Direct integration lets students access Sora ebooks and audiobooks from within Google Classroom experience

 

CLEVELAND – August 16, 2022 – For required curriculum books, teachers seek integrated solutions that can save time while providing more personalized learning experiences. In response, OverDrive Education announced that educators can now use a Google Classroom add-on to assign curriculum books in ebook and audiobook formats for students using the Sora reading app. This new integration enhances equity of access, drives awareness and usage of the school’s digital book collection and allows educators to personalize learning for each student.

The Sora Google Classroom add-on allows educators to manage their reading assignments in the same place they manage all their learning resources. Teachers can now assign titles – such as Hoot by Carl Hiaasen for curriculum and choice reading titles like Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin – as ebooks and audiobooks directly to students through Google Classroom. With this integration, teachers can search for titles, then attach them to their assignment without leaving their Google Classroom. Students receiving the assignment in Google Classroom can easily access the digital book in the Sora app.

“Brush School District loves using the Sora add-on for Google Classroom,” said Scott Trautwein, Director of Technology at Brush School District in Brush, Colorado. “It’s easy to use with no training, and allows us to assign lessons based on our ebook library built right into Sora. A huge time saver, especially for classes that read entire book sets like High School English.”

Educators using the Sora Google Classroom add-on to assign ebooks and audiobooks ensure that every student in their class has the resources they need. In addition, the add-on drives awareness and usage of the school’s digital book collection, allowing students to discover books they’d like to read for pleasure.

Furthermore, Sora can support educators in meeting the needs of all learners. They can privately assign the types of books most suitable for a student’s particular learning style or reading level including audiobooks, Read-Alongs, books in languages other than English, graphic novels or hi-lo editions. Students reading in Sora also benefit from the app’s features such as open dyslexic font, dark mode, offline reading, and in-app translation and word definitions.

Finally, this Google Classroom integration saves teachers time by streamlining the assignment process. A Kiddom 2021 survey found more than 40% of school leaders and more than 60% of school IT staff cited “too many tools” as a barrier to digital curriculum adoption.

“We know that time is precious in today’s classrooms. The fewer clicks and fewer distractions required to learn, the better,” said Angela Arnold, General Manager of OverDrive Education. “Students and teachers rely on Google Classroom to organize work, assignments and resources, so it makes sense to put a school’s Sora collection where they already spend time. We are thrilled that our digital reading platform was included in the Add-on beta because it knocks down barriers to reading.”

Find more information about the Sora Google Classroom add-on and the Sora app for schools.

 

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 55,000 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

 

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