Students can’t get enough of audiobooks — and some educators are turning that popularity into classroom differentiation. How can educators find ways to give students more access to audiobooks and counter the argument that they aren’t “real” reading?

Our report, How to Fund and Grow Your Digital Resources Collection, shows you how to use COVID-19 relief funding options to help expand your ebook and audiobook collection – even on a tight budget.

New government relief funding for K-12 schools offers a unique chance to eliminate reading barriers and overcome unequal access to books. Learn how your school can use this funding to deliver the right digital books to every student.

Looking forward to a post-pandemic world, digital books open up new learning opportunities for districts looking to further leverage the investments they made to accommodate remote learning. By embracing digital books as key classroom tools in the years ahead, districts will be better equipped to engage student readers, measure reading success and stretch their library and curriculum budgets further.

With COVID-19 altering nearly all aspects of daily life, including the way students learn, this survey sought insight from those on the front lines of education, specifically regarding the use and impact of ebooks. As the pandemic has changed the way educators teach, we wanted to understand what adjustments were made, and how ebooks help educators ease the transition between classroom and at-home learning. The survey found that ebooks have become even more essential for learning during the current school year.

Would you like to help your students read more?
In How Schools are Meeting the Demand for Expanded Reading Options see how to optimize the benefits of school+library collaboration and provide equitable access in an era of funding shortfalls.

As coordinator for libraries and instructional materials at Harlandale ISD (TX), Lisa Kulka faces a common challenge: increasing the number of age-appropriate books available to students inside and outside the classroom. The solution? The Sora student reading app. Find out how Sora enables Harlandale students to access titles from not only the district’s digital collection but also ebooks and audiobooks from the San Antonio Public Library – essentially doubling their access to reading.

The 2019 K-12 Digital Content Report, cosponsored by ASCD & OverDrive Education, provides a comprehensive look at educators’ use of and attitudes toward digital content to give you a complete perspective on budgeting, planning, prioritization & more.

Students enjoy reading ebooks, and research clearly connects the amount of time spent reading to the level of reading proficiency. Good readers have better academic outcomes and are more likely to develop a lifelong pleasure in reading.

Elementary kids don’t have devices. Reading on devices is too distracting. Traditional books have everything elementary kids need. These are just a sampling of the popular misconceptions exposed in the eye-opening “5 myths around elementary kids & digital reading debunked.”

Sora is a K-12 app designed around the modern reading experience that empowers students and educators with access to the most extensive and diverse catalog of ebooks and audiobooks for schools. Discover what Sora can do for reading engagement in your school with a free trial.
 

Leaders in digital education use ebooks and audiobooks in innovative ways to deepen the student reading and learning experience. Discover how four educators are using digital to maximize student agency, personalization, integration and engagement.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and WiLS teamed in 2014 to begin exploring a big idea: implementing a statewide eBook consortium for schools. Almost 200 K-12 buildings signed up for the WSDLC in just a few short months.

When the Mesquite ISD’s Library Services set about updating its vision statement, the team determined it was time to expand the libraries’ digital footprint.

“We were saying ‘We want to offer more ways to get kids to read’,” Technology Facilitator Debbie Swartz said.

Learn how the Connect Information Technology Center leverages a cost-effective Shared Collection to provide equal access to eBooks and audiobooks for the more than 90 districts and schools it serves across Northeast Ohio.

Looking to expand reading opportunities? A Shared eBook and audiobook Collection from OverDrive Education is a creative solution with budget benefits and best content availability. Learn how Hawaii DOE pooled funds to maximize purchasing power.