CourseSmart Launches E-Textbook App for Android

Can Tech Transcend the Textbook?

See our related feature article, "Can Tech Transform the Textbook," from the March issue of the print edition of Camopus Technology.

CourseSmart has released a new mobile electronic textbook app for Android OS-based smart phones and tablets, CourseSmart for Android 1.0.

CourseSmart provides e-textbooks and courseware for higher education delivered via the Web or through mobile apps. Electronic resources include online homework, assessments, exercises, simulations, videos, and various other activities. The textbooks themselves can be accessed online or downloaded to a device for local viewing. The service is also integrated with third-party software, including Pearson eCollege. Higher Education users include Buena Vista University, Arizona State University, and the University of Michigan.

The free Android app allows users to access e-textbooks through a bookshelf-like interface on their mobile devices. The texts are searchable, and users can add and edit notes and tag them for easy retrieval.

CourseSmart for Android 1.0 (shown here on an HTC Evo 4G) provides access to electronic textbooks through a bookshelf-like interface.
   Within the individual textbooks, students and faculty can search, zoom, pan, and take notes.
CourseSmart for Android 1.0 (shown here on an HTC Evo 4G) provides access to electronic textbooks through a bookshelf-like interface. Within the individual textbooks, students and faculty can search, zoom, pan, and take notes.

Users can also pan and zoom on the page, scroll and jump through pages, and view texts in landscape and portrait modes.

CourseSmart for Android 1.0 is available now as a free app through the Android Market. It's compatible with a range of Android devices, including, according to CourseSmart: HTC Droid Eris, Droid Incredible, Evo, and myTouch 3G Slider; Motorola Droid; and Samsung Fascinate and Galaxy 7. Versions for Apple iOS devices are also available. Further details can be found here.

About the Author

David Nagel is the former editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal, STEAM Universe, and Spaces4Learning. A 30-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art, marketing, media, and business publications.

He can be reached at [email protected]. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrnagel/ .


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