Bookboon

Last updated
Bookboon Learning
Bookboon Learning logo.jpg
Type of businessOnline, private company
Type of site
Digital learning services
Available in Multilingual
Founded1988 (as Ventus Publishing)
HeadquartersCopenhagen, Denmark London, United Kingdom
No. of locations2 international locations
Area servedWorldwide
Key people
  • Kristian Buus Madsen
  • (CEO)
  • Thomas Buus Madsen
  • (COO)
IndustryeBook Publishing, Learning & Development
Products eBooks, Audio learning, Online courses, Online learning subscription, Corporate learning & development, Team learning
Services Personal development, Soft skills development
Advertising Yes
RegistrationRequired for reading books
Launched2005
Current statusActive

BookboonLearning is a digital learning service provider for corporate learning & development, providing eBooks, audio learning, online courses & learning. [1]

Contents

Bookboon was originally founded in Denmark in 1988 under the name Ventus. Today, Bookboon operates globally with offices in London and Copenhagen. [2]

Bookboon offers free university textbooks [3] to students and content, focus lies on soft skills and personal development for bite-sized learning for professionals. [4] [5]

History and background

Bookboon started as a family business named Ventus in 1988 in Denmark. At that time, Ventus focused on publishing student textbooks. The owners of Ventus had two sons named Thomas Buus Madsen and Kristian Buus Madsen. In 2005, the two brothers took control of Ventus and in 2008 they re-named the company Bookboon. Soon after, the two brothers developed an innovative business model: offer free eBooks online financed by a few in-book ads, with a limit of 15% advertising space per book. The advertisers were companies looking to promote their career opportunities towards students and professionals. [6]

In 2006, the company expanded its business model to Sweden, followed by Germany and the Netherlands in 2007. In 2008, Bookboon expanded its operations to the United Kingdom and started publishing eBooks in English. [7]

Bookboon in the media

In 2016, Bookboon was highlighted for its activities on the African continent, especially in terms of offering free textbooks for students based on employer branding. This was reported by the Danish newspaper business.dk, the German international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle [8] as well as CNBC South Africa. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textbook</span> Type of academic study book

A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbooks and other books used in schools. Today, many textbooks are published in both print and digital formats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aarhus University</span> Research university in Aarhus, Denmark

Aarhus University is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Utrecht Network of European universities and is a member of the European University Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free education</span> Education funded by taxation

Free education is education funded through government spending or charitable organizations rather than tuition funding. Many models of free higher education have been proposed. Primary school and other comprehensive or compulsory education is free in many countries. Tertiary education is also free in certain countries, including post-graduate studies in the Nordic countries. The Article 13 of International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ensures the right to free education at primary education and progressive introduction of it at secondary and higher education as the right to education.

Education in Denmark is compulsory for children below the age of 15 or 16, even though it is not compulsory to attend Folkeskole. The school years up to the age of fifteen/sixteen are known as Folkeskole, since any education has to match the level offered there. About 82% of young people take further education in addition to this. Government-funded education is usually free of charge and open to all. Denmark has a tradition of private schools and about 15.6% of all children at basic school level attend private schools, which are supported by a voucher system.

M-learning, or mobile learning, is a form of distance education where learners use portable devices such as mobile phones to learn anywhere and anytime. The portability that mobile devices provide allows for learning anywhere, hence the term "mobile" in "mobile learning." M-learning devices include computers, MP3 players, mobile phones, and tablets. M-learning can be an important part of informal learning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open educational resources</span> Open learning resource

Open educational resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials intentionally created and licensed to be free for the end user to own, share, and in most cases, modify. The term "OER" describes publicly accessible materials and resources for any user to use, re-mix, improve, and redistribute under some licenses. These are designed to reduce accessibility barriers by implementing best practices in teaching and to be adapted for local unique contexts.

The Free High School Science Texts (FHSST) organization is a South African non-profit project, which creates open textbooks on scientific subjects. Textbooks are edited to follow the government's syllabus, and published under a Creative Commons license, allowing teachers and students to print them or share them digitally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morten Madsen</span> Danish professional ice hockey forward (born 1987)

Morten Madsen is a Danish former professional ice hockey forward who played most notably in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).

A digital textbook is a digital book or e-book intended to serve as the text for a class. Digital textbooks may also be known as e-textbooks or e-texts. Digital textbooks are a major component of technology-based education reform. They may serve as the texts for a traditional face-to-face class, an online course or degree, or massive open online courses (MOOCs). As with physical textbooks, digital textbooks can be either rented for a term or purchased for lifetime access. While accessible, digital textbooks can be downloaded, printed, or accessed online via a compatible device. To access content online, users must often use a 3rd party hosting provider or "digital bookshelf" through which digital textbooks can be served.

