Friday, October 7, 2011

Yet Another Reason to Thank Steve Jobs...

I discovered a resource in a slightly long-winded way, but it all started with exploring Bookshare. Bookshare, a free service for all US students with visual impairments, physical or learning disabilities, is an online digital library of over 125,000 books and other print resources. I found the search interface extremely user friendly, and I liked how users could browse by special collections, such as New York Times Bestsellers or teacher recommendations. When looking into how students view/listen to these downloaded books, I came across the Read2Go app for iPads, iPod Touch and iPhones, which allows students to search, download and read books all on one device, as well as control the font size, reading speed, and other properties with ease!

This got me to thinking about the power of the iPad for students with learning disabilities. A quick Google search revealed praise after praise for the device and it's portability, price, ability to customize, and ease of use. It can not only, for example, help children with autism communicate, but assist with fine motor and life skills.

One amazing app I saw was Proloquo2Go which provides people who have trouble communicating a solution. Users select symbols to form sentences and now have the ability to easily express feelings, needs and wants.

So that's how Steve Job's legacy has meshed with IST 611 this week. Classmates - any ideas you can think of to integrate the iPad into the library media center for student with disabilities? Any amazing apps you have discovered?

1 comment:

  1. This was a wonderful post that certainly does mesh with both our class and Steve Job's legacy. I hope other #ist611 students get to read it.

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