OverDrive Education’s K-12 student reading app Sora is now available in over 23,000 schools worldwide – a 28% increase over 2018, and schools using Sora saw student reading time nearly double throughout the 2018-19 school year. Sora was named one of TIME's 100 Best Inventions of 2019. With Sora, students have 24/7 access to ebooks and audiobooks from not just their school’s digital collection but also their local public library.
Sessions at this week’s Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC) at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami (Booth #2213) will demonstrate how Sora and digital books increase student reading by providing the flexibility to meet the ever-changing needs of the 21st-century classroom (complete schedule here). OverDrive Education, the leading ebook and audiobook service for schools, will also share best practices and highlights, such as the year-end lists below.
Based on data from 23,000 schools worldwide, the following lists represent the most popular titles during the 2018-19 school year.
The top five ebooks for K-12 students in 2019:
1. Wonder by R. J. Palacio
2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
3. Big Nate Makes a Splash by Lincoln Peirce
4. Pray for a Fire Drill by Lincoln Peirce
5. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The top five audiobooks for K-12 students in 2019:
1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling
2. A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'engle
3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
4. The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
5. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Comparing the beginning of the 2018-19 school year to the end, educators found that students using Sora nearly doubled the amount of time they spent reading per month. Contributing to this increase is the option for students to add access to their local public library’s digital collection, expanding their selection of age- and grade-appropriate popular ebooks and audiobooks. Students who added public library access in Sora increased the number of books read by nearly 50%.
Sora, which is now compatible with Google Classroom, can also show educators a variety of insights, such as an aggregate view by school of the number of books students have opened daily, plus the average reading time per session.
Visit FETC Booth #2213 from January 15-17 to learn more.
For more information about OverDrive’s service for schools, visit company.overdrive.com/education/k-12-schools/ and FETC Booth #2213.
