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Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Popular Ebooks and Audiobooks Keep Students Reading All Summer Long

CLEVELAND – May 6, 2022 – As schools seek innovative new strategies to increase reading and learning, teachers are using digital tools inside and outside the classroom. In response, OverDrive Education is offering the most expansive Sora Sweet Reads summer reading program yet, May 4–August 17. In its ninth year, this free program is designed to help educators and students beat the “summer slide” with popular digital reading materials through the award-winning Sora student reading app. Currently, over 53,000 schools around the world are opting into the program. 

Sora Sweet Reads provides free access to a variety of popular digital books during the next 100+ days to encourage student reading during the rest of the school year and summer break. From May 4 through August 17, students from participating schools worldwide can enjoy free, 24/7 access through the Sora reading app to 50 juvenile and young adult ebooks, audiobooks and Read-Alongs from their school, the largest amount ever offered through the program. The Sora Sweet Reads titles are provided by 21 publishers and divided into elementary, middle and high school sections. Ebook titles include 10 Blind Dates, Sal and Gabi Break the Universe, Ironheart, and Ark Angel. Audiobook titles include Flannery and Game Changer. See the  full list. 

“When our students began using Sora last spring, they were excited to check out ebooks and we wondered whether that excitement would carry over into the summer months,” said Alexandra Brown, Educational Technology Specialist at National Heritage Academies in Michigan. “When we participated in Sora Sweet Reads our students were so enthusiastic about the selection of books that our checkouts surpassed all our expectations. Sora Sweet Reads gave our students access to ‘always available’ books ensuring there was no waiting list and students could read favorites at the same time as their friends.” …Read More

Sora App’s New Curated Bundles of Digital Comics Save Schools Time and Money

CLEVELAND – March 14, 2022 – In response to educators’ need for more digital content to engage students, OverDrive Education now offers popular digital comic books to schools around the world via the Sora student reading app. Schools can purchase age-appropriate and cost-effective curated bundles totaling more than 1,500 digital comic books. These titles include simultaneous use rights so all students can access titles for their age group instantly. Sora is the leading student reading app available in more than 53,000 schools worldwide.

An award-winning app known for assigned and choice reading of ebooks, audiobooks and magazines, Sora also provides a simple user experience for students to browse and read comics, even on phones. The “All Access Comics” bundles are grouped into three age ranges and contain the most popular titles for schools, including Avatar The Last Airbender, They Called Us Enemy, My Little Pony, Plants vs. Zombies, Samurai Jack, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Astro Boy, Hellboy, and Skyward. See the full lists of titles.

All Access Comics in Sora bundles also include Marvel titles that are not currently available in any other simultaneous use digital model for schools, such as brands or characters like Avengers, Spider-Man, Eternals, Star Wars, Hulk, X-Men, Thor and Venom.…Read More

Bamboo Learning’s “Comprehension Through Conversation” EdTech Solution for K–5 Students Gaining Momentum

SEATTLE—March 7, 2022—Bamboo Learning, Inc. today announced that Bamboo learning EDU, the first “Comprehension Through Conversation” learning application for students in grades K through 5 introduced in January 2022, has been selected for an innovative student literacy pilot at the John Rex Charter School (JRCS) in Oklahoma City. JRCS, which was recognized as a 2020 National Blue Ribbon
School, seeks to determine the Bamboo Learning EDU solution’s impact on reading achievement, speaking fluency, vocabulary acquisition, and content knowledge-building among its economically and racially diverse student body. All JRCS students in grades K–1 have iPads for use at school, making the Bamboo Learning EDU iPad app an excellent fit.

Bamboo Learning also announced today that LearnPlatform, a nationally recognized edtech research company, has certified that the Bamboo Learning EDU solution meets the evidence requirements of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) aligning with Level IV “Demonstrates a Rationale” status. LearnPlatform’s team of researchers analyzed Bamboo Learning EDU’s foundational pedagogy, concluded that Bamboo Learning EDU’’s Logic Model is informed by high-quality research, and outlined the expected short-term, intermediate, and long-term outcomes.

