<p>So I was in the process of buying books for my classes.</p>
<p>But WT* is portal access? I’ve never used that before, nor do I see the need for it. </p>
<p>There’s a package in the bookstore that’s really cheap and comes w/ the book, the solutions manual, and portal access. But buying the book and solutions manual seperately is a better deal.</p>
<p>So what is it? Do I really need it? Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>In the context of buying textbooks, it’s access to a website the publisher has made for students using the books, and it’s becoming a big seller to the people deciding which textbooks to assign.</p>
<p>I was all excited when my books started coming with these things, but I’ve been disappointed. I’ve gotten quizzes for self-review, which can be useful, and things explained in multimedia. I suspect that it’s the multimedia stuff that is the real selling point for professors: with increasing pressure to find ways to adapt to students with learning styles that aren’t accommodated by the traditional forms of university teaching, they like the idea that the book will bring ways to engage with those students.</p>
<p>I, however, learn best from reading, and so a lot of the “extras” don’t offer me any kind of extra value.</p>
<p>Look up the book on the publisher’s site and see whether you can pay for access to all the extras. Usually you will be able to, because professors are going to want students with used textbooks to have access to all this stuff. Then consider the possibility that you will want to buy this access after you get the book. Is the gamble worth it? If it were me, I’d take the gamble and get the cheaper deal. It’s unlikely that I would want the portal access. You are probably more likely to want the access than I am – but how much more likely?</p>
<p>If you’re not going to get it, make sure the portal is not going to be part of the grade. I had one class where homework was submitted online through portal.</p>