Cambridge Aspire vs Oxford Learner’s Bookshelf

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.

Oxford Learner’s Bookshelf provides interactive Oxford e-books for teaching and learning English. Its catalog includes Graded Readers, course student books and workbooks, grammar and reference books, and professional development for teachers. Some courses are available as digital packs with e-books and Online Practice, and users can register for free samples. Depending on the title, books may include activities, video, audio, answer checking, adjustable audio speed, and pronunciation recording and comparison. Readers can add sticky or voice notes, highlight or underline text, and annotate pages. Books downloaded in the apps can be used offline, and cloud sync can carry answers, notes, marks, bookmarks, and last-page position between devices. Teachers can assign e-books and Classroom Presentation Tools; for some courses, they can track student progress and scores in a gradebook. Books require an Oxford ID and a licence or access code. Prices vary by title, and no price is listed here. Audio notes and pronunciation practice cannot be recorded in Edge or Safari; the help page directs users to Chrome or Firefox for recording.