What is Open eBooks?
Clever is proud to partner with Open eBooks. Open eBooks is a mobile app that provides thousands of popular and award-winning books free for students in Title I schools. These eBooks can be read without checkouts or holds.
The goal? To address the challenge of providing digital reading materials to children living in low-income households—and to encourage a love of reading.
How do I set up Open eBooks with Clever?
After the district administrator has added Open eBooks on Clever, Students enrolled in Title I schools can download Open eBooks and access books for free from their mobile device.
First, District Admins add Open eBooks in the Clever Dashboard
Step 1: Log into your Clever dashboard
Step 2: Request Open eBooks
Step 3: Scope the entire district with the application.
Please Note: the application is NOT added to the student Clever Portal because there is no Open eBooks webpage yet. The Open eBooks mobile application must be downloaded by students individually.
Second, Students must download the Open eBooks Application
Follow these four easy steps to get Open eBooks on any mobile device - including tablets, iPads, and on smartphones of all types.
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Step 1: On an iPhone or Android phone, open the app store and type in “open ebooks” |
Step 2: Click GET then click INSTALL to download the app. |
Step 3: Open the app and click Log in with Clever. |
Step 4: Search for the student’s school district to log in with their username and password. |
Who can participate?
Any student who is in a school or library program that serves at least 70% of children from in-need families.
- Title I or Title I eligible School (must be school-wide program)
- Library program with an E-rate of 90
- A school primarily serving children with disabilities
What devices work?
Children can read eBooks on a wide variety of devices—including tablets, iPads, and on smartphones of all types.
How do I get this turned on for my school?
Your district IT administrator must request Open eBooks via the Clever dashboard and then share data with the application. Once the application has been added and data has been shared, your students can download the application on their mobile device and begin accessing Open eBooks from school or home. Students should click Login with Clever, choose their school, and enter their Clever login credentials.
Where is this application available?
The Open eBooks app is currently available on iOS and Android. Open eBooks is working on optimizing the app for as many open platforms as possible, and there will be a web-optimized version coming in 2017. Open eBooks currently uses the EPUB3 standard but will expand to include PDFs in early 2017.
Why don’t I see Open eBooks in my Clever portal?
Open eBooks does not have a web-based application available—it is only a mobile application. Because there is no web-based version, the application does not show up on the Clever portal. Students must download the application onto their mobile devices individually. If your district uses iPad devices, your district IT department can likely add the app onto the devices.
Does Open eBooks work for students with special needs?
Special Education classrooms can get access to Open eBooks, regardless of their Title 1 status. Open eBooks and Clever are compatible with Apple and Android’s Text to Speech (TTS) and supports Open Dyslexia Font.
Can I scope by reading level rather than grade?
Not yet—right now, grade level appropriate content is shown to each student. Open eBooks hopes to offer titles by reading level in the future.
Are there books in other languages?
There are currently books in Spanish, and Open eBooks is working on bringing on titles in other languages.
Does this work on Chromebooks?
No, Open eBooks only works on iOS and Android devices. Students must download the Open eBooks application for iOS or Android. Open eBooks does not have a web interface for reading content - thus it will not show in the Clever Portal.
What data elements are used?
Open eBooks uses an extremely limited data set to authenticate a student. The only elements the Open eBook server stores are the student's clever id and grade bucket (early, middle, or high).
Does Open eBooks support teacher/administrator logins?
No, not at this time. Open eBooks is only available to students.
What happens when a school changes from First Book Login to Clever login?
The access codes and accounts between First Book and Clever are distinct, and so student checkouts will not transfer. Also, remember: Clever can't be used for those students receiving Title 1 benefits on an individual basis, Clever only does school registration.
Is there a delay between when the district admin adds Open eBooks and when the students can access the app?
No. Open eBooks is an Instant Login application and does not roster through Clever. Because Open eBooks is not creating accounts or syncing data with Clever, students should be able to access the application almost instantly.
What content will each student see?
There are 3 content clusters: elementary, middle, high school. Right now, the student will see the content appropriate for the grade they are in. For example, a 7th grade student will see middle school content, regardless of reading level. Open eBooks plans to build a function where a content will be curated by reading level, but that function does not exist today.
Is there another way to access Open eBooks besides Clever?
Yes! There is an alternative method - educators can sign up for access codes through FirstBook. Visit the FirstBook website for information and to sign up.
Can students use Badges to access Open eBooks?
No - not yet.
Can we remove the badge on the login screen?
It’s the same login screen for the portal - so if we were to remove the badge from Open eBooks, it would also be removed from the application.
Screen Reading Technology?
The OEI team is working on synchronicity and working on updating it.
Is my school eligible if we get Title 1 targeted funding?
No, Open eBooks is only available to schools that get school wide Title I funds. There will be generally accessible content open for all schools and students, regardless of Title 1 funding, in the near future!
How do users log out of Open Ebooks so that another user can access the app on the same device? Is there a link or special step to complete to log out of the identity provider?
Within the app, a student can logout by clicking the three dots that say more at the bottom right hand side of the application. Then clicking on account and then on the red sign out button on the bottom.
How do I know if my school has Title I status?
You can check your school's Title I status at the NCES website. Just search for your school using its NCES ID (or other information). In order to use the Clever Login, the school must be both a "Title I School" and a "Title I School-Wide Program".
If your school doesn't have "Yes" for both those fields, you may still be able to access Open eBooks using FirstBook.
I have a few students who qualify for free-and-reduced-lunch, but am not in a Title 1 school, can those students get access to Open eBooks?
Yes! Educators and librarians can sign up for access codes through FirstBook. Visit the FirstBook website to sign up!
What titles are available?
There is not a list of titles available as it continues to grow. You can get an idea of what is currently available by visiting the Tumblr and Pinterest pages. Open eBooks features thousands of titles generously contributed by publishers:
- Bloomsbury: Providing unlimited access to over 1,000 of its most popular titles
- Candlewick: Providing unlimited access to all relevant children’s and young-adult eBook titles in their catalog
- Cricket Media: Offering full digital access to all of its market-leading magazines for children and young adults, including Ladybug and Cricket
- Hachette: Offering access to a catalog of their popular and award-winning titles
- HarperCollins: Providing a vast selection of their award-winning and popular titles
- Lee & Low: Providing unlimited access to over 700 titles from this leading independent publisher of multicultural books
- Macmillan: Providing unlimited access to all of the K-12 age-appropriate titles in their catalog of approximately 2,500 books
- National Geographic: Providing unlimited access to all of their age appropriate content
- Penguin Random House: Committing to provide an extensive offering of their popular and award-winning books
- Simon & Schuster: Providing access to their entire e-catalog of books for children ages 4-14, comprised of 3,000 titles
How do I get help?
There are several options to help you troubleshoot:
- Visit the Open eBook Help Center to find instructions on using the app
- Report an issue from within the application
- To report an issue with a specific eBook, click on the eBook so you see its description—then click Report a Problem, and select an option
- To report an issue with the app, click More on the bottom menu, then Report an issue—fill out the form and a support member will be in touch
- Submit an Open eBooks helpdesk request
Clever Resources:
- District set up kit
- Teacher roll out guide
- FAQ
- Parent hand out (steps for downloading the application, in English and Spanish)
- An example of a district video with login instructions: Volusia Open eBooks Login
Open eBook Resources:
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For help logging in with Clever, please visit https://support.clever.com/ |