such as DAISY format DTBs.

Screenreaders and text to speech applications

Screenreaders and Text-to-Speech options:

The Future of Books ….IDEO’s ideas Incredible

The Futureof Books  from IDEO

There are 4 short videos at this site; 1 introducing the future of books, and 1 each for the platform or structure for their ideas: Nelson Concept, Coupland Concept, and Alice Concept.  I find this kind of thinking intoxicating and fire lighting.

I have been away far too long from trying to convince my colleagues to consider using open education resources or creating accessible course materials and remember IDEO from somewhere in my past at Marlboro College Graduate School so when I found this short video I was happily surprised and my hope for a “different” kind of textbook for all students but especially for those with learning differences and for those who can’t afford a $100 print textbook.

 

AccessText Network Launches an Accessible Textbook Finder

Video Tour

Try it Now

 

Accessible Textbook Finder

The Accessible Textbook Finder (ATF) searches multiple sources of accessible books by ISBN or title, and provides the combined results with links to the source materials.

The following is a list of the repositories  searched ….Note that if you are not a member of  organizations like Learning Ally (formerly the Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic,  RFBD)  and Bookshare, you should look into becoming a member so you will have access to digital books after you leave college.

Repository of Accessible College Textbooks – Do You Have a Print Disability? Is Your College a Member?

 

AccessText Network is a national membership that facilitates the delivery of alternative electronic books for students with documented print disabilities and  has grown tremendously in the number of publishers involved so that it now has digital access to 360,000 textbook titles.  In the relatively short past,  there was a 5-6 week wait for the Disability Services to obtain a digital copy for their print disabled students and there were no guarantees about the digital formats sent.  It is worth encouraging your college’s disabilities services to join- there is a free membership option.

 The AccessText Network helps college students with print disabilities by connecting their disability service offices directly with leading textbook publishers to obtain electronic files. These files are used to create accessible versions of the textbooks.

Information for Students

A goal of the AccessText Network is to provide college students access to resources on how to most effectively use alternative (electronic) textbooks and technology in the classroom as well as the study environment.

Students are encouraged to join the AccessText mailing list to receive future announcements on student resources.

If you are a student interested in receiving alternative (electronic) textbooks in college, contact the disability service provider at your college to see if they are an AccessText member. Please note that you must meet the qualification of having a print-related (i.e. mobility, visual and/or reading) disability in order to receive AccessText services.

Great Article “Student Guide to Ebooks and Online Book Buying” from PCMag

For students who do not depend upon text to speech software, I saw this great article and thought it would be helpful as a new semester is gearing up.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391592,00.asp

Want to get your students excited about science? Free interactive access to a scanning electron microscope

Every day, I’m just so excited about what others are doing (and freely sharing the resources)  to help our students learn in new ways;  I’m hopeful that this cognitive overload will indeed change our education model.  Today I came across Bugscope from the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and just can’t wait to share it with our natural science department.

What is Bugscope?

The Bugscope project provides free interactive access to a scanning electron microscope (SEM) so that students anywhere in the world can explore the microscopic world of insects. This educational outreach program from theBeckman Institute’s Imaging Technology Group at the University of Illinois supports K-16 classrooms worldwide.

Bugscope allows teachers everywhere to provide students with the opportunity to become microscopists themselves—the kids propose experiments, explore insect specimens at high-magnification, and discuss what they see with our scientists—all from a regular web browser over a standard broadband internet connection.