Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 3, 2013

One of the biggest reasons is that among people who are blind, braille literacy has been linked with higher education levels, higher likelihood of employment and higher income. Department of Education Office for Special Education Programs (OSEP). Accordingly, U.S. federal law supports braille instruction.

Literacy 208

Literacy eBook Images Accessibility 208

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 16, 2013

You see, several months later, the federal Department of Education challenged us to compete against a well-respected national nonprofit 60 times our size in a bid to provide accessible educational materials for US students who are blind, dyslexic, or otherwise print disabled. I was wrong. million contract to do just that.

Advocacy 176

Advocacy Change Literacy DC 176

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 17, 2013

A citizen of Paraguay, he is the founder of Fundación Paraguaya , a financially self-sustaining social enterprise that promotes entrepreneurs in Paraguay and Africa through microcredit and entrepreneurship education. And there’s more: Martín is the author of books on economics, development, municipal government, education and even poetry!

Paraguay 142

Paraguay Award Africa Conservancy 142

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 3, 2014

And, she wants to improve access to education, economic opportunity and of course, books, for all Moroccans, but most especially women! Jamila is a well educated and well read leader with a vision. She''s very proud of her country, and thinks that her fellow Moroccans need to know more about their culture and history.

Morocco 199

Morocco Literacy Europe History 199

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

This includes accessible educational materials, such as e-books that can be used with computers, or mobile devices that display enlarged text or read the book aloud while also highlighting text. We have the technological innovations to help these children and their families and educators, who are looking for strategies to aid their success.

Student 173

Student Accessibility Copyright Library 173

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 20, 2013

The other recipient this year was Kay Ferrell, Professor of Special Education at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, who won the Medal for her tremendous work with and on behalf of children and youth who are blind and visually impaired. Washington? Isn’t that where good ideas go to die?” Thank you again for this honor!

eBook 221

eBook Award Copyright Syria 221

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 17, 2015

· It remedies the book famine faced by people who are blind or have another disability that prevents them from reading books, improving their access to education, employment, and social inclusion. · It supports the Sustainable Development Goals, which mention inclusiveness repeatedly, especially in the context of education. ·

Copyright 100

Copyright Law Library eBook 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

I recently was sworn in by Undersecretary of Education Martha Kanter as one of nineteen people serving on the Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities. Opportunity to higher education is a crucial need for all students, and especially students with disabilities.

Instruction 100

Instruction Instructional Student Law 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 4, 2013

The Year That Was and the New Year Ahead Guest Beneblog by Betsy Beaumon, Benetech's VP and General Manager of the Literacy Program 2012 was a year of titanic shifts in the fields of consumer technology, education, and publishing, along with the requisite challenges brought about by such rapid change.

Literacy 166

Literacy Program United Arab Emirates Student 166

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 3, 2011

Bookshare is dramatically exceeding its five-year collection and member targets at the close of the fourth year of our Bookshare for Education (B4E) project funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). In the U.S.,

Impact 140

Impact Technology eBook Student 140

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 4, 2015

We love reading, and we know how important being able to read a book is to educational and employment opportunity. Spread the word to people who care about reading, and about educational opportunity. So, please give if you can by making a donation now, or through tomorrow, on the Silicon Valley Gives to Bookshare page.

Giving 100

Giving United States Student Grant 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 1, 2014

The cost of prototyping and deploying new technology tools is now extremely low and data has the potential to accelerate social progress in areas ranging from poverty to human rights, education, health, and the environment. Case in point: our accessible online library, Bookshare.

Technology 192

Technology Open Source Data Exercise 192

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 28, 2014

Gerardo during a brainstorming session in Benetech offices Advising to and leading Benetech’s collaboration with standards organizations and groups that advance the field of accessibility in education, such as the World Wide Web Consortium ( W3C ) and the DAISY Consortium.

Open Source 184

Open Source Literacy eBook Empowerment 184

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 7, 2013

The first is developing strong local partners , such as disability NGOs, libraries or educational institutions that help us customize our services to the specific needs of their communities. For example, in developing countries, we aim to help our members pursue educational and employment opportunities.

India 225

India Literacy United Kingdom United States 225

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 8, 2015

The Vice President of Global Literacy leads Benetech’s biggest program, standing at the confluence of some of the most active and rapidly evolving fields: digital content, EdTech, domestic and international education, and user-centered design.

Technology 100

Technology Literacy Social Uganda 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 23, 2014

Technology currently serves privileged groups through tools that provide access to education, literacy, health, and justice. Information technology is touching all aspects of society, and every area—whether health, poverty, education, human rights, or the environment—can be improved with the right technology tools.

Literacy 158

Literacy eBook United Kingdom Accessibility 158

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 21, 2009

I keynoted the Illinois Computing Educators - ICE conference recently, and someone posted a picture on Flickr. Tags: ice educators keynote fruchterman. It's fun to go out and tell stories to hundreds of people. Mainly, I talk about where Benetech comes from.

Illinois 104

Illinois Flickr Picture Education 104

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 3, 2016

Wouldn’t it make more sense to make it easier for people with disabilities to get access to the books they need for education and employment? The Bookshare promise to American students with disabilities is that if they need a book for education, Bookshare will ensure that they have it. Bookshare was created under the Section 121 U.S.

