I am pleased to let you know that due to the current circumstances, with school closed for the majority of our students, we are undertaking a trial of Wheelers e-platform. Students are now able to borrow eBooks and eAudiobooks from this exciting eBook library, found here:
http://teignmouthsecondary.eplatform.co/
This link provides access to a shared collection specially put together for secondary schools. It has best-selling and popular fiction titles and will offer your children a 24/7, access to e-books and audiobooks during the lockdown. Students can have 2 books out on loan at any one time, and they will automatically return after 2 weeks, or children can return them early in order to loan a new book.
At the moment the books on the platform are not age-restricted, so there may be “Young Adult” content available that is not suitable for our younger students. We felt that it was best to get the books out and accessible but in time, if we decide to subscribe to this service annually, I will look more closely at content to ensure age appropriateness. Therefore please ask your children to be guided by any publishers’ age recommendations, and your advice, when downloading. There are also settings that can be customised to enable children who suffer with reading difficulties such as dyslexia, to enjoy reading without specialised equipment such as coloured overlays. The eBooks can be read on a computer, laptop, or through the free App on your tablets or smartphones. If you want additional help with setting up access then the following videos are helpful with hints, tips and demonstrations:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVt8qsqhpeQ0wqGja2t97YA/playlists
Reading through your web browser on a laptop or computer:
To access the eBook library students need to login using their google school account username and password, through the first link listed above. You can browse the collection or search for a specific book title, author or publisher and loan the book chosen. It is then assigned for a two week period.
Reading through the App:
To download the App, search “eplatform” in the App store and download. You will then need to enter the google school account username and password assigned and, as above, search for a book to read. Using the App, the books will be temporarily downloaded to the device so children will not need internet connections once the book has been loaned to read.
The Reading Agency charity has done some recent research that suggests that a third of the nation are reading more during the lockdown. With access to this platform, we hope that our students will also be able to enjoy reading and listening to some new books!
Tessa Masterman
Librarian
