In 2013, Indiana University began using an eReader called Courseload Engage to provide students with affordable textbooks and improve digital teaching and learning on their campus. Engage is designed to exist within the LMS so that all students have access to their course books and are equipped with what they need right from the start. By providing a common platform, Engage allows students to experience all of their textbooks similarly with eText regardless of the publisher.
Unizin acquired the eReader software in the spring of 2015, renaming it Unizin Engage. Through their membership with Unizin, Indiana University was able to continue to use Engage and to preserve the experience for students, providing a seamless transition.
By the fall of 2015, nearly 800 courses at the university adopted Unizin Engage, impacting 24,000 students. Students reported reading and annotating more with Engage and felt that they had experienced more productive and substantial learning when instructors actively used the digital textbooks. Not only did Engage provide a digital solution to improving teaching and learning, but implementing the eText platform resulted in $12 million in savings for students compared to full-price textbooks.
Indiana University’s faculty embraced the eText reader and now prefer it to printed resources. Instructors share highlights and notes with students across the platform, connecting with students in a new and valuable way, and are able to use eText more effectively during class. They also appreciated that all students were guaranteed access to the readings at the beginning of the semester. “This platform has served us extremely well,” said Anastasia Morrone, Associate Vice President for Learning Technologies.
With the help of Unizin, Indiana University is meeting its eText objectives:
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Drive down the cost of textbooks for students
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Provide high-quality materials of choice
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Enable new tools for teaching and learning
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Shape the terms of sustainable models that work for students, faculty, authors, etc.
The success that Indiana University has had with eText would not have been possible without its partnership with Unizin. “Together, we are working to change the nature of the teaching and learning digital landscape,” Morrone said.