CourseSmart, a company owned by five publishers including Pearson and McGraw-Hill, is testing technology that allows professors to monitor when students read their digital textbooks, how often they read them and for how long.
The technology is being tested at Texas A&M University-San Antontio, Clemson University and the University of Buffalo, among others, according to the CourseSmart website.
The company compiles for professors data that contains information that correlates students’ reading habits with their success in the class. CourseSmart plans to introduce this program nationwide on a larger scale in the Fall.
Alessandra LiCalzi, a UF adjunct lecturer of Italian, said she would “absolutely” be interested in using a program like this.
“It’s something secure that I can track [students’] progress with,” she said. “I want them to learn. That’s the top priority.”
However, LiCalzi said, as long as her students are handing in work and getting good grades, it doesn’t matter to her if they read the textbook.
“What can you do? You cannot force them to read,” she said.
Although CourseSmart may be beneficial to professors, Eliona Jankulla said she doesn’t think CourseSmart would cause students to put any more effort into reading.
“I feel like there are ways to get around it,” said the 19-year-old UF political science sophomore. “If you just opened it up on your computer without reading, it would show the same thing.”
Victoria Sanchez, a 20-year-old UF industrial and systems engineering sophomore, said she doesn’t think this program will be popular among colleges.
