CourseSmart and CollegeHumor Crown America's Smartest Slacker

SAN MATEO, Calif., March 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --  CourseSmart, the largest provider of eTextbooks and digital course materials, and CollegeHumor announced today that Samantha Towle of Ithaca College is "America's Smartest Slacker" following a month long search to find students who work smarter, not harder.

Towle cleverly aced honors calculus by drawing creative comic strips illustrating her lessons along with a mnemonic device based on the Pokemon theme song. Her unconventional study techniques earned her an "A" in the class, $1,000 cash, a year's supply of free eTextbooks from CourseSmart, and an animated video on CollegeHumor.com —not to mention the reining title of "America's Smartest Slacker."

"Winning 'America's Smartest Slacker' means a lot," said Towle.  "A lot of people think that there is only one way to learn, but everyone's mind works differently. For creative people, math can be a bit of a struggle, but through doodling and music, I was able to overcome the gap between my artistic learning style and the concrete rules of calculus. It is amazing to have a title that proves that sometimes it's smart to 'slack off' and do things differently from others."

The contest, which launched in mid-January, asked students to submit a brief written essay about their best "slacker" story to CollegeHumor and CourseSmart. In just a few scant weeks, the contest garnered hundreds of submissions from wily college students everywhere who wanted to share their savvy studying tips that landed them that stellar grade. Amongst all the submissions—from catching up on Charles Dickens's "Great Expectations" via South Park to acing Spanish with "Sesame Street"—the story of Samantha Towle rose to the head of the class.

"Digital course materials are changing the way students everywhere learn by making studying more efficient and effective," said Jill Ambrose, the Chief Marketing Officer of CourseSmart. "With the America's Smartest Slacker contest, we wanted to celebrate students who have shown ingenuity by working smarter and not harder to achieve academic excellence and to inspire others to do the same with a fun, short film showcasing those smarts with CollegeHumor."

The 'smartest slacker' concept originated from CourseSmart's ability to allow students to do more by providing access to their course materials from the palm of their hand (smart phones, iPads, mobile devices and laptops), so they can log extra study time whether they're in a coffee shop, on the train, in the library or in their dorm room.  And to top it off- CourseSmart's eTextbooks cost 60% less than print texts.  So while some students might seem like slackers, they might simply just have more time and more money to do the things they love.

Visit www.collegehumor.com/video:1949802 to see "America's Smartest Slacker," Samantha Towle's animated video on CollegeHumor.com.

About CourseSmart

CourseSmart provides eTextbooks and digital course materials that improve the higher education learning process by offering instructors and students a unique combination of the right course material, anywhere, any-time access and a low cost. As the world's largest digital course materials supplier, CourseSmart has a rapidly growing digital library of more than 90% of core higher education textbooks offered as eTextbooks, the same titles produced by major publishers in print and recommended by faculty across North America. The company's eTextbooks can be purchased for up to 60% less than print texts and offer users the ability to print what they need as well as search and copy and paste features which help to streamline students' studies. Additional information can be found on the company's website: www.coursesmart.com.

About CollegeHumor Media

CollegeHumor Media, an operating business of IAC (Nasdaq: IACI) and partner in the Electus multimedia studio system, is a leading comedy-driven entertainment company that targets young adults age 18-34.  Comprised of CollegeHumor.com, BustedTees.com, TodaysBigThing.com, Dorkly.com, and SportsPickle.com, CollegeHumor Media delivers original videos, pictures, and articles created and/or curated by its in-house editorial staff and reaches over 15 million unique visitors per month.  Founded in 1999 with the launch of CollegeHumor.com, CollegeHumor Media has expanded its expertise to leading brands and top level talent to create high-quality original content that has been viewed over 300 million times with its viewers watching 100 years worth of video content each month. In addition to online content, CollegeHumor Media has expanded into apparel and other forms of entertainment including two CollegeHumor books published by Penguin, and  "The CollegeHumor Show" on MTV.

Media Contact:
Gabrielle Zucker
[email protected]
Kwittken & Company

SOURCE CourseSmart