Hopefully, this week’s post finds most of you comfortable and safe at home with a cup of coffee and a plate of cookies! Almost all schools near my home and office were canceled today due to ice. I’m stuck at home right now with no electricity, but I think I should have just enough juice left in my laptop to get this posted on the blog!
Free Audiobooks: …from the public domain from LibriVox! Search for books in the LibriVox catalog here: http://librivox.org/newcatalog. Also, LibriVox is looking for volunteers to record audio books for them. What a great opportunity for some of your more advanced readers to use their skills to contribute to this effort! If you or your students want to volunteer, go here: http://librivox.org/volunteer-for-librivox/
Podcasts For Your Older Students
NPR Science Friday Podcast: A free weekly discussion on science, technology and health. Subscribe to the free podcast in iTunes by clicking ‘Advanced’ and then ‘Subscribe To Podcast.’ Then paste this address and click ‘OK:’ http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510221 OR, just go straight to that address by clicking on it or copy/pasting it into a browser where you can listen to each episode individually. Could be an interesting and fun thing to make part of your weekly routine.
Podcasts For Younger Students
Sesame Street Podcasts! For your younger students, here is the FREE Sesame Street Podcast. Episodes are produced about 1X/Week and include such topics as Subtraction, Rhythm and Health. iTunes Link Here. Oh… and they’re Video Podcasts too!
How To Use A Video iPod: Here’s a great little online tutorial on how to get the content you want onto your iPod Video devices. If you’re having trouble or you have an empty iPod sitting around because you’re not quite sure how to load it up, definitely give this site a few minutes of your time: http://mytrainingcenter.com/index.php?page=video-ipod-tutorial
Audiobook Converter: I know I’ve discussed this one before, but it’s a good one! Don’t forget about it. Read the previous discussion on why you’d want to create iPod Audiobooks HERE.
Internet Explorer 8 Accessibility: (Thanks Sandy) I realized last Thursday that Microsoft was some plans for IE8 that are specific to accessibility. I particularly like that Accessibility Program Manager believes that 100% of people benefit from an application being more accessible. One item of interest will be Caret Browsing, which should allow users to browse the web without having to use a traditional mouse. Other features should include Adaptive Zooming, Web Slices and Accelerators. Read more here: http://tech.yahoo.com/news/pcworld/microsoftimprovesie8fordisabledusers AND HERE.
