ePathshala vs Oxford Learner’s Bookshelf

ePathshala is a free education portal and set of mobile apps from a joint initiative of the Ministry of Education and NCERT. It shares audio, video, ePub books, flipbooks, periodicals, and other digital resources with students, teachers, educators, and parents. On phones and tablets, the app provides eBooks as ePub; on laptops and desktops, the web portal presents them as flipbooks. Readers can select and zoom text, bookmark, highlight, navigate, share, and add digital notes. Text-to-speech is available through TTS apps, and offline access is supported. QR codes in textbook chapters link to related audio, video, multimedia, and text materials; users can also enter a code on the website to locate resources. The home page lists resources in Hindi, English, and Urdu. The service is available on Android, iOS, Windows, and the web. Its privacy policy says the app may require personally identifiable information and use third-party services that collect identifying information, including Google Play Services. The policy also says the service does not address children under 13 and does not knowingly collect their personal information.

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.