CourseSmart

CourseSmart, a privately held company headquartered in San Mateo, California, is a provider of eTextbooks and digital course materials. CourseSmart was founded in 2007 by publishers in higher education including Bedford, Cengage Learning, Freeman & Worth Publishing Group (Macmillan), McGraw-Hill Education, John Wiley & Sons, and Pearson.[1]

The CourseSmart catalog includes more than 40,000 eTextbooks, representing 90% of the core textbooks currently in use in North American Higher Education, as well as an online catalog of eResources and other digital course materials. Available in online or offline formats, CourseSmart eTextbooks provide savings off the price of new print textbooks and gives students, faculty, partners, and institutions a new way to find and access course materials.[2] Students and instructors have anytime, anywhere access to their required course materials from any Web browser and on many mobile devices (including Android; the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch; Microsoft Windows; and other Web-enabled devices).[3]

In August 2009, CourseSmart was the first in the industry to develop and launch an iPhone app,[4] followed by the industry’s first app for the iPad, which launched in the fall of 2010.[5] Additionally in April 2011, CourseSmart launched the first eTextbook app for Android devices.[6] CourseSmart provides access to its eTextbooks from any computer or Web-enabled device.[7]

According to a 2011 comparison from Campusbooks, CourseSmart was found to have 80% of the 1,000 most popular textbooks for fall 2011 available – the highest percentage when compared to six other leading providers.[8] CourseSmart is also certified by TRUSTe, an Internet privacy service provider.[9]

Limitations

CourseSmart-hosted content can only be printed 10 pages at a time. The total number of pages that can be printed and/or copied/pasted is limited to 150% of the total number of pages in the eBook. Additionally, access to eBooks is limited to a specific duration of time, normally six months, depending on the eBook.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Overview". CourseSmart.
  2. ↑ "CourseSmart Expands Executive Team to Increase Institutional and Distribution Partnerships and Establish a Global Presence". Reuters. May 25, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Hot New Market: Electronic Textbooks". Inc.
  4. ↑ "eTextbooks for College Students Now Available on App Store". PR Newswire.
  5. ↑ "Downloads for CourseSmart's New 'eTextbooks for the iPad' App Increase More than Fivefold". Worldnews.se.
  6. ↑ "CourseSmart Launches E-Textbook App for Android". Campus Technology. April 20, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Hot New Market: Electronic Textbooks". Inc.
  8. ↑ "Exclusive: What Electronic Textbook Provider Has The Biggest Library?". Mashable. August 17, 2011.
  9. ↑ "CourseSmart Brings Textbooks to Android". ReadWriteWeb.com.
  10. ↑ "Terms of Service". CourseSmart.

External links