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CourseSmart To Launch E-Textbook Research Project

CourseSmart, an educational services platform and provider of digital course materials, will launch a research project in partnership with Internet2 and Educause. Up to 20 educational institutions will be invited to take part in the project, which tests a new business model for digital course materials.

Participating institutions will have a choice between two flat fee options to provide students with access to CourseSmart's catalog of more than 30,000 e-textbooks from 40 publishers. For the research project, participating schools can choose a 100 student license for $27,500 per semester or a 200 student license for $44,000 per semester with the option to add more licenses at a cost of $200 per student per semester.

The students will pay $275 or less for CourseSmart's Subscription Pack, which lets students place up to 12 titles on their virtual bookshelf at any point during the semester. Faculty members will "receive free, unlimited access to CourseSmart's entire catalog through the Faculty Instant Access (FIA) program," according to the company.

Participating institutions will be able to integrate CourseSmart titles into their learning management systems (LMS), so students and faculty will be able to access course content through the LMS. CourseSmart also offers iPhone, iPad, and Android apps, so faculty and students can access the e-textbooks anytime, anywhere through their mobile device.

CourseSmart e-textbooks offer features such as search, copy and paste, notes, highlighting, and bookmarks. Notes, highlighting, and bookmarks are automatically synchronized, so students always have access to them, regardless of which device they are using to access their e-textbooks.

CourseSmart is WCAG 2.0 AA-certified to support students with vision impairment, reading disabilities, and other special needs. Eighty percent of its titles have been optimized for accessibility, and they will optimize other titles on request.

Institutions interested in participating in the research project or learning more about it can find further information at coursesmart.com.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

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