Nine Universities Join E-Textbook Program

"Education is being transformed by digital information and electronic books are here to stay,” said Dr. Dale A. Lunsford, President, LeTourneau University. “LeTourneau University is pleased to be among the first universities in the country to provide this expanded access for our faculty."

"This will help faculty members make better textbook decisions and allow greater flexibility for students," said Joan Roca, Dean of Library Services at Minnesota State Mankato and co-chair of the Learning and Technology Roundtable. "CourseSmart’s program gives faculty access to the largest library of state-of-the-art eTextbooks and digital course materials, enabling departments to efficiently compare current course materials with new ones."

“Our professors are focused on providing the most enhanced and beneficial learning experience possible for students, which is accomplished in part by early selection of classroom resources that ensure comprehension of course materials,” said Harley Lingerfelt, vice president for information management and technology at the Savannah College of Art and Design. “CourseSmart’s Faculty Instant Access program will allow instructors to review and access all core higher education learning resources within MySCAD, our secure campus system, helping them make more informed course decisions, sooner and more efficiently.”

"Participation in this eTextbook program will enable Texas A&M—Kingsville faculty to have a broader range of choices for textbooks. This will lead to better textbooks for our students," said Val Ramirez, Director, Academic Support Services, Texas A&M University.

"Faculty review and selection of textbooks can be a time consuming and laborious process. CourseSmart Faculty Instant Access promises to provide our faculty with online tools to quickly and easily find and review texts across a wide range of disciplines,” said Joel L. Hartman, Vice Provost and Chief Information Officer, the University of Central Florida.

The initial implementations with the selected universities will utilize a diverse array of Learning Management Systems and Campus Portals, including Moodle, Blackboard, Desire2Learn, SunGard Luminis, Datatel Portal, uPortal and PeopleSoft.