The Global Text Project (GTP) is a not for profit organization dedicated to the creation, translation, and distribution of free open content textbooks over the Internet. It is an open educational resources project focusing on reaching university students mainly in developing countries, where textbooks are often expensive and not affordable. Textbooks are necessary and crucial for higher education, but they are becoming increasingly expensive, even in the United States. Between 1998 and 2014 textbook prices increased by 161 percent. And since 1977, textbook prices in the country have risen 1,041 percent, more than triple the overall rate of U.S. inflation. Two major reasons that could be affecting textbook prices are the constant publication of new editions, and extra material bundled into the textbooks.

An open textbook is a textbook licensed under an open license, and made available online to be freely used by students, teachers and members of the public. Many open textbooks are distributed in either print, e-book, or audio formats that may be downloaded or purchased at little or no cost.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cengage</span> American educational products company

Cengage Group is an American educational content, technology, and services company for the higher education, K–12, professional, and library markets. It operates in more than 20 countries around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FlatWorld</span> American textbook publisher

FlatWorld is a publisher of college-level textbooks and educational supplements for a worldwide audience founded in 2007 as Flat World Knowledge by Eric Frank and Jeff Shelstad. It was acquired at the end of 2016 by Alastair Adam and John Eielson and its company headquarters was moved from Washington, DC, to Boston, Massachusetts. Following this acquisition, the company rebranded as FlatWorld.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CK-12 Foundation</span> California-based non-profitable organization

The CK-12 Foundation is a California-based non-profit organization which aims to increase access to low-cost K-12 education in the United States and abroad. CK-12 provides free and customizable K-12 open educational resources aligned to state curriculum standards. As of 2022, the foundation's tools were used by over 200,000,000 students worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copenhagen Suborbitals</span> Amateur crowdfunded human space programme

Copenhagen Suborbitals is a crowd-funded, open-source human space program. It has flown five home-built rockets and two mock-up space capsules since 2008. The organization successfully launched its Nexø II rocket in the summer of 2018. Its stated goal is to have one of its members reach space on a sub-orbital spaceflight. The organization was founded by Kristian von Bengtson and Peter Madsen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coursera</span> Online education technology company

Coursera Inc. is a U.S.-based massive open online course provider founded in 2012 by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller. Coursera works with universities and other organizations to offer online courses, certifications, and degrees in a variety of subjects. In 2023 more than 275+ universities and companies offer more than 4,000 courses through Coursera.

OpenStax is a nonprofit educational technology initiative based at Rice University. Since 2012, OpenStax has created peer-reviewed, openly-licensed textbooks, which are available in free digital formats and for a low cost in print. Most books are also available in Kindle versions on Amazon.com and in the iBooks Store. OpenStax's first textbook was College Physics, which was published online, in print, and in iBooks in 2012. OpenStax launched OpenStax Tutor Beta in June 2017, adaptive courseware based on cognitive science principles, machine learning, and OpenStax content. However, it was announced in October 2022 that Tutor was being discontinued.

BookBox, a social enterprise located in Pondicherry, India has created ‘AniBooks’, animated stories for children with the narration appearing on-screen as Same Language Subtitles (SLS). Every word is highlighted at the exact timing with the audio narration, thus strengthening reading skills, automatically and subconsciously. BookBox has their videos on their YouTube channel, with over 45 stories in 40 languages. The business was born in 2004 from a student-driven competition, Social e-Challenge, at Stanford University.

Copenhagen Cabinetmakers' Guild Exhibition was an annual furniture exhibition and competition held from 1927 to 1966 that served as an well-known institution of Danish Design and a vehicle for the emergence of the Danish Modern art movement. Many recognizable icons of Danish Modern were first unveiled as prototypes at the exhibition, including Hans Wegner's Round Chair, Aksel Bender Madsen and Ejnar Larsen's Metropolitan chair, Børge Mogensen's Spokeback Chair, and Finn Juhl’s Chieftain Chair.

CampusBooks.com is a free online textbook price comparison shopping service. The website sources information from multiple online booksellers and provides students with a selection of offers for buying, renting, and selling textbooks online.

References

  1. "Ventus internetbutik". ventus.dk. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  2. Karschnick, Ruben (2012-06-08). "Geschäftsmodell: Die Firma, die Studenten Bücher schenkt". Die Zeit. ISSN   0044-2070 . Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  3. Vorster, Gareth. "Free online book publisher finds success in SA" . Retrieved 2022-04-13.
  4. "BookBoon Offers Free Technical, Guide, & Textbooks". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  5. "BookboonGlobal – Business Solutions". bookboonglobal.com. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  6. "Metro – Nyheter du kommer att snacka om – Metro". www.metro.se. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  7. BBC Webscape: Bookboon E-Book-Publisher, 2011-10-11, retrieved 2016-09-06
  8. Bookboon.com (2016-08-05), Interview between Kristian Buus Madsen and Deutsche Welle TV , retrieved 2016-09-06
  9. Bookboon.com (2016-05-10), Bookboon+network | CNBC Africa interview , retrieved 2016-09-06