Hi Kathryn,

We also have a district subscription. While our special education department budgets for it, I find it cost effective for our regular audiobook/ebook budget.  When teachers are looking for an audiobook for a book club or text book, I always check or ask if the student has an IEP/504 (In our district I was always guided that this was the policy.) Rather than having to purchase a multi-user copy of a book or worse multiple copies at $50-100/book. Learning Ally is great because books are included in the subscription.  

Our students can search for books.  If the text is also available, they can take notes, change the font settings, etc. The one drawback is not all books are narrated audiobooks. Some books are computer generated audio sounding more robotic and less fluent.

For middle-grade and ya books that are frequently used for book clubs (like our Nutmeg Nominees) I find many are included in the subscription.  I was surprised to find several graphic novels are also available.

At the high school level, I’ve found Learning Ally provides audio textbooks.  Most AP courses or AP study guides have audio included. This has been a game changer for our visually impaired and dyslexic students. 

If you were looking for elementary students to self-select texts and download to listen on their own, Learning Ally might not be the best option.  For grades k-2, there are a lot of other audiobook resources out there that provide text and audio and are easier to navigate. 

Good luck, 
Jessica


On Nov 8, 2024, at 10:09 AM, LaFlamme, Kristin via CASL-L <casl-l@mylist.net> wrote:


There might be different settings because my 5th graders can search for their own books! 

On Fri, Nov 8, 2024 at 8:31 AM Stieber, Rachel <rstieber@windsorct.org> wrote:
Hi Kathryn,

Our district has a subscription and I think that it's helpful. It is not for all students, students must struggle with decoding, fluency, or reading comprehension, or be blind, visually impaired, or have a physical disability that prevents them from reading standard print. An IEP or 504 plan is not required. They have audiobooks and many read along options (audiobook and online text that is highlighted and read to the student). I think that it has the most options for read along books available. A teacher or librarian needs to assign the books to students, they aren't able to search and read it by themselves.

If you get it, definitely make yourself an account so that you can search for books and assign them to students. Or, you can recommend the titles to classroom teachers or Special Ed teachers that can assign them.

I think it's a worthwhile audiobook/read along tool. We use it alongside our Sora accounts, Bookshare, and playaways that students check out from the library.

Rachel Stieber,
Sage Park Middle School, Windsor

 

On Thu, Nov 7, 2024 at 5:47 PM LaFlamme, Kristin via CASL-L <casl-l@mylist.net> wrote:
I use it as a 5th grade classroom teacher so I can’t speak to library usage. It’s definitely increased reading engagement within my classroom. It’s for students with reading impairments, however if students want to try audiobooks, I hook them up with it. There’s a wide variety of books on there. Not necessarily the newest ones. You can assign books to certain kids. There’s no borrowing of a book, so the kids can have it for as long as needed. I’m not sure I’d see much of an advantage of it as a library tool, but I’ve loved it for my 5th graders! Most books are voice text, which means the book pages are on the screen and it highlights as the audio reads to them. Some are classic audio, just listening. It’s great for book clubs because you don’t need physical multi copies. Let me know if you have any other questions! 

Kristin LaFlamme
Wells Road Intermediate School
5th Grade Language Arts
860-844-3048





On Thu, Nov 7, 2024 at 4:20 PM Jenny Lussier <jlussier@rsd13.org> wrote:
I would be interested in learning about this too!

Thank you!
Jenny

On Thu, Nov 7, 2024 at 3:37 PM Kathryn Ferrante <kferrante@renbrook.org> wrote:
I am wondering if anybody has experience using Learning Ally for audiobooks. My school is interested in getting a site subscription, and I am curious about its uses from the library perspective.

Thank you!

Kathryn Ferrante

Renbrook School

Director of Library Services
(she • her • hers) What is this?

2865 Albany Avenue  

West Hartford, CT 06117  

Phone: 860.236.1661 ext. 320

Email: kferrante@renbrook.org

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Wells Road Intermediate School
5th Grade Language Arts
860-844-3048




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