“Bamboo Learning’s innovative ‘Comprehension Through Conversation’ approach to literacy has a solid grounding in existing research,” said Dr. Mary Styers, Director of Research at LearnPlatform. “By offering fiction and nonfiction books leveled by grade, and inviting students to use their voice to engage in reading & listening comprehension and vocabulary building activities, the product has a clear pathway
to improving student literacy.”…Read More

Discovery Education Celebrates 20th Year of Innovation by Unlocking the Power of Augmented Reality with No Cost iPad App and Exclusive New Original Content

SILVER SPRING, MD (Tuesday, January 25, 2022)— Discovery Education—the innovative edtech company that over 20 years ago revolutionized classroom instruction with the first digital service delivering educational content directly to classrooms—today opens a new chapter in its history with the launch of a cutting-edge iPad app that puts Augmented Reality (AR) at the fingertips of learners and educators worldwide. 

Since its inception, Discovery Education has been an early mover in bringing modern technologies—such as video streaming services and digital textbooks—to the classroom. Now, Discovery Education is introducing a powerful new app putting the power of AR into the hands of educators.  

AR technology has the potential to expand educators’ ability to create immersive, interactive learning experiences that unlock students’ natural curiosity. By superimposing virtual images and data on a user’s view of the real world, AR supports visualization of complex topics, creates digital “hands-on” learning opportunities, and heightens student engagement with digital content, all while improving students’ ability to retain knowledge longer by being a participant in the learning experience. To help educators leverage the power of AR wherever learning takes place, Discovery Education has made the Sandbox AR iPad app available today in the Apple App Store.  …Read More

Sora “Content Bundles” Feature Empowers Educators to Easily Reserve Digital Books for Specific Students

CLEVELAND – January 18, 2022 – Educators who are looking for more efficient ways to support reading outcomes have a new solution: Content Bundles. This new feature allows educators to reserve and bundle digital books from their school’s Sora collection, offering exclusive access for select students based on specific scenarios. Using a code, the students can then unlock and read the ebooks and audiobooks in Sora, the leading student reading app available in more than 53,000 schools worldwide.

“Content Bundles is the very feature we have been looking to implement in our Sora shared collection,” said Ken Zimmerman, Supervisor of Educational Technology at Lancaster-Lebanon IU13 in Pennsylvania. ”This provides us with so many options to filter content to meet specific district, classroom and learning needs.”

Content Bundles are a flexible tool that can serve as an effective solution for many common education scenarios, both inside and outside the classroom. For instance, educators can:…Read More

New Sora Showcase Turns Any Touchscreen Display into Kiosk for Student Discovery of Digital Books

CLEVELAND – October 29, 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.”…Read More

Digital Magazines Now Available to K-12 Schools Worldwide in Sora Reading App

In response to educators’ need for more digital content to support classroom learning, OverDrive Education now offers popular digital magazines to schools around the world via the Sora student reading app. Schools can purchase an affordable bundle of 50 always-available educational and recreational magazines for all students who use Sora. Sora is the student reading app available in more than 50,000 schools worldwide.

An award-winning app known for ebooks and audiobooks, Sora unifies a simple user experience for students, including easy issue selection and single article view. Educators can now purchase the curated collection of the most popular titles for schools includes National Geographic Kids, TIME for Kids, The Week Junior and more. Schools can choose Juvenile, Young Adult and Adult packages and remove any titles from their collection as needed. More information about the magazine titles can be found here (title availability may vary by region).

