The VitalSource Resource

At the onset of the pandemic, a new reality set in for Julie Banks, bookstore director at the University of Dayton in Ohio.  Julie and her team quickly realized that physical print books were creating an administrative and financial burden in this new education ecosystem. This was especially apparent within the campus store’s rental program, and it became clear the business model needed to change.

The demand for digital learning materials and online modalities is growing, and this rapid digital expansion can jeopardize content integrity and security. Publishers’ intellectual property, revenue, and reputation may be at risk, whether from bad actors seeking to steal and commercialize stolen content, or unauthorized sharing and usage of material.

My colleague Benny Johnson and I recently presented a paper for a special session on Adaptive Instructional Systems during the 22^nd International Conference on Human-Computer Interactions. At Acrobatiq by VitalSource, Benny, director of research and development, and I, learning science specialist, develop data-driven courseware designed to help students learn. Acrobatiq originated from Carnegie Mellon University’s Open Learning Initiative (OLI) and our platform was created using cutting-edge cognitive and learning science principles. As a research-based organization, we believe it is important to contribute our own data analysis and findings to the educational technology and learning science fields.

Two of our smartest data nerds recently dug into what we know and can learn about student study habits. In the latest podcast from the Verba I VitalSource Coffee Chat series, Nick Brown, director of learning platforms at VitalSource, joins Jared Pearlman, vice president, institutions, at VitalSource, for a conversation about student behaviors inside digital course materials, the insights they provide, and next steps.

Benny Johnson, PhD, director of research and development, and Rachel Van Campenhout, learning science specialist, are both published researchers, experts in research and learning science, and lead VitalSource’s continued research efforts.