Lumen makes significant investments to ensure our digital courseware is more than just a textbook, allowing students to learn by doing using interactive content designed to give them frequent practice, coupled with feedback on their understanding of the learning outcomes.
The offline content version offers an inferior learning experience compared to our digital courseware. It does not include interactive content such as practice questions, simulations, videos, self-assessment exercises, or quizzes. For these reasons, we do not recommend using the textbook in the offline form. The offline version should be used as a backup for situations where a student does not have online access, rather than as the primary textbook.
How do I view an epub?
Depending on the device and operating system you’re using, you may already have an app that can view epubs, or you may need to download a free one.
Here are our recommendations:
Desktops/Laptops
- Windows: Adobe Digital Editions
- Mac OS: Apple Books (comes with Mac OS, previously called iBooks)
- Chrome OS: Google Play Books
- Linux: Foliate
Smartphones/Tablets
- Android: Google Play Books
- iOS: Apple Books (previously called iBooks)
Why do we offer epub and not pdf?
While the epub and pdf formats both allow you to view content offline, the epub format offers a couple of key advantages over pdf:
- Mobile Friendly: content in epub document is “reflowable.” That means that epub documents are able to adjust their presentation to the device that the student is using, and resize to fit the screen. This is especially important when students are consuming content on mobile devices.
- Accessible: the reflowable content in epub documents makes them better for visually impaired students. In addition, the technology underlying epub documents enables much better compatibility with screen readers than is the case for pdf documents.