Course Builder Brings Google into Online Education

Google is taking a step into online education with the release of open-source software called Course Builder. According to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, the search giant has talked to edX, the partnership between Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of California at Berkeley that is already offering free massive open online courses. Peter Norvig, the director of research at Google, told The Chronicle it has also reached out to Stanford University.

“We’re close with Stanford—Coursera and Udacity both came out of Stanford,” Norvig said. “They’re working on their own open-source project, and they’re also interested in working with us. I think schools are experimenting and they don’t know quite yet what they want to do.”

Google attracted 155,000 registered students during the summer with its Power Searching software.  Course Builder is designed to package the software and technology used in Power Searching to create online courses that can include lessons, student activities, and assessments.

\

Is Google Getting into the Tablet Business?

While some may question why, rumors are heating up that Google is set to launch its own tablet computer soon. Reports claim Google is working with Samsung on source code for the device, which will use the Nexus operating system.

Questions about the Google initiative revolve around the fact that Android devices are not doing well in the market. The Amazon Kindle Fire sold briskly during the holidays, but sales have fallen off from that point. In the meantime, the Apple iPad continues to dominate with no end of sales growth in sight.

Another problem facing Google is a lack of Android applications for users to download. And it remains to be seen whether Google can fight off Amazon, or Verizon for that matter, for those Android app customers in the first place.

Google eBooks come to College Stores

The Canadian Campus Retail Associates (CCRA) and Independent College Bookseller's Association (ICBA) announced this week that they have completed an agreement and integration with Google eBooks to distribute ebooks through college stores in Canada and shortly in the U.S.  This is similar the arrangement that the American Bookseller's Association (ABA) has with Google to distribute ebooks via Indie Commerce. This brings yet another option for college stores to provide customers with opportunities to discover, read and buy digital books on a range of devices and at competitive prices.   
 
Chris Tabor from the CCRA noted that "This is our first step with the potential of the Google ecosystems. Google is an incredible company to work with.  We learned a lot and are looking forward to more."


18 Canadian stores are participating in the initial launch, and other stores will begin to have access within the next 60 days.  Roughly 200 college stores are expected to be live with Google ebooks soon, as this service is offered to all CCRA and ICBA members, as well as stores currently participating in the Digital Content Platform initiative which is also co-sponsored by the two organizations.
 
Disclaimer:  Some folks who read this blog may know that NACS Media Solutions (NMS) did work with CCRA and ICBA on the digital content platform initiative and related pilots.  While we were aware of this pending development in advance from our prior participation, at this time NMS has no direct financial stake or active engagement in this initiative other than a sincere desire to see this initiative and others like it be successful within the college store industry.  Any questions about the current and upcoming offering should be directed to either CCRA or ICBA. 

Readum App Links Google E-Books to Facebook

BookGlutton.com founder Travis Albers felt Google e-book readers needed to connect with their Facebook friends, so she’s providing a solution with the release of the new Readum social media application. The Readum app lets users of different e-reading platforms and devices add comments and notes to books in their Google e-book library and then post them to Facebook.

“Why should we divide our friends and fellow readers up by the devices they use?” the BookGlutton.com founder asked in this article in Publishers Weekly.

Readum allows readers to make comments on specific paragraphs in their books. Those comments are then posted to Facebook groups or their Facebook wall. The app also creates an individual page for the comments and pulls any book listed into their Facebook profile.

The app is limited to Facebook users at the moment, but Twitter support is planned, according to Aaron Miller of ReadSocial. Miller went on to say that by using ReadSocial API, developed by BookGlutton.com, developers and content providers will ultimately be able to tie any e-book to any social network or community.