University of Nizwa Renews the E-Textbooks agreement with Pearson

As part of its digital transformation journey, the University of Nizwa announced the renewal of its agreement—extended for an additional consecutive year—with Pearson Education (United Kingdom) to provide electronic textbooks through a specialized digital library. This service supports students and faculty members in more than 100 academic courses across the university’s various colleges, departments, and disciplines, for the Spring and Fall semesters of the 2026 academic year.

This project comes within the university’s efforts to enhance the quality of education, expand access to academic content, and develop a more flexible and efficient learning environment based on digital education through the platform known as MyLab/Mastering. This service provides interactive e-learning in which textbooks are supported by electronic assignments, quizzes, questions, and exercises organized according to book chapters, with automatic grading.

Broad Academic Coverage Across Disciplines

The project includes courses in the departments of Architecture, Chemical and Petrochemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Foreign Languages, Management, Nursing, and Pharmacy. E-textbooks are made available to students enrolled in the relevant courses according to the regulations specific to each course.

The digital learning system (MyLab) offers a platform that provides lessons and lectures in video formats with specialized explanations. It features 3D models and interactive tools that support textbooks, enabling students to access content and learn anytime and anywhere using smart device applications.

Lending and Access Mechanism

A dedicated electronic library has been prepared to serve students and faculty members, allowing students to borrow a textbook for a period of 24 hours. The system permits simultaneous use by up to ten students per book. Lending and access are organized through the integration of the Moodle e-learning system with the VitalSource platform. This technical integration enables students to borrow and use books electronically with ease, whether on campus or off campus.

Special Features for Faculty Members

Course instructors are granted unrestricted access to textbooks throughout the contract period, in addition to a range of supporting teaching tools depending on what each book offers. These include lecture presentation slides, question banks, model answers, and assessment tests. The system also provides usage statistics, enabling faculty members to analyze student engagement with digital content.

Multiple Educational and Technical Advantages

The e-textbooks project offers a wide range of benefits, most notably reducing the burden of carrying heavy printed books, achieving financial savings for students, and enabling access across multiple devices (desktop computers, laptops, and smartphone applications). Books can be used online or offline and are enriched with interactive links, images, videos, and supplementary resources. Additional features include font enlargement, text-to-speech conversion to support students with visual impairments, interaction with equations, tables, and illustrations, in-book search, text highlighting, note-taking and retrieval, and future preparation for AI-based interactive dialogue (chat) with textbooks.

The MyLab project is distinguished by its ability to manage integration between the learning platform and the university’s Learning Management System through Moodle, ensuring continuous assessment of students’ academic achievement and comprehension. It also provides students with a comprehensive learning environment that supports understanding, follow-up, and performance evaluation throughout their academic journey.

Enhancing the Learning Environment and Scientific Research

The project represents a strategic step toward improving the learning environment, enhancing access to knowledge, and supporting self-directed learning. It is expected to open new research opportunities to study the impact of e-learning on academic achievement, curriculum development, and the promotion of creativity and innovation among students.

Periodic evaluations will be conducted to assess the extent to which project objectives are achieved by monitoring usage data and analyzing performance indicators, ensuring continuous improvement of e-textbook services.

The Role of the Instructor in Successful Digital Transformation

Despite the advanced capabilities provided by the project, faculty members continue to play a central role in guiding students toward optimal use of digital content, raising awareness of digital distraction challenges, and enhancing concentration skills and effective utilization of modern learning tools.

Through this project, the University of Nizwa reaffirms its commitment to adopting innovative educational solutions and providing an integrated digital learning experience that keeps pace with the demands of the modern era and serves its academic community efficiently and sustainably.