Digital Course Materials

Here you'll find articles detailing new developments in the area of e-textbooks, open educational resources and other digital course materials, along with stories about institutions adopting them.


FlatWorld Boosts Grading Capabilities, Accessibility and More

Learning materials publisher FlatWorld has introduced a range of new capabilities for its digital platform, including enhanced accessibility for its digital titles as well as improved functionality for instructors.

OER traction by subject area

Libraries Lead in OER Work on Campus

A recent report from the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition covering the open educational resource activities at 132 colleges and universities found that library departments — and particularly, departments that handle scholarly communication — lead the way with OER on campus.

University of Texas at Arlington

U Texas Arlington to Invest $500,000 in OER Grants This Year

The University of Texas at Arlington is investing half a million dollars this year in funding for projects using open educational resources. That's the largest award by any public academic institution in the state specifically to support OER usage, according to the school.

New Resource to Provide Starter Kit for Teaching Data Science

The University of Pennsylvania, IBM and the Linux Foundation are developing an open source starter kit to help any institution in the world launch its own data science program.

college student studying with laptop

Houston CC System Expands OER Use Across All Campuses

In an effort to increase the use of open educational resources across its nine campuses, the Houston Community College System is partnering with OER provider panOpen.

Perceivant Adds Courseware Access, Notifications to Mobile App

Education technology company Perceivant has updated the mobile app that works with its digital courseware. The newest version of BearTracks enables students to access courseware from the mobile application and receive push notifications.

hand pulling tablet off bookshelf of books

Barnes & Noble Ed Moves FirstDay Access to VitalSource

Two major players in the curriculum segment have signed on to work with each other. The platform produced by VitalSource for delivering digital curriculum will be used by Barnes & Noble Education for its BNC FirstDay access.

OpenStax textbooks

More than Half of All U.S. Colleges and Universities Using OpenStax Textbooks

This year, 56 percent of all colleges and universities in the United States are using free textbooks from OpenStax in at least one course.

IBM Adds Quantum Computing Resources

IBM is making enhancements to its open source quantum computing development kit designed for researchers and educators.

shelves of books on laptop screen

Program Offers Free Textbook Subscriptions to HBCU Students

Learning materials company Cengage has partnered with the United Negro College Fund to provide free semester-long textbook subscriptions to 1,000 students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities.