E-Textbooks

3 Kentucky Community Colleges Adopt Low-Cost Digital Courseware

• By Rhea Kelly
• 12/12/17

This fall, three colleges in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) adopted digital courseware from Barnes & Noble Education (BNED) to provide students with a low-cost alternative to traditional textbooks. More than 1,000 students at Gateway Community and Technical College, Henderson Community College and Somerset Community College used BNED Courseware in courses such as psychology, developmental math and American history.

BNED Courseware includes videos, activities and practice assessments that can be customized according to specific learning objectives. The materials are offered through First Day, Barnes & Noble College's inclusive access program; students' course materials are included in the cost of tuition, and can be delivered digitally or through the campus bookstore.

After the deployment, BNED surveyed the KCTCS students on their experiences with the courseware. Among the findings:

• 78 percent of students rated the overall courseware experience as good or excellent;
• 86 percent said their textbooks (digital or print) were the same or better compared to other texts used in college;
• 74 percent said they watched all or nearly all of the videos included in the courseware;
• 83 percent said the videos helped explain the concept; and
• 85 percent used the self-checks included in the courseware.

"We continue to incorporate new options for textbooks and other course materials to keep the cost of college as low as possible for our students," commented Jay Box, president of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, in a statement. "Barnes & Noble College has been a great, innovative partner for us."