Cambridge Aspire vs DIKSHA

Cambridge Aspire combines academic expertise with learning materials for instructors and students. Its Institutional eTextbook Collection gives institutions access to over 1,000 Cambridge eTextbooks, while individuals can purchase specific titles with perpetual access. Instructors can try a subject eTextbook Collection for three months at free. Cambridge Spiral is a web, desktop and mobile application for downloading and reading textbooks offline. It supports bookmarks, highlights, annotations and links, with an Annotations tab for managing and reviewing notes; instructor annotations are available through custom group mode. The eReader allows copying and printing up to 20% of an eTextbook, and text-to-speech turns eCollection textbook titles into audio. Library users may access books through IP verification, Shibboleth or Athens. Online read-only access does not include annotations, bookmarks or offline reading. The Cambridge Aspire website supports LTI 1.1 links to textbooks or chapters in Blackboard, Moodle, Canvas, DSL and Sakai.

DIKSHA is a national school-education platform and an NCERT initiative under India’s Ministry of Education. It provides curriculum-related resources for teachers, students and parents, including textbooks, videos, interactive material and courses. Browse content by subject, education stage, board or grade, or use the mobile app to scan textbook QR codes and open linked lessons and resources. The platform supports 36 Indian languages and teacher-development programs, including NISHTHA courses. Accessibility resources include audio books, Indian Sign Language videos and a dictionary for children with special needs. DIKSHA is available on Android, iOS and the web, with Android 5.1 and above listed as the mobile requirement. Offline access and annotation tools are listed. The site says it is built with Sunbird, MIT-licensed open-source technology. Its privacy policy describes data storage on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure servers in India and says IP addresses are not retained after use to suggest a state and district. A Windows and Ubuntu desktop app for offline downloaded material is marked “COMING SOON!”.