Vital Source Technologies, Inc., an Ingram Content Group company, has announced the general availability of a comprehensive e-textbook Building Block that integrates its VitalSource Bookshelf platform with Blackboard Learn, Blackboard's flagship learning management system (LMS).
The VitalSource Building Block for Blackboard Learn is an integrated e-textbook solution that benefits institutions, instructors, and students. In addition to providing single sign-on integration between the two systems, the VitalSource Building Block is the first Blackboard integration for e-textbooks configured to work directly with Blackboard Mobile Learn for iPhone, iPad, Android and Kindle Fire devices.
Instructors can search, sample and adopt VitalSource Bookshelf platform e-textbooks and make them available directly for students within their Blackboard Learn course environment with a single click. Instructors can quickly construct courses, deep link to rich media and interactive learning activities, and annotate and direct students to exact sections of an e-textbook and required readings. Through rich analytic tools, faculty can easily view individual and aggregate class engagement data, and use it to manage successful learning outcomes.
Through the VitalSource Building Block, students have instant access to feature-rich interactive e-textbooks that allow for deep exploration of online content. The Building Block provides access to the cutting-edge technology the VitalSource Bookshelf platform offers, including integrated notes and note sharing, highlight features, annotations and more. The platform provides complete portability online, offline and across devices so wherever a Vital Source e-textbook is read, a students' work will always be in sync.
The integrated solution fully supports the needs of the two education business models. Institutions that include textbooks as part of tuition can place e-textbooks directly into Blackboard Learn courses for immediate student access, while supporting add/drop periods at the start of class. Alternatively, a student-purchase option would give instructors the opportunity to make e-textbooks available for students to purchase or rent from within their Blackboard Learn course environment.
The VitalSource Bookshelf platform claims to be the most used e-textbook delivery platform in higher education with more than 3.25 million users across 6,000 campuses around the world. It uses the latest technology to enhance the learning experience through e-textbooks and digital education. Content from more than 350 of the world's top academic publishers is accessible to VitalSource Bookshelf users anytime, anywhere, and on a variety of operating systems and devices.
