an excessive amount of intricate detail that may only interest a specific audience . please help by spinning off or relocating any relevant information and removing excessive detail that may be against wikipedia s inclusion policy . july 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message flat world knowledge type private industry education founded 2007 headquarters washington d.c. united states area served global key people christopher etesse ceo ; james rianhard president products textbooks website flat world knowledge flat world knowledge is a publisher of college level textbooks and educational supplements 1 founded in 2007 by eric frank and jeff shelstad . 2 its company headquarters are in washington dc . the company originally offered every textbook published for free using online delivery under the open content paradigm 3 4 but in november 2012 the company announced that it will no longer offer a free version citing financial concerns as the reason for the change . 5 educator teaching supplements and materials consistent with industry norms are available at no charge . 6 7 contents 1 company history 1.1 2007 1.2 2008 1.3 2009 1.4 2010 1.5 2011 1.6 2012 1.7 investments 1.8 international 1.9 recognition 2 accessibility and regulatory issues 2.1 accessibility 2.2 price disclosure and edition availability 3 sustainability 4 formats 4.1 free 4.2 paid 5 derivative works 6 compatible devices 7 content management systems 8 open licensed textbook permissions 8.1 non commercial use 8.2 commercial use 9 see also 10 references 11 external links company history edit 2007 edit flat world knowledge was founded in 2007 by jeff shelstad and eric frank in nyack new york . 8 2008 edit flat world knowledge began alpha testing of their platform and business model spring of 2008 . 9 two alpha phases involved faculty and one alpha phase involved students . the company then moved to small scale private beta testing in 27 classes . 10 based on results from these studies the business model was determined viable and the company moved toward preparing for a public beta launch in january 2009 . 11 2009 edit during spring of 2009 30 colleges adopted flat world open textbooks in public beta bringing the company their first 1 000 users . eight textbooks were published at the time . 12 by august 2009 flat world textbooks had been adopted at 400 colleges for use by 40 000 students . 13 14 flat world knowledge and lyryx learning inc team up to offer free and open textbooks with integrated assessment . 15 the company also published a graphic novel atlas black managing to succeed in august . 2010 edit flat world knowledge moved from nyack new york to irvington new york to accommodate company growth . 16 cerritos college selected flat world knowledge as their partner for an open textbook initiative implemented in the school s business administration department . cerritos college evaluated the program and determined it a tremendous success according to a 2010 article published in community college week . 17 specific items evaluated and commented on are positive feedback from faculty and students on textbook content quality and price course retention rate of 90.2 % after implementation 10.0 % to 15.0 % no price barrier to course material access accessible format availability improved grade point average flat world knowledge entered into a unique licensing agreement with virginia state university in 2010 . for eight core business courses students gained access to all electronic formats of select textbooks including study aids . unlike traditional licensing models students retain access to course materials and study aids indefinitely through their flat world student account . audio textbook versions and epub files similarly do not expire . the price for this universal digital access license is cited as 20 per student by the richmond times dispatch . 18 the virginia state university program is featured in the bized article digital at the core . virginia state university is using the agreement as part of a university effort to save money save the environment improve student retention and prepare business graduates for the complex working world . 19 as of august 2010 the number of colleges and universities using flat world open textbooks doubled to 800 higher education institutions . student users more than tripled with 150 000 students using 24 published titles . during fall semester 2010 50 additional titles were announced as in the publication pipeline . 20 2010 also marked crossing the threshold of having 100 authors signed to write open textbooks for publication by flat world knowledge . 21 flat world knowledge claimed that in its second full academic year of operation they would save 22 150 000 college students 12 million in textbook costs in the 2010 2011 school year after adoptions by more than 1 300 educators as of august 2010 . 23 in december 2010 outsell inc. named flat world knowledge as one of 30 to watch for 2011 among innovators and disruptors who were selected for shaking up their respective marketplaces . 24 25 2011 edit early in 2011 a series b round of venture capital funding was completed successfully . funding sources included significant venture capital firms and funding from the world s largest publisher of trade books random house . in march 2011 the university system of ohio announced the system will be providing 1 000 students free access to flat world electronic format textbooks and study aids as part of a research project focused on student learning . flat world knowledge open textbooks are already in use at multiple system institutions . research results from this program are intended to assist the system in driving textbook costs down and making college more affordable . these goals are part of the university system of ohio s 10 year strategic plan for higher education . a site licensing agreement with the university system will facilitate student access to the full breadth of course materials available for titles selected for the program . 