Copyright 100

Copyright United States Library eBook 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 2, 2012

Our vision is to provide equal opportunities for students with disabilities and help them overcome a major barrier to accessing to the most valuable prize in society: a great education. A little over 4 years ago, we won a competitive contract award from the US Department of Education which took a bold risk on Bookshare.

Celebrate 145

Celebrate Google Literacy Library 145

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 18, 2019

In addition, the quality was often not good enough to deliver fully equal access to educational books. Thanks to the effort led by Robin, four of the top five educational publishers recently presented their future roadmaps including this vision of inclusive publishing, of global accessibility. We thought the publishers might help.

eBook 100

eBook United States Literacy Library 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 22, 2008

Justesen, Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Department of Education includes overseeing OSEP, the people who are funding our Bookshare for Education project to serve every student with a print disability in the United States. Tags: Department of Education OSEP Justesen Bookshare.

Guatemala 100

Guatemala Demonstration United States Washington 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 16, 2011

I just attended two days of meetings in Washington DC on the first year of the DIAGRAM Center , held at the Office of Special Education Programs in the Department of Education.

Images 194

Images Alternative Student Accessibility 194

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 23, 2009

as well as meeting with our Bookshare funders at the Department of Education. One of the coolest meetings was with Under Secretary of Education, Martha Kanter, who headed our local community college here in California before getting the appointment.

Accessibility 150

Accessibility Content Open Copyright 150

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 15, 2014

Access to written materials and education is not a privilege, but a basic human right—fundamental to personal, economic, and social development. And when you sign the treaty, you haven’t succeeded. a11y accessibility blind Bookshare copyright IP Marrakesh Treaty print disabilities visual impairment WIPO'

Accessibility 194

Accessibility Celebrate United States Copyright 194

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 6, 2011

The first one shows the Special Education category on iTunes, with the Read2Go logo being used to represent the Literacy and Learning section. Gerardo Capiel, Benetech's VP Engineering, just sent me a couple of exciting screen shots on our Read2Go iOS application for accessible reading of ebooks.

Literacy 133

Literacy Chart eBook Application 133

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 26, 2013

As a person who parlayed a Caltech education into social entrepreneurship (an atypical choice for Techers), I could sympathize with her desire to make social impact! It was exciting to hear that Iram had ditched her career as a brilliant scientist to become a filmmaker. She says it's because of her impatience to change society faster.

Pakistan 237

Pakistan Virginia San Francisco India 237

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

which get Bookshare at no cost when serving students with qualifying disabilities (thanks to funding from the Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education). Educate and inform schools and our users about the qualifications. The biggest area of our work to date is for schools in the U.S.,

Copyright 158

Copyright Social Law Student 158

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 15, 2012

I’m excited to contribute to this topic in honor of the multitudes who work together to make a difference in the world through Bookshare, a global asset we have built with joint efforts of education, technology, publishing, student, parent, and volunteer communities. With support from the Bookshare community, we changed that reality.

Library 164

Library Student eBook Accessibility 164

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 20, 2009

Finally, the Office of the General Counsel of the Department of Education reviewed Bookshare’s status as an authorized entity as part of the awards process for the Bookshare for Education project. The Request for Proposal specified that only an authorized entity could receive an award in that competition.

Authoring 100

Authoring Copyright Library Award 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

They lack the books they need for education, employment, and social inclusion. There’s a global book famine afflicting people with disabilities. Billions have been spent addressing the problem over the past decade.

Global 109

Global eBook Library United States 109

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 22, 2010

I wanted to give back to society, to help people who didn’t have vision with their education so that they could become economically and socially independent." Since Viji was raised in India, she began looking at the educational challenges faced by people from that country.

San Jose 109

San Jose Profile India United Kingdom 109

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 12, 2009

These were the questions that inspired my relationship with Marta Sanabria, the supervisor of Special Education of Puerto Rico who invited Bookshare to perform trainings for teachers, parents and agency workers on the island. Why shouldn’t students in Puerto Rico benefit from our technology and services?

Puerto Rico 100

Puerto Rico United States Student Library 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 10, 2013

The more we use technology in our education and health systems, the more data we collect about how people learn and what keeps us healthy or makes us sick. Looking forward, we can imagine a world where content is matched to the learner because we’ll be able to tailor education to the individual and how they best learn.

Profit 171

Profit Data SWF Syria 171

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 19, 2013

Education was her way out, but when she signed up for graduate studies at New York University, she returned to live with her parents and became involved in and reacquainted with her neighborhood. Majora’s life journey is an inspiring story. Naturally, she was eager to escape.

Local 129

Local New York Culture Open Source 129

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 14, 2011

Technology has revolutionized business, but bringing those breakthrough developments to government, education and the nonprofit sectors can take 5, 10, even 15 years. Through our Bookshare online library, they now have equal access to the books they need for education, employment and full participation in society!

Technology 150

Technology Change Social Literacy 150

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

With the collection’s expanding daily, we’re well on our way to ensuring that our users have equal access to the books they need for education, employment, and social inclusion. These milestones represent a giant leap forward in the number of students and individuals we serve.

Literacy 129

Literacy eBook Global Audio 129

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 31, 2011

Of course, this is a peer reviewed journal and being guest editors doesn't give us the power to decide what does and doesn't get published.

Issue 198

Issue Technology Game Journal 198