The Albright School of Education is conducting a pilot during fall quarter of two e-book delivery platforms: CaféScribe. Instructors and students in EDE 307, Special Education and Special Programs, will be testing features of these e-book platforms at CityU sites in Port Angeles, Tacoma, and Vancouver, Washington.

CaféScribe and Courseload features include:

• Online and offline access to required readings;
• Individual and collaborative tools for learning such as highlighting, note taking, and annotations, and;
• Savings of 40-80% over the cost of new texts.

The objectives of this pilot are to identify solutions that:

• Reduce the cost of required resources for students;
• Ensure all students are engaged in learning with full access to required resources on the first day of class;
• Add value to required resources via technology that integrates collaborative learning features;
• Improve access to current resources for CityU students worldwide;
• Identify the types of courses for which an online, collaborative tool provides the greatest impact on learning.

The CaféScribe and Courseload e-book delivery platforms provide similar features to students and instructors. Both platforms are accessible via PCs or MACs and multiple browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome) are supported. Each platform varies in the amount of text students may elect to print and in the format of additional resources faculty may upload to the platform. E-book pages on CafeScribe and Courseload match those of the print editions. Highlighting, notes, and annotations may be private or public, with both platforms integrating tools that support group study and learning.  Instructors have access to metrics on student use of the platforms that may help with early identification of students at risk for failure. CaféScribe and Courseload also claim their products are ADA compliant.

Courseload materials are made available to students through their Blackboard course shells and are paid for as a course fee.

While any instructor or student may choose to create a CaféScribe Reader account and to purchase their required textbook as a CaféScribe version through CityU’s online bookstore, true value is added through the collaborative features when this platform is adopted by the entire course.

Courseload materials are made available to students through their Blackboard account and are paid for as a course fee.

For more information about E-books email Mary Mara at MMara@cityu.edu.