We hope that you are all staying safe and sane during these challenging times. As an organization, we are pivoting to meet the sudden changes to the needs of our students and our own business models. At the same time, our volunteers are already showing us a silver lining, making us proud of their efforts to help others affected by the crisis.

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Learning Ally Responds to COVID-19

 

Cynthia Hamburger, COO and CIO of Learning Ally led a webinar to explain, in detail, what actions we are taking, and have already taken, to provide for our students and balance our business model. With school closures and more students learning at home, the usage of our Learning Ally Audiobook Solution has surged over ten times the numbers we saw last year. As schools recognize the importance and value of our learning tools, we are extending trial periods and contracts with those schools so that they can continue to offer our valuable solutions to students whose semesters have been disrupted. 

 

For more information, as well as an explanation of how we are revising fundraising needs and our "sales" plan to reach new students, you can watch a recording of the full webinar presentation on the Resources page of the Learning Ally Volunteer site.

 

A Volunteer Surge

 

In times of difficulty we are always happy to see people rise to the challenge and give what help they can. And with the present conditions keeping many people at home, volunteer opportunities like our online book production have become an excellent way to help struggling learners. Not only are our volunteers continuing the educations of our students, they are providing more books to keep them engaged with reading and entertained in the hours when they most need the comfort of a good book and a friendly voice.  

 

We have seen a massive increase in volunteer activity, with new volunteer applications at 250% what they were this same time last year.  Our training programs and meetings are full of new names, new faces, and new voices. 

 

All Learning Ally staff are now working from home. Fortunately, the online nature of our volunteering opportunity means our Production department has needed minimal adaptation to make this transition. Still, we are adjusting hours, availability, and workflow to support a large number of people with training and support needs in a very short time. We thank you for your patience and understanding as our efficient little team works to keep us all online and active. 

 

If you have questions or concerns, be sure to reach out through the Volunteer Portal, Volunteer Training Site, Google Hangouts and Groups, and other channels.

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Congratulations Recent Training Grads

 

Aniella F., Heather S., Kara C., Robbyn P., Rob McG., Renee J., Eileen Y., Anne R., Annina K., Ryan L., Melissa L., Ariel C., Brittney S., Simon G., John G., Victor G., Michael M., Rich O., Marcelo T., Steve C., Abigail J., Maureen R., Marc R., Nicolas S., Nick F., Kristin O., Mary H., Sousa L., Gwen P., Kathy D., Kelli P., Debbie B., Elysia B., Larissa H., Linnea D., Eric A., Ari W., Andy L., Isabella H., Becky R., Jeffrey C., Yashvini D., Kim W., Laura M., Sthiti P., Robert W., Mark C.

We are very pleased to announce the general release of webEB, the web-based version of EasyBooks! Please check out the video to the left that introduces this significant advancement in our audiobook production system. Many thanks to Russell for creating this great video!

 

webEB has many of the same features of the desktop versions and in addition to the ease of a web app, it now has punch & roll recording! The video shows some of the changes and new features, and this document also explains all the differences in the desktop applications and the web app. A complete reference document is also available for those who are not familiar with EasyBooks yet, and training will soon be available.

 

This app works in the Chrome browser in Mac and PC, and given the issues with the Mac version of EasyBooks (particularly on the Catalina OS), we ask that all Mac audiobook volunteers switch to this version now. If you are a PC user, you can try out this version if you like, but we will maintain the PC version for a while at least.

 

Even if you're a PC user who wants to stay with the PC version, please install the latest PC version. The character format in notes will not appear correctly between the versions if PC users don't update.

 

I want to sincerely thank the development group, a wonderful group of volunteers and staff who tested and have provided valuable feedback on webEB, particularly the Mac users who have been so patient! And we can't forget a heartfelt thank you to Jay Cotton for the many hours of development time he spent developing this web app. <3