Free customizable software introduces students to school’s ebooks, audiobooks and digital magazines available in Sora app

 

 

CLEVELAND – October 28, 2021 – As schools embrace the digital shift and rely more on digital books to support learning outcomes, educators are searching for creative ways to drive awareness and usage. Now, educators can use Sora Showcase, free touchscreen software that promotes student discovery, adoption and usage of their school’s digital book collection. Sora is the leading student reading app available to over 50,000 schools worldwide.

Sora Showcase is free customizable software that lets schools turn any touchscreen display – large or small – into a promotional kiosk that highlights books in their Sora collection. Students can browse their school’s collection of ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines, enjoy samples of titles, and generate QR codes to  easily borrow titles in the Sora app. The display also includes a QR code to immediately install the app on their own device and start reading.

“Sora Showcase couldn’t have come along at a better time since we are getting ready to roll out our new digital collection,” said Sally McAlexander, Librarian at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Missouri. “Sora Showcase is generating so much excitement in our students, and we plan on having it rolling during parent-teacher conferences to connect our community with our digital collection. The step-by-step instructions allowed me to get this operational in just a few minutes.”

Educators can customize Sora Showcase to filter the titles on display by audience, format, subject and language. This allows them to highlight the appropriate titles wherever a Showcase is featured within the school. For example, schools can promote juvenile titles on kid-friendly touchscreen devices for elementary students or draw attention to nonfiction materials in the research section of the school library. Schools supply their own hardware and internet connection, and can determine the size and placement of their custom kiosk. Sora Showcase even has a “Display only mode” to turn off interaction for a “behind the counter” or otherwise no-touch display. Compatible hardware includes any touchscreen device or monitor (iPad mini-sized tablet or larger) running Windows 10, Android or iOS.

OverDrive Education General Manager Angela Arnold added, “Some students prefer to discover content on their own, and they’re attracted by Sora Showcase’s enticing book jackets and motion. It’s a powerful promotional tool that can go anywhere schools can put an internet-connected tablet or monitor, and goes beyond what a poster or display board can do. It’s a great way to tell kids about the quality books and magazines available to them.”

Learn more about the free Sora Showcase.

Educators can find more information about Sora at https://discoversora.com.

 

About OverDrive Education and the Sora student reading app

OverDrive Education, a division of OverDrive, offers the industry’s largest catalog of ebooks, audiobooks, and digital magazines for over 50,000 K-12 schools and millions of students worldwide. The company’s student reading app, Sora, provides every student with access to the right books. Supporting the need to read required curriculum titles, class sets and pleasure reading digital books, Sora’s powerful learning tools and insights help meet the needs of students and educators. Sora was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2019. Founded in 1986, OverDrive – the leading digital reading platform for libraries – and OverDrive Education are based in Cleveland, Ohio USA. www.overdrive.com/schools

 

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

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