In this article, we offer up some tips to help you find and order textbooks for your online schooling curriculum. Whether you have enrolled in the International British, Cambridge or South African CAPS curriculum, this article will help navigate your textbook purchase, no matter where you are in the world.
Books, whether in hard copy or electronic format, are part and parcel of most approaches to meaningful academic endeavour.
The reason is simple: Books, particularly textbooks, offer the author or editor an opportunity to curate the book’s contents in such a way that from start to finish it constitutes a meaningful whole. Because multiple eyes see the content long before it is published, there are many opportunities to ensure that the words used, and thoughts conveyed, are accurate and true.
Getting your hands on the right textbook, at the right time, can feel like a bit of an uphill battle. So here is our advice on how to order textbooks for your online schooling curriculum.
Printed vs. digital textbooks
Firstly, you should decide whether you would prefer printed or electronic textbooks. Whilst many parents still opt for printed textbooks to support their online curriculum, the digital counterparts are somewhat easier to acquire and may be more affordable than the printed versions. Both printed and digital textbooks are perfectly suited to support your CambriLearn schooling curriculum of choice.
How to order printed textbooks
Step 1: Head over to the CambriLearn website textbook page and select the correct Stage or Grade according to your curriculum of choice. In the list of textbooks that appear, the prescribed titles are grouped by subject.
Step 2: Pay careful attention to the 13-digit ISBN number. Every separate edition of a book that is published, worldwide, is assigned an ISBN number. It’s like a book ID. Any two books with the same ISBN number will be identical.
Please note that even if two books appear to be the same, with the same title and authors listed, if they have different ISBN numbers, they may be VERY different. In general, in cases like this, the content may be similar, but pages and layout are bound to have been changed. This makes following prescribed activities tied to particular sections or page numbers more difficult.
Step 3: The next step is to contact a reputable bookseller and provide them with the list of textbooks you require (make sure to include the relevant ISBN numbers and your delivery address). The supplier will then prompt you for payment. We recommend requesting an estimated delivery date to help manage expectations.
CambriLearn has partnered with Bala Kudu as our preferred printed textbook supplier to ensure the availability of textbooks at affordable prices. CambriLearn students can visit Bala Kudu’s online store and use the discount code BKCL@2021 to receive a 7.5% discount on their purchase.
Step 4: Is to wait. Depending on local stock levels, this last step can require a bit of patience. As many international curriculum textbooks are published in Europe, books are often couriered by sea freight and this can add delays to estimated delivery times. A customs glitch or a worldwide pandemic can compound the delays. We recommend ordering your textbooks well in advance of your intended start date.
How to order digital textbooks
For those who choose e-books over printed material, Steps 1 and 2 are the same, please refer to Steps 1 and 2 above when ordering digital textbooks.
Step 3: Select your e-book supplier of choice and navigate to their online store to purchase your digital textbooks. All digital textbooks must be purchased from the publisher directly, or via an e-book reading platform or app. Traditional booksellers are often precluded from selling e-books via their regular sales portal. We recommend any one of the following e-book providers to purchase your digital textbooks:
Step 4: Select one of the above-listed suppliers and browse their online shop for your required textbooks. Once you have completed your online purchase and made the payment, the digital textbook will then be loaded onto your e-book reading platform or sent in the form of a digital download or emailed link.
As a CambriLearn student, we are available to support your online learning journey. Should you have any questions or require any help purchasing your printed or digital textbooks, please contact our support team via email - hello@cambrilearn.com.