26 27 28 the partnership was renewed and expanded after demonstrating the program made textbooks more affordable and enhance d access and learning outcomes for college students . 29 flat world knowledge reported adoptions at over 2 000 colleges and universities for use by over 300 000 students in august 2011 . nine site licensing agreements were reported as of fall semester including an expansion to 3 000 seats at virginia state university and an initial 1 000 seats at university system of ohio campuses . virginia state university reported early positive impacts for course retention rates and academic performance in classes using the seat license model during the 2010 2011 academic year . the company reported forming a new division focused on marketing site license agreements . 30 31 the indiana university system released a report summarizing two years of research studying e text use in the university system . studied were 22 courses with approximately 1 800 students . evaluated was how students chose to use their e textbooks how they felt about them and what the impact they had on learning . 32 some students studied used titles from flat world knowledge which have been broadly available in the system since 2010 . 33 general study findings were 87 % of students abandoned paper and chose to read their books on a digital device mostly laptops most students preferred e texts to paper 60 % average range 84 36 % highest preference was where instructors used the book ; low approval ratings 36 % noted where instructors did not use the book for readings or assignments preferences for e textbooks increased 11 % the second semester a student used an e text students ranked ability of instructors to annotate text as most important reason to select e text 84 % found annotations helpful improved sustainability of e texts was the second most important reason to select the format cost was the third most important reason in september 2011 indiana university announced a system wide agreement with flat world knowledge and three additional publishers making e texts available at all campuses for the spring 2012 semester . 34 a site license agreement similar to the model first implemented at virginia state university is being used . 35 2012 edit mit announced a partnership with flat world knowledge for three mit opencourseware offerings . 36 the university of minnesota created the open academics textbook catalog 37 the first of its kind at a major research institution . 38 a significant number of flat world titles in published subjects have been admitted to the catalog . the university system of ohio extended and expanded their agreement with flat world after an initial study period making the entire flat world catalog available under a seat license agreement throughout the ohio higher education system . 29 university of windsor windsor ontario canada entered into a site licensing agreement with flat world knowledge as part of a pilot program studying etextbooks for the 2012 2013 academic year . the agreement represents the first of its kind in canada and has a stated aim of lowering costs while increasing textbook access . 39 flat world knowledge announced that it will no longer provide free access to their textbook content citing financial concerns as the reason for this change . 5 lyryx learning inc ceases its affiliation with flat world knowledge and becomes a full publisher of its own developing open content . investments edit flat world knowledge secured 11.5 million in investments through 2010 including an initial 700k angel investment . 40 41 42 43 in january 2011 15 million in series b funding led by bertelsmann digital media investments bdmi a wholly owned subsidiary of bertelsmann ag and bessemer venture partners was announced . returning investors for series b funding include valhalla partners gsa venture partners formerly greenhill savp 44 primary venture partners and several angel investors . 45 46 47 random house announced an investment in flat world knowledge in april 2011 . 48 random house is the world s largest publisher of commercial trade books . random house chairman and ceo markus dohle states flat world knowledge is a transformative company in higher education publishing and said we at random house share a strong drive to make high quality academically oriented content widely available and affordable for students and educators and we welcome the opportunity to invest in flat world s growth . 49 international edit a canadian representation agreement was announced in march 2011 with northrose associates of whitby ontario canada . the canadian higher education system faces challenges similar to u.s. higher education providers from the ever escalating costs of traditional college textbooks . open textbooks from flat world knowledge will be actively marketed by the firm to educators and higher education administrators across canada . 50 51 in addition to use in canada worldwide learners are accessing flat world knowledge textbooks regularly . adoptions have been reported in 44 countries . the company actively promotes use of their free and open textbook delivery platform to advance education internationally . 52 the most frequent international access originates in india china the philippines indonesia malaysia egypt pakistan bangladesh romania australia the united kingdom and germany . international usage is growing rapidly . in march 2011 alone traffic increased enough in four countries to be added to the cited alexa internet traffic ranking report . 53 the make it your own miyo feature of the company s publishing platform allows for customization and annotation of published titles in english and other languages . 54 recognition edit the company was featured in chris anderson s free the future of a radical price in 2008 . 55 in 2009 bnet recognized flat world knowledge as an industry innovator for introducing an abundance based disruptive business model 56 to the college textbook industry . 57 that same year flat world knowledge and bookshare were jointly recognized as publishing industry innovators of 2009 . 58 flat