E-Textbooks

With the cost of textbooks soaring, many colleges and universities are looking to alternatives to the traditional paper text. The electronic textbook field is still emerging, and higher education is experimenting with the concept in various modes. Explore this resource site—a collection of all EDUCAUSE resources related to E-Textbooks.

EDUCAUSE and Internet2 E-Text Pilots

EDUCAUSE and Internet2 are implementing a series of e-text pilot efforts with colleges and universities to evaluate technologies and business models in the fast evolving migration from traditional textbooks to electronic content. Learn More >

E-Texts Constituent Group

Intended for general discussion in addition to news about the pilot, the E-Texts Constituent Group discusses the rapidly evolving domain of digital textbooks, multimedia supplements, tutorial websites, e-reader/annotation software, and related materials. Learn More >

New Resources

7 Things You Should Know About the Evolution of the Textbook, ELI 7 Things, April 2012. This resource examines a new breed of rich-media publishing tools that offer an evolving set of opportunities both for the creation process and for the kinds of resources that can be produced.
Developing a Digital Textbook Strategy for Your Campus, Florida Distance Learning Consortium, February 2012. This one-day symposium examined institution and state level digital textbook initiatives, including national trends and prevailing models for both publisher digital textbooks and open textbooks.
eTexts: A Perishable Opportunity for Higher Education?, EDUCAUSE Live!, January 24, 2012 - This EDUCAUSE Live! program addressd the strategic, business, and policy implications for institutions in light of a changing world of consumer electronics and new models for digital educational resources such as eTexts, website tutorials, and other licensed content.

Articles, Papers, and Reports

A Study of Four Textbook Distribution Models, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, December 2011. In preparation for campus-wide e-text adoption, Daytona State College completed a two-year comparative study of four textbook distribution models: print purchase, print rental, e-text rental, and e-text rental with e-reader device.
Digital Texts and the Future of Education: Why Books?, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, March 2011. Abilene Christian University and GYLO partnered to investigate student attitudes and perceptions of the impact of using a mobile device as a supplemental tool for teaching statistics.
7 Things You Should Know About Open Textbook Publishing, ELI 7 Things, March 2011. Open textbooks can be offered by commercial publishers or found in open repositories. Open resources can promote active learning through student interaction with the text, particularly when they contribute to authorship.
A Cover to Cover Solution: How Open Textbooks are the Path to Textbook Affordability, Student PIRGs, September 2010. This report evaluates cost-reducing options from the traditional textbook market—rentals, e-books and e-readers—and open textbooks as potential next steps to reduce the high cost of textbooks.
E-Textbooks: “An Interesting Ride”, EDUCAUSE Review, March/April 2010. An interview conducted at the EDUCAUSE 2009 Annual Conference about the use of digital textbooks in higher education.
E-Books in Higher Education: Are We There Yet?, ECAR Research Bulletin, January 2010. This ECAR research bulletin presents an update to the rapidly changing e-book and e-textbook landscape and provides some higher education stakeholders with a clearer view of the road ahead.
A Campus-Wide E-Textbook Initiative, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, July 2009. This article focuses on the process that Northwest Missouri State University followed in studying the feasibility of transitioning from the rental of traditional textbooks to the rental of e-textbooks, along with the extensive integration of e-textbooks across the university’s academic environment.

Presentations, Podcasts, Seminars, and Videos

Got Open Textbook? ELI Online Fall Focus Session, September 2011. This session speaker discusses resource discovery, implementation issues, and the pros and cons of using open-source materials and concludes with some recommendations applicable for any stage of open-source resource adoption.
Textbook Affordability: Emerging Solutions in Ohio, ELI Web Seminar, March 2011. This webinar discusses why textbook costs have skyrocketed; how textbook costs impact students, faculty, and institutions; and current initiatives by the University System of Ohio to address textbook affordability and learning outcomes.
Digital Content in Higher Education—Practical Findings, ELI Web Seminar, March 2011. This webinar provides an overview of the digital textbook landscape as it currently exists and a glimpse into the emerging trends that will shape higher education digital content in the near future.

EDUCAUSE Staff Picks

7 Things You Should Know About the Evolution of the Textbook, ELI 7 Things, April 2012. This resource examines a new breed of rich-media publishing tools that offer an evolving set of opportunities both for the creation process and for the kinds of resources that can be produced.
eTexts: A Perishable Opportunity for Higher Education?, EDUCAUSE Live!, January 24, 2012 - This EDUCAUSE Live! program addressd the strategic, business, and policy implications for institutions in light of a changing world of consumer electronics and new models for digital educational resources such as eTexts, website tutorials, and other licensed content.
A Study of Four Textbook Distribution Models, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, December 2011. In preparation for campus-wide e-text adoption, Daytona State College completed a two-year comparative study of four textbook distribution models: print purchase, print rental, e-text rental, and e-text rental with e-reader device.
7 Things You Should Know About Open Textbook Publishing, ELI 7 Things, March 2011. Open textbooks can be offered by commercial publishers or found in open repositories. Open resources can promote active learning through student interaction with the text, particularly when they contribute to authorship.

Library Items on this Topic

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EDUCAUSE Library Items for E-Textbooks

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Chapter 6: Why Openness in Education?: May 2, 2012

A chapter from Game Changers David Wiley and Cable Green This chapter is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License In this chapter, we explore …
Policy Guidelines for the Development and Promotion of Open Access: April 9, 2012

This UNESCO publication seeks to serve the needs of Open Access (OA) policy development at the government, institutional and funding agency level. The overall objective of the Policy Guide…
Dramatically Bringing Down the Cost of Education with OER: How Open Education Resources Unlock the Door to Free Learning: February 7, 2012

This issue brief from the Center for American Progress and EDUCAUSE seeks to provide a substantive understanding of OER and at the same time inform the emerging public debate over their use in p…
Open Wikis and the Protection of Institutional Welfare: February 7, 2012

Much has been written about wikis’ reliability and use in the classroom. This research bulletin addresses the negative impacts on institutional welfare that can arise from participating in a…
Openness, Learning Analytics, and Continuous Quality Improvement: February 15, 2011 | A session at the ELI Annual Meeting 2011
The primary purpose of educators is to help people improve in some way. In a deep and overarching way, the second purpose of educators should be to improve our ability to educate. "Openness&qu…
Access to Knowledge as a Foundation for an Open World: August 5, 2010

© 2010 Carolina Rossini. The text of this article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ ). EDUCAUSE Review , vol. 45, n…
“Info-Communism:” A Progressive Path Forward or a Political and Intellectual Dead End?: January 26, 2010

In the last decade, an intellectual and political movement has emerged both here in the United States and Europe to challenge exclusive property rights over informational goods and promote the co…
Defining “Noncommercial”: A Study of How the Online Population Understands “Noncommercial Use”: September 18, 2009

This report details the results of a research study launched in September 2008 to explore differences between commercial and noncommercial uses of content found online, as those uses are understo…
EDUCAUSE Now - Show #11 - Science Commons, EDUPUNK, How to Get Faculty to Do What You Want!: January 15, 2009

Welcome to 2009 and a new year of EDUCAUSE Now! Join host Gerry Bayne and Colleen Luckett for a look at making research more streamlined with the open sharing of knowledge. Listen to a lively deb…
An Interview with Joel Greenberg: December 18, 2006

In the attached 16 minute recording, we'll hear from Open University's Director of Strategic Development, Joel Greenberg . Listen in as he discusses a range of topics including, am…

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