Digital Textbooks Know When You Haven't Been Studying

Students often come up with excuses for not doing homework — the dog ate it, the printer's broken, the Internet was down. While teachers still can't guess the real reason why a paper's late, they can now figure out when students haven't opened their textbooks

CourseSmart, a digital course materials provider, allows teachers to track students' ebook progress. Using CourseSmart Analytics, faculty can measure engagement with materials, including how long someone's been reading, average page views and how often notes are taken

The goal is to help teachers assess which students are at risk for falling behind and pinpoint their study habits early on. By using the analytics in conjunction with other factors like class participation, quizzes and assignments, they can work with class members to improve performance, explains marketing senior vice president Cindy Clarke Read more...