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Digital launch from Blackwells
UK book retailer of the year and academic bookseller, Blackwell’s, has launched a new digital learning service that promises to solve all your book dramas. Free to access, the service will make
the journey of fi nding and accessing textbooks as simple as possible. It will work anywhere, on any device, including tablets, computers and smartphones, and Blackwell’s is planning an app for the new Apple Watch when it launches. Blackwell’s has worked hard to build
a digital learning service with students and academics every step of the way to ensure that is has everything required for studying and research. You can buy and download digital textbooks, then use study tools to add bookmarks, annotations, and search for terms and phrases.
Moreover, Blackwell’s is to highlight
books that feature in its Top 100 best- selling titles for university students in shops if they are available digitally. ‘Shelf talkers' in shops include URLs and QR codes that point customers to where they can purchase these titles on
their phone and tablet. Blackwell’s is already working on
NFC-enabled shelf talkers and an app for when the Apple Watch launches in summer 2015 using the NFC (Near Field Communication) chip and the new Apple Pay function. This will also support Android NFC-enabled devices when this happens. Customers with Apple Watches or other NFC-enabled devices would touch on the 'shelf talker' to purchase the title. “Students can bring their own
technology to access the service free of charge,” explained Mat hew Cashmore, Blackwell’s Digital Director. “This is the fi rst time that a dedicated
digital learning tool has been developed for students, academics and professionals. It’s built right here in the UK, is super fast and easy and it’s free to access.”
Fast-track degree for digital
With the UK facing a growing shortage of digital skills, Birmingham City University is now off ering a fast-track two-year degree for budding programmers, web developers and digital buff s. The new Interactive Entertainment
courses condense a full-time degree into just two years, led by course tutors with
decades of industry experience with global brands including Samsung, Louis Vuit on and Crytek. “When we speak to our partners in
the games and digital industries, they constantly stress the need for graduates to have real experience in their specialism, and in working collaboratively, alongside
people with diff erent skillsets,” said Interactive Entertainment programme director Zuby Ahmed. “Students can expect to be designing
art assets for video games and working on computer coding, whilst other students will be preparing social media and digital marketing campaigns,” added Ahmed.
“When we speak to our partners in the games and digital industries, they constantly stress the need for graduates to have real experience in their specialism”
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