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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Ultra-Affordable Online Courses and the Transformation of Higher Education: January 23, 2013

Brian Voss and Burck Smith will explore higher education's changing landscape and what it means for our IT community. Join us for a discussion spanning traditional institutions, entrepre…
Goldilocks and the 13 Open Repositories (Finding the “Just Right” One): November 7, 2011

Join Malcolm Brown, EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative director, and Veronica Diaz, ELI associate director, as they moderate this webinar with Jacky Hood. Repositories of open educational resources …
Openness: Decoupling the Future to Radically Improve Access to Education: October 10, 2011

The costs of higher education are soaring for a variety of reasons. A significant factor that will continue to drive costs over the next two decades is that the number of students trying to ente…
How Digital Content + Open Licenses + Open Policies = Sustainable Educational Resources for All: September 12, 2011

Cable Green, Director of Global Learning @ Creative Commons, will discuss how, if we are smart, we will use today's technical and legal tools to build and share high quality, affordable edu…
Feedback Loops, Analytics, and Open Educational Resources: The Innovative Braid of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching: June 6, 2011

Carnegie is developing an innovative one-year Statistics Pathway (Statway) focused on statistics, data analysis, and quantitative reasoning for community college students. These mathematics …
Reporting on the Findings of the Florida Student Textbook Survey: May 16, 2011

It’s clear that the high cost of textbooks has become a burden for students, with significant implications for student learning, success, and finances. Multiple solutions are being proposed for…
DataSpace: A Funding and Operational Model for Long-Term Preservation and Sharing of Research Data: September 1, 2010

At the May 5 meeting of the National Research Board, the NSF announced that, as of October 2010, it will require that all grant proposals include a data management plan. This announcement represe…
Horizon Report 2010: Projects in E-Books, Open Content, Mobile Learning, and Augmented Reality: July 12, 2010

This web seminar includes speakers representing six projects featured in the latest Horizon Report . In this special one-and-a-half hour ELI webinar, you’ll be taken on a tour of their work …
The Horizon Report in Action: Emerging Technologies Today and Tomorrow: April 9, 2010

While it is difficult to predict the future, it is essential to plan for it. The Horizon Report is an established planning resource, designed to catalyze discussions around emerging and arriving …
The Convergence of Lecture Capture and Social Media: January 26, 2010

In this EDUCAUSE Live! we will discuss how the formerly separate domains of lecture capture technologies and the emerging options for publicly sharing lectures on Web 2.0 consumer platforms are d…