At TCEA, schools can learn about increasing student engagement with new “Sora Extras” and more

 

CLEVELAND – February 8, 2022 – OverDrive Education announced that DOGOnews and Method Learning are now available to students in the Sora student reading app. Educators can learn about how these “Sora Extras” complement ebooks and audiobooks at Booth #1834 at the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) conference in Dallas from February 8-10 (see the presentation schedule). More than 53,000 schools worldwide can use the Sora app with the industry’s best catalog and award-winning user experience.

A new category of content in the Sora app that complements ebooks, audiobooks and digital magazines, Sora Extras are new ways to engage students in a variety of subjects. DOGOnews offers thousands of concise, kid-friendly news stories on current events, science, sports and more. Method Learning provides comprehensive, self-paced lessons and resources that help students prepare for, and score higher on, the SAT and ACT. More Sora Extras will be added in the coming months.

“The addition of these Sora Extras opens new doors for students who already trust Sora to find their next great read,” said Angela Arnold, General Manager of OverDrive Education. “These two Extras, which are the first of many to come, show how the Sora Single Sign On (SSO) experience can function as a gateway to new kinds of reading-adjacent activities. Sora Extras streamline access so students can discover new ideas and resources in just a click.”

The Sora student reading app continues its rapid adoption by K-12 schools around the world. It is now available in more than 53,000 schools worldwide which represents 20 percent growth year-over-year. Sora provides access to an industry-leading catalog of millions of ebooks, audiobooks, Read-Alongs and magazines, and schools can customize and curate their own collection for curriculum and self-selected pleasure reading.

The number of digital books and magazines borrowed in the classroom or from a school’s library in 2021 increased 65 percent over 2020, which itself was an increase of 190 percent over 2019. Students logged over 28 million hours of reading time in Sora in 2021, 61 percent more than the year prior. In addition, public library-school partnerships enabled 4.7 million more digital books to be borrowed by students for self-selected reading on the Sora app, an increase of 117 percent. Also in 2021, OverDrive Education conducted diversity audits for more than 7,000 U.S. schools’ digital collections.

Sora is also an excellent complement with TeachingBooks.net, the leading K-12 reading resources site. TeachingBooks, which features lessons, book guides and activities, was acquired by OverDrive in 2021.

Visit TCEA Booth #1834 from Feb. 8-10 to try a demo of Sora Extras. Attend presentations in the booth to hear educators from around the country share how they are implementing digital content and Sora to engage their students and staff:

  • Circulation is up, book loss is down – at 4pm CST
  • The power of school & public library partnerships – at 5pm
  • How to Individualize Learning with Content Bundles & New Features in Sora – Tues. at 6pm
  • My district’s journey to digital book success – at 11am
  • Opening a world of reading through the public library – Wed. at 2pm
  • Building school-specific digital collections to better meet reading needs – Wed. at 3pm
  • Best practices for promoting your digital collection – Thurs. at 11am

For more information about the Sora app for schools, visit https://discoversora.com and TCEA Booth #1834.

 

About OverDrive Education and the Sora student reading app

OverDrive Education, a division of OverDrive, offers the industry’s largest catalog of ebooks, audiobooks, digital magazines and other content for over 53,000 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. Acquired in 2021, TeachingBooks.net complements Sora with one of the largest catalogs of original and curated literary resources. Founded in 1986, OverDrive – the leading digital reading platform for libraries – and OverDrive Education are based in Cleveland, Ohio USA. www.overdrive.com/schools

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

###