Text and Tech: Reading Together brings educators practical strategies for integrating print and digital literacy
CLEVELAND — The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and Sora, the student reading app, are partnering to launch a new professional learning webinar series designed to help educators navigate the evolving landscape of literacy instruction.
Text and Tech: Reading Together is an interactive, five-part virtual book club running February through June 2026. The series will explore key themes from Text and Tech: Reading All Ways in K–8, published by NCTE in 2025, offering educators practical strategies to support students as lifelong readers across formats. Kristin Ziemke, the book’s primary author, will be the guest presenter for the kickoff discussion on February 19.
The series will take place every third Thursday from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. ET and will feature contributors to the book, all of whom are credentialed teachers, who will unpack their chapters, share classroom applications, and engage in live discussion with participants. Registration is required and is now open.
“Literacy in the US today requires a diverse range of texts and tools, and it is critical to support educators in incorporating these less traditional but equally important teaching strategies,” says NCTE Executive Director Emily Kirkpatrick. “Kristin Ziemke’s Text and Tech: Reading All Ways in K–8 shows that access to both print and digital resources helps increase engagement with students, empowering them to read, write, and think critically with all the media they encounter in the classroom and in their day-to-day lives.”
Each session will include a discussion and live Q&A. Educators who attend all five sessions will receive a certificate of completion.
“Sora is proud to partner with NCTE on a series that puts instructional strategy and student engagement at the center of the conversation,” says Renee Davenport, Vice President of Education for Sora. “When educators have the tools and insights to blend traditional texts with digital reading experiences, they can better meet the needs of today’s learners and foster a lifelong love of reading.”
Webinar Schedule
- February 19 — “Text and Tech: Defining Literacy Today” (Chapter 1)
- March 19 — “Weaving Digital into the Literacy Classroom” (Chapter 2)
- April 16 — “Agency and Action: Tracking Thinking and Learning” (Chapter 3)
- May 21 — “Embedding Digital Tools to Enhance Conversation, Collaboration, and Comprehension” (Chapter 4)
- June 18 — “Reading across Content” (Chapter 5)
Participants in Text and Tech: Reading Together will explore how print and digital tools can work together to strengthen literacy instruction, hear directly from leading literacy educators, and walk away with practical, classroom-ready strategies that can be applied across diverse learning environments. The series is designed for classroom teachers, instructional coaches, literacy leaders, and anyone interested in creating a balanced, student-centered approach to reading instruction.
In addition, participants can get 20 percent off their copy of Text and Tech: Reading All Ways in K–8 through the NCTE bookstore. Please enter code 20TT26 at checkout. For members, that’s an additional 20 percent off the standard 20 percent member discount. Details will be emailed after registration.
Speaker announcements will be available soon through NCTE.
About Sora
Named one of Time’s Best Inventions, the Sora student reading app provides every student with access to the right books. Sora is used by 62,000 K–12 schools and millions of students worldwide, supporting the need for required curriculum titles, class sets, and pleasure reading with the largest catalog of ebooks, audiobooks, digital magazines, and other content. Parent company OverDrive, which also provides digital content to public and academic libraries through the Libby reading app and Kanopy streaming platform, was founded in 1986 and is based in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. www.overdrive.com/schools
About NCTE
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is the professional organization for literacy teachers spanning preK through college. Through expertise and advocacy from its members’ professional research, practice, and knowledge, NCTE has served at the forefront of every major improvement in the teaching and learning of English and the language arts since 1911. For more information, please visit ncte.org.
Media Contacts:
Madison Stoneburner
Mstoneburner@overdrive.com
+1 216-573-6886 ext. 1389
Allie Ciaramella
media@ncte.org