Hi, Allison. I have been talking to schools... to teachers, principals, and even a couple of school board members. They are telling me two things. The first is that they perceive Bookshare as a service they'll have to work on to use, as a project they'd need to micromanage. Because of this, they perceive Bookshare as something to add to an already crowded schedule of things the teachers have to do. It's not readily apparent that once they set up a student for Bookshare access, they can step back and let the student and his/her parents get books when they want or need them.
The other concern, as Shelley has mentioned, is the paperwork and sign-up process. Though I've been told that the process has been streamlined somewhat, teachers are telling me that they are confused about aspects of signing up and just don't have time to spend figuring it all out. Because of this, I'm finding that I have to spend time strengthening a teacher's desire for Bookshare access before they will act. Many VI teachers are overworked and over-scheduled, so they have to have a powerful reason for learning how to implement the Bookshare service. I'm finding that it works best if I bring doughnuts and coffee and walk them through the process myself. I do this for the students because I know what it's like to want to read and not be able to. Most of us here know that reality. I will do just about anything so younger people won't have that experience.
Finally, there is a disconnect between volunteers and staff on how to get individual students signed up. That part of the process is not working well, and we have at least one teenager who accidentally set himself up as a school and hasn't been able to get help with changing that, even after contacting support. I know about this because I helped him write the email asking for help.
We're doing much better than we were a year ago. We've got room for improvement, but who doesn't? We're making strides forward, and I'm excited about those. We'll survive our growing pains just like we always have. (smile)
Monica Willyard Allison Hilliker wrote:
You know, I never can figure why schools would decide they would not joinBookshare. Monica mentioned that this school had previously said they were uninterested in signing up their students. I wonder why. I mean... it's free. They don't really have anything to lose. Do you happen to know their original reasonfor not signing students up? I ask so that we will know the concernsschools are having in hopes that we can address them in the future. If one school had this view of Bookshare, I would guess that others do as well. Soany insight is appreciated. Thanks again, Allison
