Thousands of free eBooks and audiobooks are available to DDSB students using Sora
Sora is a reading and listening app from OverDrive that was made available to Durham District School Board (DDSB) students earlier this academic year. With students now learning from home, it is an even more valuable resource for students and their parents to use.
“With Sora, students and staff can access a large collection of eBooks and audiobooks for independent or teacher-assigned reading,” explains Debbie Vert, Innovative Education Facilitator for Libraries at the DDSB, “It’s easy to access by using your DDSB login credentials.”
Last October, all DDSB teacher librarians were trained on how to use the app. A central collection of eBooks and audiobooks was then curated by teacher librarians.
“We currently have almost 10,000 books in our collection for students to borrow,” says Vert. Teachers can choose to set a ‘loan limit’ on how many books students can borrow at one time. If a student forgets to return a book – no worries! The app automatically returns the book on its due date.
The DDSB collection includes titles in both French and English. Schools also have the option to create their own collection, which is merged with the central collection.
Sora Features
The app is available to all students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 and offers a variety of features to enhance learning.
Vert notes, “Teachers can create assignments and assign books and tasks to students. Students can earn badges by reading books and using the app features.”
She adds, “Students can also take notes and create highlights about books, which are easily exported to Google Classroom. This is great for students who struggle with reading, as it works with their Chromebook’s built-in accessibility features.”
The app also allows users to browse, search, and borrow books from their local public library.
An Essential Tool for Learning
Vert concludes, “This is a really fantastic tool. Continuing to read during school and public library closures is essential for students’ mental growth and knowledge expansion.”
Sora is available for download on the App Store and the Google Play Store for free and can be used on a variety of devices including smartphones, tablets, Chromebooks, and laptops.
To learn more about the app and how to sign in, check out the following link to help you get started: https://help.soraapp.com/en-us/5033.htm.
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