E-BOOK OF A DIFFERENT COVER: Expect to see many trials of digital curriculum popping up. Here's an intriguing one that's been going on in a corner of LAUSD: 230 students and four teachers in New Open World (NOW) Academy in Los Angeles have been trying out Copia, an e-reader that emphasizes creating collaborative learning environments where students can share questions, notes and so on. (Other features include dictionaries, study aids, a "speak" option that can read highlighted text outloud and messaging). Copia works on iOS, Android and Windows platforms. The pilot was run by the blended learning design firm, The Alvo Institute, which plans to release the full results of the effort in late June.
Copia, which launched in November 2010 has received at least $10 million from DMC Capital Funding, a New York-based privately held growth equity company that manages a $100 million investment fund. It features a catalog of 10,000 digital textbook titles, is used on 900 campuses. In addition to the U.S., it has a strong presence in Brazil, Australia and Spain.
