BOURNEMOUTH-based Kortext, the digital textbook platform, is working with Microsoft to give students and universities easy access to thousands of textbooks anytime, anywhere and on any device.

The partnership agreement will see Kortext integrate its digital textbook software into the Microsoft Office 365 cloud-based platform, now used by more than 100 universities in the UK and thousands more globally.

By adding more than 200,000 education titles to Office 365, including the key front list textbooks from all major publishers such as Pearson, Cengage and Wiley, Kortext and Microsoft say that they are able to offer "an affordable and extensive selection of digital learning materials to universities worldwide".

The platform integrates the content with detailed student engagement analytics to deliver what universities need to better support student learning outcomes.

Kortext is also producing a new app for the Universal Windows 10 Platform, which will contain a number of unique features to aid students in their learning as they access their key textbooks through the platform.

David Langridge, education senior director at Microsoft, said: “We are delighted to work with Kortext, as they represent a key strategic partner for us as more and more universities adopt their learning platform, and want to see the key textbooks that Kortext delivers tightly integrated into their learning ecosystem.

"As we continue to roll out Office 365 to the worldwide education market, having Kortext as a content partner allows us to provide future-proofed solutions that can deliver today, as well as tomorrow.”

James Gray, CEO of Kortext, added: “I am delighted that Microsoft has chosen to partner with Kortext as it very much validates our technology and solutions, as we continue to develop our platform for the modern learning environment.

"Partnering with Microsoft means that we can accelerate our global reach as the Microsoft Office 365 platform has over 15 million UK education users and over 200 million education users worldwide.

"By integrating Kortext with Office 365 we can give users unparalleled access to the content they require and provide an enhanced user experience.”

Marc Wells, deputy director of the education technology unit at Imperial College Business School, said: “We have been delighted with our partnership with Kortext who have delivered digital textbooks to our students for the last two years and who, in our opinion, continue to innovate ahead of any other provider in the market.

"We look forward to our faculty and students, who are big users of Microsoft Office 365 and Kortext, benefitting from this new partnership.”