Johnston Community College is excited to announce the launch of electronic textbooks this fall for select courses.
JCC’s eText initiative is in response to the continued rising costs of textbooks, in some instances as much as $500 for one course. After recent conversations with students, parents, and faculty, it’s apparent the often-exorbitant cost of textbooks is posing a significant challenge for students.
“Our eText initiative will assist JCC in transforming a student’s educational experience for the digital age while also reducing the ever increasing costs of college textbooks, in many cases by as much as 50 percent,” says Dee Dee Daughtry, vice president of instruction. “We believe this is an important step for JCC, and it will ultimately provide our students with the best learning materials possible.”
Accessible through JCC’s Blackboard Learning Management System, an eText is a digital version of a hardcopy textbook and can include additional resources such as workbooks, problem sets, tutorials, video, simulations and interactive software.
This spring, about 100 high school students taking psychology and sociology courses through the Career and College Promise (CCP) program are using eTexts, and the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.
Kelsey Keefer of Wendell, a CCP student at JCC, said she likes the convenience of the e-text. “I can access it anytime, anywhere, on my phone and on a computer,” she said. “It’s a great study tool as well. I really like how you can search for subjects through the textbook and you can highlight and add important information to your notebook. That’s incredibly helpful.”
JCC is introducing the eText initiative to students in connection with fall and summer advising and registration. Students can learn more hands-on about eText during Spring Fling on April 22.
Click on this link for a complete listing of JCC courses piloting eTexts this fall.
