When students engage with quality assessments their learning improves and yet the vast majority of digital textbooks do not have assessments included for students to check understanding and build knowledge. Why is that? It is simple economics - it is just too expensive for the publishers to create assessments for all but the biggest selling titles.  

We are excited to announce that we have made a great leap forward towards addressing this issue with the launch of Bookshelf CoachMe™️.   

Bookshelf CoachMe is a new feature that provides students with a free study coach right from within the Bookshelf platform. The tool adds relevant practice questions and knowledge checks aligned to key learning objectives alongside thousands of eTexts – at no additional cost to students or institutions.  


Here’s why this is a big deal: When I was a college professor, I saw firsthand that the students who actively engaged in the subject matter – either through quizzes, practice questions, or interactive study sessions – almost always earned higher grades than students who just read the textbooks. Research has made it clear that when you have the opportunity to interact with the content, checking in along the way to evaluate understanding and gauge progress, you’re more likely to actually build and retain knowledge.   

Learning scientists call this concept “The Doer Effect” or “Learning by Doing” – and it serves as both the inspiration for and the power behind Bookshelf CoachMe.  

With Bookshelf CoachMe, we have transformed our market-leading e-reader into an interactive learning experience – a one-stop-shop for students to not only read required course materials, but also to study the content, and practice new concepts to ultimately accelerate academic achievement. It’s the proven trifecta of learning, available free of charge to all Bookshelf users.  

I’ve talked for a long time about the “maze” students face when it comes to buying textbooks and course materials. It used to just be a matter of figuring out the most affordable source from which to purchase your books (a sufficiently difficult task!), but now students must also navigate a constellation of auxiliary services, like study apps and quiz tools, trying to select the most affordable resources and cobble together an ad hoc learning support system.   

That’s just a waste of time and resources. It’s time to give students everything they need to be successful within one easy-to-use platform, and that’s what we’ve created with Bookshelf CoachMe.  Students want easy and free tools that improve learning and Bookshelf CoachMe is exactly that! 

At VitalSource, our top priority is building affordable and effective learning solutions – available to anyone, anywhere. Bookshelf CoachMe is another step forward in the fight to level the playing field for students and help everyone access the quality tools and supports they need to be successful in the classroom. One of our researchers said the “Doer Effect” science behind CoachMe can help "democratize learning” – and I couldn’t agree more. 

Welcome to Bookshelf CoachMe. Studying just got a whole lot easier.   

Learn more about Bookshelf CoachMe.