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

View All

EDUCAUSE Library Items for E-Textbooks

Showing 31 - 40 of 105 Results

Sort by:

Relevancy | Title | Date

Expert Discussion Session: Evolving Models for E-Texts: February 14, 2012
In this session, we'll briefly describe Indiana University's e-text agreements with five publishers and with Courseload, the provider of the e-text e-reader software. These agreements are…
The Math that Matters behind Math and Science (E-)Textbooks: March 14, 2012 | A session at the NERCOMP Annual Conference 2012
Converting a math-intensive textbook to an e-book can be tricky and time-consuming, especially if it's a collaborative book. Simply moving the paper content to an e-book leads to "shovelw…
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…
Highlights of the 2011 ECAR Symposium: IT as a Game Changer: September 21, 2011

This ECAR research bulletin presents highlights from the 2011 ECAR Symposium, held July 28–29 in Chicago, Illinois. In addition to a synthesis of keynote talks by Doug Lynch, University of Pen…
The Digital Revolution and Higher Education: College Presidents, Public Differ on Value of Online Learning: August 28, 2011

This report, written by Kim Parker, Amanda Lenhart and Kathleen Moore, is based on findings from a pair of Pew Research Center surveys conducted in spring 2011. Below is a list of topics discu…
Got Open Textbook?: September 15, 2011 | A session at the ELI 2011 Online Fall Focus Session
This session will focus on my journey of finding, adopting, and using open-source educational resources in physics and astronomy classes over the past three years. Enrollment in classes is up, st…
Dispelling Myths about OER/Open Textbooks: September 14, 2011 | A session at the ELI 2011 Online Fall Focus Session
Myths about open textbooks rival those of ancient heroes. Learn the truth behind these misconceptions. This presentation will dispel four myths and touch on several others. OER myth: Demand is hi…
And the Text Keeps Evolving: September 14, 2011 | A session at the ELI 2011 Online Fall Focus Session
This session will describe the evolution of Collaborative Statistics from hard-copy text, to a Web 1.0 version, to its recent Web 2.0 mode. The speaker will include various enhancements and suppl…
Mobile Computing 5-Day Sprint—Summary: June 3, 2011

This EDUCAUSE brief summarizes the main themes from the EDUCAUSE Mobile Computing 5-Day Sprint, held April 25–29, 2011. This learning experience brought together presenters and hundreds of part…
How Integration Can Make Things Easy: The Implementation of the Blackboard/McGraw-Hill Textbook Tool: October 19, 2011 | A session at the EDUCAUSE 2011 Annual Conference
Twenty universities embarked on a semester-long pilot this year to test the integration of McGraw-Hill's Connect system into Blackboard Learn. This session will discuss the impact that seamles…

Main Nav

Publications

Research

Major Conferences

Online Events

Special Topic Events

Events for all Levels and Interests

Career Center

Leadership and Management Programs

Fellowships and Awards

Getting Involved

Jump Start Your Career Growth

Latest Topics

EDUCAUSE organizes its efforts around three IT Focus Areas

Join These Programs If Your Focus Is

From the Blogs

Find Others

Share Ideas

Get on the Higher Ed IT Map

2013 Strategic Priorities

Membership

Who We Are

Stay Informed

Uncommon Thinking for the Common Good™

< EDUCAUSE Library

Subscribe

Browse this Topic

Expand Topic...

Your Selections Under:

Related Topics

Filter by type

Filter by Publications

Filter by Presentations

Filter by Library Taxonomy