CourseSmart Launches New App

CourseSmart recently made reading e-textbooks more accessible with the unveiling of the new app that can be used on the Kindle Fire, iPad, and Android devices.  The free app provides customers with a catalog of more than 20,000 e-textbooks created by CourseSmart, as well as other digital course materials and users will need to pay for access to the e-materials.   To use the app you need Google Chrome, Safari, or Amazon Silk on Android 3.0 and higher, Kindle Fire, or iPad devices.  Compatibility with other Android devices, iPhone, and iPod Touch is in the works, according to CourseSmart.

CourseSmart Integrates with BlackBoard

The Wall Street Journal reports that CourseSmart has developed a new integration platform to work seamlessly with Blackboard.  The single sign-on function allows students and faculty access to CourseSmart's digital course catalog by logging into the Blackboard Learn platform without having to sign into CourseSmart.  This means that faculty who are using Blackboard do not have to leave the platform and instead link required reading assignment, homework problems or other activities that exist in their digital course materials and share that information with their students.

The Blackboard Building Block for CourseSmart is free to higher education institutions, according to the article. Matthew Small, chief business officer at Blackboard says,  "The pilots we are currently running with CourseSmart as part of our signature partnership will continue to fuel this experience as they provide our clients with anytime, anywhere access to their digital course materials from any Web-enabled device, including mobile devices running on the iOS and Android(TM) OS platforms."