Kno, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to bring interactive texts to K-12 for $9.99
Education software developer Kno, which currently provides etextbooks for higher education has struck a deal with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to add interactive K-12 textbooks to its iPad, Android, Windows, and Web platforms. According to information released on the deal, the introductory price to rent a textbook for a year will be $9.99 or less. Post introductory pricing has not yet been announced. Comparatively, The cost of a textbook through Apple’s iBooks platform is $14.99 per student per year.
Kno’s iOS app, Textbooks for iPad, offers access to a catalog of more than 100,000 K-12 and post-secondary electronic textbooks from major textbook publishers. IN addition to access to a catalog of over 100,000 K-12 and post secondary etextbooks, Kno’s iOS app also includes a set of tools for working with textbooks, including:
- A course manager for organizing textbooks and other learning materials in a central location
- Social networking tools
- Highlighting
- Sticky notes
- Chapter previews
- Interactive 3-D objects, PDF support
- Smart links
- Integrated digital journal
- Self test tools
- Automatically generated flash cards
- Alignment with CCSS standards for K-12 texts
“By offering digital access to enhanced K-12 content on the go and at home, this collaboration will empower parents to get more involved in their children’s education. We know parental involvement is an important factor in student achievement, and we’re proud to be the first content provider to bring Kno’s technology to the K-12 world,” said Tim Cannon, executive vice president of strategy and alliances for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, in a prepared statement. “HMH aims to make quality content available to the widest possible audience with the mission of changing people’s lives by fostering passionate, curious learners. This partnership with Kno supports that goal.”
“Even if the schools have not adopted digital textbooks, we wanted to give parents the option to have their kids’ same textbooks available at home,” said Osman Rashid, CEO and co-founder of Kno, also in a prepared statement. “With digital books priced at $9.99 or below, parents can now finally stop their kids from carrying their heavy backpacks to and from school for less than $60 for the school year by supplementing classroom materials with interactive textbooks that can be used at home and on the go.”
