The new student reading app Sora, audiobooks and growing digital libraries lead to students reading more

 

SAN ANTONIO at the TCEA Convention – February 4, 2019 – Digital books are a powerful educational tool, providing students with the opportunity to improve their literacy and learn anytime, anywhere. The popularity of digital books is soaring: usage of ebooks and audiobooks in K-12 classrooms and libraries grew 46% in 2018. Now, eight millions students from 17,000 districts and schools have the opportunity to access digital books through Sora, the new student reading app from OverDrive Education.

More than 1.2 million Texas students in over 130 school districts benefit from OverDrive Education’s ebook and audiobook catalog. OverDrive Education and Sora support Texas’ Proclamation 2019, which calls for instructional materials to promote English language arts curriculum adoptions for grades K-8 across the state for the 2019-2020 school year. Schools can choose from a balanced and diverse digital catalog of supplemental and student choice reading titles for use in the Sora app on any device or computer. More information found here.

Sessions at this week’s Texas Computer Education Association Convention & Exposition (TCEA) at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio (Booth #1239) will demonstrate how Sora and digital books contributed to the growth by serving the changing needs of students and educators (complete schedule here). OverDrive Education, the leading global digital reading platform for K-12, will also share best practices and highlights, such as the lists below.

The top five ebooks for K-12 students in 2018:
1. Wonder, R. J. Palacio
2. The Maze Runner, James Dashner
3. Big Nate Makes a Splash, Lincoln Peirce
4. Big Nate Makes the Grade, Lincoln Peirce
5. The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas

The top five audiobooks for K-12 students in 2018:
1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J. K. Rowling
2. A Wrinkle In Time, Madeleine L’engle
3. The Lightning Thief, Lincoln Peirce
4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J. K. Rowling
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J. K. Rowling

Sora, launched at the beginning of this school year, contributed to record-breaking digital book adoption by giving more students access to ebooks and audiobooks. The OverDrive Education catalog now consists of two million ebooks and audiobooks in virtually all subjects. Through the Sora app, students have easy access to both the school’s and local public library’s digital collections anytime, anywhere. Students also benefit from personalized learning tools like dyslexic font, exportable notes and highlights, built-in dictionary and Google Translate. Each student can also see the total number of books they’ve opened, total time they’ve read, reading streak and average time per sssion, while teachers can view this data on an aggregate level.

Visit TCEA Booth # 1239 from February 5-7 to hear educators share how they are using their digital reading platform and Sora to improve reading engagement and education:

  • Choosing & Promoting a Digital Reading Service -– Tuesday at 5pm
  • Sora Helps You Make the Most of Your Digital Library – Wednesday at 11am
  • From Research to Funding to Engagement: The Life Cycle of Your Digital Library – Wednesday at 1pm
  • Digital Reading Gets Students Ready for College – Wednesday at 3:45pm
  • Sora is Your School’s Secret to Reading Engagement – Thursday at 11am & 2pm

For more information about OverDrive’s service for schools, visit overdrive.com/schools and TCEA Booth #1239.

 

About OverDrive Education – a division of OverDrive

OverDrive Education is the leading global digital reading platform for K-12, offering the industry’s largest catalog of eBooks, audiobooks and streaming video. As a 100% digital company serving 43,000 libraries and schools worldwide, OverDrive combines technology with content to support learning and reading in the classroom, library and home on all major devices, including iOS®, Android™, Chromebook™, and Kindle® (US only). Founded in 1986, OverDrive and OverDrive Education are based in Cleveland, Ohio USA, and owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten.

 

Contact:
David Burleigh
Director of Brand Marketing & Communications
dburleigh@overdrive.com

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