“We’re so excited to offer a range of periodicals across the grade levels,” said Susan Nakasone, Librarian at Ewa Beach Elementary in Hawaii. “Adding these to our shared collection will provide greater accessibility and choice in reading material to all our students. Our students’ nonfiction informational reading engagement just got a huge boost!”…Read More

BOOKR Kids Enters US Educational Market With BOOKR CLASS Next Generation ESL Learning App For Classrooms And Families

BUDAPEST/LOS ANGELES (October 1, 2021) – An acclaimed and multi award-winning English As A Second Language (ESL)appin daily use with over 20,000 classrooms across Europe is launching in the US.  Produced and distributed worldwide by Budapest-based EdTec leader BOOKR Kids ( For Schools – BOOKR Kids) BOOKR Class combines original animation, music, interactive games, storytelling, animated flash cards with 4,000 words and a vast library of children’s books from prestigious publishers including Oxford University Press, Albert Whitman & Company and Blue Apple Publishing to deliver a first-of-its-kind ESL tool for both classroom and home use.

According to BOOKR Kids Founder and Chief Executive Officer Dorka Horvath, BOOKR Class underscores the unique effectiveness of ability digital media as ESL learning tools for the classroom.  “The digital world is constantly evolving, and students nowadays are constantly connected to digital media. Thanks to these many digital stimuli, their stimulus thresholds have risen, making it an increasing challenge for teachers to arouse their students’ interest and maintain their attention. Immersive and interactive, digital learning tools can encourage new levels of creativity and concentration in the classroom,” said Horvath. BOOKR Class presents storybooks in a highly engaging format to focus on reading in English.  Contemporary children’s literature combined with the use of advanced digital technology allows unprecedented opportunity for interactivity and engagement.  “Experiential learning is the future of education.  Children have always been naturally curious and motivated by interactive activities, making them perfect partners for digital educational platforms. Experiential learning can induce curiosity and excitement, creating a dynamic learning environment that engages children by tapping into their natural abilities.”

Organized in multiple levels that specifically address all age groups from kindergarten through eighth grade, BOOKR Classutilizes Accidental Learning as a basis for its comprehensive approach to teaching English.  A burgeoning new category of instruction, Accidental Learning occurs when the student is immersed in a range of activities and experiences outside of the scope of traditional instruction that leads to learning.  BOOKR Class promotes learning English vocabulary and structure as a by-product of enjoying the app’s diverse interactive elements.  To continuously measure each child’s reading ability, BOOKR Classemploys Lexile® Framework for Reading learning measurement technology. …Read More

Do your teachers think PD is a dirty word?

This past year, teachers were introduced to a lot of new technology to help facilitate distance learning. And, because of this, professional development (PD) time often morphed into technical training–how to use Zoom, how to best utilize a new learning app or software program, how to troubleshoot student device issues.

With so much on teachers’ plates, this so-called PD became draining. Teachers simply couldn’t spend any more valued time learning yet another new program. And they weren’t getting the important support they needed to make tactical pedagogical shifts for their evolving learning spaces.

Heading into a new school year, we have a chance to hit the reset button to restore true PD time into teachers’ schedules.…Read More

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FEV Tutor Named 2021 Tech Edvocate Award Winner for Best Tutoring/Test Prep App or Tool

WOBURN, MA. (Sept. 13, 2021) – FEV Tutor, the most comprehensive virtual tutoring solution in K-12, has been named a 2021 Tech Edvocate Award winner in the Best Tutoring/Test Prep App or Tool category.

“The Tech Edvocate Award represents the combined opinion of industry insiders, knowledgeable educators, and interested parents,” said Ryan Patenaude, Co-Founder of FEV Tutor. “It’s an honor to have our tutoring platform chosen as a solution that is positively impacting teaching and learning—and this has never been more important than during this unprecedented time of COVID-19.”

This is the fifth year of the Tech Edvocate Awards, which recognizes outstanding edtech products that support students across the Pre-K-20 sector by catering to identified classroom and learning needs. Winners and finalists were selected by a panel of educators and industry experts who reviewed the submissions and judged the products and services based on the extent to which they are transforming education through the development or advocacy of edtech. A complete list of winners of the 2021 Tech Edvocate Awards can be found here.…Read More