FlatWorld is a
publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
of college-level
textbooks
A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbook ...
and educational supplements for a worldwide audience founded in 2007 as Flat World Knowledge by Eric Frank and Jeff Shelstad. It was acquired at the end of 2016 by Alastair Adam and John Eielson and its company headquarters was moved from Washington, DC, to Boston, Massachusetts. Following this acquisition, the company rebranded as FlatWorld.
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Company history
In 2007, Flat World Knowledge was founded by Jeff Shelstad and Eric Frank in
Nyack, New York
Nyack () is a Village (New York), village located primarily in the Town (New York), town of Orangetown, New York, Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, Rockland County, New York (state), New York, United States. Incorporated in 1872, it retai ...
. By August 2009, Flat World textbooks had been adopted at 400 colleges for use by 40,000 students. In 2010, Flat World Knowledge moved from Nyack, New York to
Irvington, New York
Irvington, sometimes known as Irvington-on-Hudson,Staff (ndg"The Irvington Gazette (Irvington-On-Hudson, N.Y.) 1907-1969"Library of Congress is a suburban village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is loca ...
. That year, Flat World Knowledge claimed that they would save 150,000 college students $12 million in textbook costs in the 2010–2011 school year after adoptions by more than 1,300 educators as of August 2010.
FlatWorld secured $11.5 million in investments through 2010, including an initial $700k angel investment.
In January 2011, $15 million in Series B funding led by
Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA () is a German private multinational conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of the world's largest media conglomerates, and is also active in the service sector and ...
Digital Media Investments (BDMI), a wholly owned subsidiary of
Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA () is a German private multinational conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of the world's largest media conglomerates, and is also active in the service sector and ...
AG, and
Bessemer Venture Partners
Bessemer Venture Partners (Bessemer) is an American venture capital firm. The firm has over $19 billion under management and invests globally, with offices in San Francisco, Redwood City, New York City, Boston, Israel, India, and London.
Bessemer ...
was announced. Returning investors for Series B funding include
Valhalla Partners, GSA Venture Partners (formerly Greenhill SAVP),
Primary Venture Partners and several
angel investors
An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital for a business or businesses start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or owners ...
.
Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
also announced an investment in Flat World Knowledge in April, 2011.
The company originally offered every textbook published free using online delivery under the
open content paradigm, but in November 2012, the company announced that it would no longer offer free access to textbooks.
In late 2016, Flat World Knowledge was acquired by Alastair Adam and John Eielson and rebranded as FlatWorld.
Accessibility and regulatory issues
Flat World Knowledge textbooks have been developed for
accessible publishing
Accessible publishing is an approach to publishing and book design whereby books and other texts are made available in alternative formats designed to aid or replace the reading process. It is particularly relevant for people who are blind, visua ...
. Flat World Knowledge partnered with Bookshare to provide books using an electronic
Braille
Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...
format. Flat World was the first postsecondary textbook publisher to recognize and alleviate this problem.
Sustainability
Digital textbook and course material formats offer
sustainability
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...
advantages over traditional paper textbooks. According to a publishing industry study, an estimated "net
arbon
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, twintowns = Langenargen (Germany), Binn (Switzerland)
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emission of 8.85 pounds per book
s created for each paper booksold to consumers."
[Milliot, Ji]
"Toward a Greener Future. (Cover story)."
Publishers Weekly 255, no. 10 March 10, 2008 pp. 26–32. In 2010–2011, approximately 57.5% of students using FlatWorld texts opted for entirely digital delivery. As of fall 2011, 70% of students opt for digital formats, significantly reducing the ecologic footprint from textbook use when compared to the historic paper textbook format.
[Kolowich, Steve]
(Analog innovations section) ''USA Today.'' August 31, 2010.[Cooper, Tanika]
"Free Online Textbooks Becoming a Reality."
''Daily Nebraskan,'' University of Nebraska, via UWire: The College Network. July 26, 2010.
See also
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OpenCourseWare
OpenCourseWare (OCW) are Course (education), course lessons created at universities and published for free via the Internet. OCW projects first appeared in the late 1990s, and after gaining traction in Europe and then the United States have becom ...
*
Open educational resources
Open educational resources (OER) are Instructional materials, teaching, learning, and research materials intentionally created and Free license, licensed to be free for the end user to own, share, and in most cases, modify. The term "OER" descri ...
*
OpenStax College
OpenStax (formerly OpenStax College) is a nonprofit educational technology initiative based at Rice University. Since 2012, OpenStax has created peer-reviewed, openly-licensed textbooks, which are available in free digital formats and for a low c ...
*
Open textbook
An open textbook is a textbook licensed under an open license, and made available online to be freely used by students, teachers and members of the public. Many open textbooks are distributed in either print, e-book, or audio formats that may be do ...
*
Bookboon
Bookboon Learning is a digital learning service provider for corporate learning & development, providing eBooks, audio learning, online courses & learning journeys with a primarily focus on personal development and soft skills.
Bookboon was origin ...
*
China Open Resources for Education
The China Open Resources for Education, or CORE, was a non-profit organization that promoted closer interaction and open sharing of educational resources between Chinese and international universities. Its website is offline since 2013.
Overview ...
*
Connexions
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Curriki
Curriki is an online, free, open education service. Curriki is structured as a nonprofit organization to provide open educational resources primarily in support of K-12 education. Curricula and instructional materials are available at the Curriki w ...
*
Flexbook
*
Free High School Science Texts The Free High School Science Texts (FHSST) organization is a South African non-profit project, which creates open textbooks on scientific subjects. Textbooks are edited to follow the government's syllabus, and published under a Creative Commons lice ...
South Africa
*
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is an American non-profit educational organization created in 2008 by Sal Khan. Its goal is creating a set of online tools that help educate students. The organization produces short lessons in the form of videos. Its website also in ...
*
Open.Michigan
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Tufts OpenCourseWare
The Tufts OpenCourseWare (OCW) project, was a web-based publication of educational material from a number of Tufts University courses, providing open sharing of free, searchable, high-quality course content to educators, students, and self-learners ...
*
Wikibooks
Wikibooks (previously called ''Wikimedia Free Textbook Project'' and ''Wikimedia-Textbooks'') is a wiki-based Wikimedia project hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation for the creation of free content digital textbooks and annotated texts that any ...
References
External links
Digital Textbook Sales in U.S. Higher Education — A Five-Year Projectionby Rob Reynolds. ("Factors within the Publishing and Education Markets Affecting the Sales of Digital Textbooks" section and trend charts) Explana. 2010.
"A Cover to Cover Solution:How Open Textbooks are the Path to Textbook Affordability." Original research report by Nicole Allen of The Student PIRGs.
Creative Commons Talks With Student PIRGs’ Nicole Allen:"Open Education and Policy." October 14, 2010.
"Get Rid of Print and Go Digital"by Anya Kamenetz in the ''New York Times.'' August 16, 2010.
{{Authority control
Book publishing companies based in New York (state)
Textbook publishing companies
Open content
Academic publishing companies
Publishing companies of the United States
Electronic publishing
Creative Commons-licensed works
Publishing companies established in 2007
American companies established in 2007
2007 establishments in New York (state)
Open educational resources
Open access publishers