[bksvol-discuss] Re: Getting teachers to use Bookshare for their students
- From: "Monica Willyard" <rhyami@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 01:02:26 -0500
Hi Judy, Melissa, and Shelley. I've been working to spread the news about
Bookshare here in Georgia for three years now. I talk to teachers,
librarians, and parents. So far, Bookshare has a fairly low adoption rate in
the south. I'd love to change that.
After some trial and error, I've found that it's often easier to reach out
to students and parents than to teachers. Since parents can help their child
sign up, and since parents can give the teachers a friendly nudge, it seems
to work more effectively. If I can reach a student, usually a preteen or
teenager, and his or her parents, the process is easy to move along. The
teacher either comes around or is bypassed. In most cases, the resistant
teacher softens once she sees the student benefiting and excelling while
using Bookshare.
One odd thing I've noticed is that when I help a parent get her child signed
up, the child seems to use the service often. I don't get that type of
feedback from the teachers as much. My interpretation of this is that the
parent is spending time helping the child select books and learn to use the
site. I could be wrong though. That may not mean anything.
With many teachers I've talked to, I've noticed at least one of four
objections. I think Bookshare does a poor job of addressing these on its
site and in its promotional materials. Maybe they don't know about this. I
think more teachers would respond well if these concerns were handled up
front.
1. Some teachers aren't computer literate and feel intimidated by a new
concept related to technology. This is especially true of older special ed
and English teachers. They would have to push through their fear of
technology and learn to use it alongside their students. They don't know
what daisy is and aren't quite sure what to do with downloadable books.
2. Many teachers I've talked with perceive Bookshare as something that would
take up more of their already overcrowded time. They figure they'll need to
supervise usage, fill out paperwork, and other nebulously tedious things.
They don't readily see how Bookshare can save them time.
3. Some teachers assume that if a child can't read, he or she must need
audio. They assume that NLS and RFB&D are the solution. They don't
understand that some children, even blind children, are visual and tactile,
that audio puts them at more of a disadvantage. To them, a book is a book
whether it's in audio or in Braille. Teachers who work with kids with
learning disabilities seem to be more flexible in this department.
4. Several resource teachers for the blind seem to think that RFB works just
fine. They want to do it like they've always done it. They'd have to figure
out how to request books from Bookshare and what this Nimac thing is about.
All four of these issues need to be covered when approached and informing
teachers. They need to see it as an asset to them personally, not a
liability or additional hoop to jump through. Bookshare is easy to use once
you get the hang of it. However, to a person with very little computer
literacy, Bookshare can be confusing and intimidating. There really isn't a
quick-start guide or helpful video that shows teachers what to do. There is
the help page, and most people who aren't tech savvy don't do well with help
pages.
When I meet a teacher who says they want to do Bookshare but don't know much
about computers, that is my queue to offer to walk them through getting
their students signed up and coming by to help them download their first
book and the daisy reader. I have used Skype or my telephone to help
teachers in Texas and Alabama sign up their students and download some books
too.
If I could see, I'd make a video for new sighted parents and teachers. I'd
love to do it. I know what to do. I've seen what works when I present things
in a live meeting with a teacher. I just can't capture the screenshots to go
with my audio. If I could show them a video, they'd understand and would see
Bookshare as something they could handle. Maybe someday I will meet someone
who can do the video part and let me do the audio track.
Ok, this email is way longer than I planned. I'm going to bed now. Hmm. I
wonder if a blind person has ever learned to make a video with screenshots?
Monica Willyard
"The best way to predict the future is to create it." -- Peter Drucker
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