The Book Thief, The Giver among most popular digital novels in schools

 

At the TCEA Annual Conference, AUSTIN, TX — February 3, 2016 – eBooks, as well as digital audiobooks, have become a vital component to promote reading and support literacy goals in nearly 13,000 schools and districts in 50 countries. Educators are increasing integration and creative adoption by using popular digital content in a variety of innovative ways, including using digital novel sets for English language arts classes.

For more information about digital novel sets and OverDrive, visit booth 2244 at the TCEA annual conference in Austin, February 3-5.

One school district which has successfully navigated the digital shift and integrated digital novel sets into their curriculum is Bedford Public Schools (BPS), a public school system in Temperance, Michigan. “Bedford Public Schools recognized several years ago the need to evolve in order to remain competitive in the ever-changing educational landscape,” said Edward Manuszak, assistant superintendent of instructional and student services.

The district is now in the third year of a 1:1 Chromebook program roll out. With these new learning tools, BPS adopted a digital content solution that aligned to the district’s curriculum with an area of focus on full-length digital titles to complement textbooks as part of a K-12 English language arts adoption.

Some of the most popular digital novel sets being used in schools this year:

  1. The Book Thief(Random House Children’s Books)
  2. A Raisin in the Sun(Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group)
  3. The Namesake (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
  4. Animal Farm(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
  5. The Giver(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

OverDrive digital books are accessed via a district or school-wide website, reducing the number of copies that need to be purchased, and are retained year after year throughout the adoption cycle. The solution is scalable and user-friendly for both students and teachers, which makes it very cost-effective for the districts.  “We appreciate that digital content will never wear out from use and can never be lost or stolen,” continued Manuszak.

From digital novel sets for English language arts to digital textbooks and professional development, OverDrive’s growing catalog of more than 2 million digital titles from over 5,000 publishers is enhancing the learning experience of the 21st-century student. Teachers and students can take notes on their device while reading and teachers can integrate digital books with their everyday classroom tools like Accelerated Reader 360, Schoology and Google Classrooms. In addition, advancements to OverDrive’s popular app allows students with dyslexia to read in a dyslexic font.

OverDrive partners with nearly 13,000 schools and districts to leverage their learning technology plans by creating a custom digital service of curriculum-based literacy engagement, and professional development digital content. For more information about the OverDrive service for schools, visit the OverDrive booth at the TCEA annual conference (booth 2244) or www.overdrive.com/schools.

 

About OverDrive
OverDrive is the leading digital distribution platform, supplying the industry’s largest catalog of eBooks, audiobooks, streaming video and periodicals to 34,000 libraries, schools and retailers worldwide. We support all major computers and devices, including iOS®, Android™, Chromebook™ and Kindle® (U.S. only). OverDrive delivers all digital media on a single platform, and offers innovations such as OverDrive Read, the breakthrough EPUB and HTML5 browser-based reading experience, and Read-Along eBooks.  Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, Ohio USA and is owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten. For more information, visit www.overdrive.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and our blog.

Contact:

David Burleigh

Director of Marketing & Communications

dburleigh@overdrive.com

216-573-6886 ext. 218

 

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