SAN MATEO, Calif., Sept. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CourseSmart®, the world's largest provider of eTextbooks and digital course materials, and Instructure, the company behind the popular Canvas learning management system, today announced a partnership to integrate eTextbooks within Canvas, providing students and faculty with direct access to CourseSmart's catalog of over 30,000 eTextbooks and digital course materials. Faculty and students will now have access to their personalized CourseSmart Bookshelf and individual eTextbooks from within the environment they use daily.

"CourseSmart is committed to helping institutions expand access, decrease costs, and improve retention and learning outcomes of students by integrating eTextbooks and digital course materials within their campus portal or learning management system. Through our partnership with Instructure, we are bringing a new level of accessibility, innovation and efficiency to the growing population of Canvas users," said Sean Devine, CEO of CourseSmart. "With our single sign-on integration and unmatched ease of use, the digital efficiencies of our products will be at the fingertips of thousands of students and faculty across the country."

As part of the integration, instructors will benefit from the Faculty Instant Access Program, which streamlines faculty discovery, evaluation and adoption decisions of course materials with single-sign-on access to CourseSmart's unmatched catalog.  Faculty can also embed digital learning materials into their courses on Canvas as well as create deep links to specific sections or pages of CourseSmart's eTextbooks and digital course materials, creating significant efficiencies in workflow.

Students at institutions utilizing the Canvas LMS will benefit significantly from the CourseSmart integration, including:

• CourseSmart eTextbooks and digital course materials are available for up to 60% off the cost of a new print textbook;
• Anytime, anywhere access to materials via www.coursesmart.com or through various mobile devices and tablets;
• Search function for topics within a single book or across an entire eTextbook stack;
• Highlighting and note-taking capabilities within the eTextbook, which can be easily recalled or searched;
• Ability to cut and paste as well as email sections, notes and highlighted text;
• The choice to print only what one needs; and
• Page fidelity and preservation, mirroring the print edition's page numbers, full text, diagrams, illustrations and charts.

"Too often new technology in education means teachers and students have one more login and one more thing to hassle with," said Devlin Daley, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Instructure. "This partnership with CourseSmart removes the hassle and gives greater power to the individual to transform learning by streamlining the access to great content within Canvas."

CourseSmart is facilitating the integration with Canvas through the application of the Basic Learning Tools Interoperability Standard of the IMS Global Learning Consortium. For more information, please visit www.coursesmart.com. Institutions interested in an integration should contact colleges@coursesmart.com.

About CourseSmart^®

As the world's largest provider of digital course materials, CourseSmart^® connects education publishers to consumers by providing an efficient distribution platform for their best-selling content in digital form. Founded in 2007, the San Mateo, Calif.-based company provides services to four business segments: Online direct retail for students; Indirect distribution of course materials to students through bookstores; Online faculty textbook evaluation services; and Institutional solutions for faculty and students that are integrated within campus technology ecosystems. CourseSmart improves the educational process and experience by offering all users anywhere, any-time access to the course content they need, including those with vision- and print-related disabilities. With more than 90% of the same core titles offered by major print publishers, the company's eTextbooks can be purchased for up to 60% less than the cost of new print textbooks. For more information about CourseSmart, visit the company's Web site at www.coursesmart.com.

About Instructure

Instructure is a technology company committed to improving education. We provide instructors and students modern tools and resources to empower the learning experience. Founded by graduate students in collaboration with educational institutions, Instructure provides Canvas - the open, easy-to-use, cloud-native learning platform.

Copyright © 2012, Instructure, Inc.  All rights reserved. Instructure, Canvas and their respective logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of Instructure, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other brands and names may be claimed as the property of others.

Media Contact:
For CourseSmart:
Emily Peck
kwittken + company
epeck@kwitco.com      
(646) 747-7149

For Instructure:
Devin Knighton, Director of Public Relations
devin@instructure.com
(801) 722-8187
@devinknighton

SOURCE CourseSmart