Miami UBooks - Student Instructions

What is it?

Miami University has launched “Miami UBooks” which is a digital platform for electronic textbooks and course materials at substantial discounts of up to 85% off the retail cost of a printed textbook. Miami UBooks will be offered in designated Miami courses, and these materials may include electronic textbooks as well as online homework tools, simulations, and open educational resources.  These materials are available to students on the first day of class through the student’s Canvas course site.

Printed textbook and/or course materials that are not available through the Miami UBook program can be ordered through e-Campus bookstore.

How does Miami UBooks support learning?

If you are in a class that uses a Miami UBook, you will be able to access it in that course’s Canvas site, and you will also be able to annotate the course materials, highlighting and adding comments to important text.

Students can interact with the texts across multiple devices – laptops, tablets, and smartphones – both on and off-line. All students have access to the course materials on the first day of class.

With a Miami UBook, students are able to:

  • View the instructor’s notes and highlights
  • Highlight, tag, search, and annotate text
  • Print pages and chapters directly
  • Collaborate with study groups.

How do I get started?

You will find a link to Miami UBooks in the Canvas site for the designated course.  The Miami UBooks tab will be on the left hand navigation on the Canvas course site.  Canvas is your Learning Management System (the system you log in to for things like turning in assignments and keeping track of your grades). Click the Miami UBooks tab, and you will be taken to a page stating “Launch Unizin Engage.”  Click on that purple button to launch the platform.  You will see a list of your courses and the materials that are available for each course. Just click the material you want to open and start reading.

What can I do when I am reading?

When you open a textbook or other reading material, most of your tools appear in the toolbar at the top of the screen.

Student instructions for Miami ubooks.

You can also:

  • Click the arrows on the right and left sides of the page to turn the page.
  • Click and drag over text to highlight it.
  • Click a highlight to change the color, add a note, or add tags.

How do I get back to my notes later?

You can always click the highlight in the text to see the note that you wrote on it, but you can also see all of the notes for the book in one place. Click the View all notes option on the ... menu to see all the notes for that material. The Notes screen allows you to see your own notes, your instructor's notes, and your classmates' notes, if they shared them with you. You can also filter notes based on the tags and print or export the notes.

Can my instructor see what I am doing?

Your instructor cannot watch you real-time, but your instructor can get a report to see whether you have read your homework. Your instructor can also see your notes, depending on how you set the sharing permissions. Click the ... menu on a course material to set the sharing permissions. Keep in mind that your instructor can still see any notes where you click the "Would you like to post this as a question?" box, even if you set the sharing permissions to not allow instructor access to your notes.

Can I read my homework when I do not have internet access? Or on my mobile device?

You can download your reading materials to read on your computer when you are offline. See Offline Access to read more about how offline functionality works.

You can also install an app on your mobile device to read your content. See Using the Mobile App to read more about the mobile reader app.

In both cases, you get started by:

  1. Going to the home screen where you see all your courses.
  2. Clicking the blue circle with your initials in the upper right-hand corner.
  3. Click the Applications button

What do I do if I need help with Miami UBooks?

There are a number of user guides available below and via the left hand navigation.

  • Reading eTexts
  • Taking Notes
  • Markup Quick Reference
  • Bookmarking Pages
  • Collaborating with Others
  • Printing Materials
  • Navigating Engage
  • Using the Mobile App
  • Offline Access
  • Troubleshooting Guide