Digital Textbooks

Is It Time to Stop Using the Word 'Textbook'?

Matt Greenfield | Posted 05.07.2012

Read More: Textbooks, Textbooks Cost, Education Textbooks, E Publishing, E Publishing Textbooks, Digital Textbooks, Publishers Books Digital, Education News

Charging $162 for a textbook may or may not be morally acceptable, but I am pretty confident that it will soon cease to be commercially sustainable.

Read Post

The Promise of Education Technology (It's Not Just About Lighter Backpacks)

Joel I. Klein | Posted 04.04.2012

Read More: Joel Klein, Textbooks, Technology in Education, Education Technology, Arne Duncan, Julius Genachowski, Digital Textbooks, Education News

The Obama Administration's push for digital textbooks, while useful, represents only initial steps on the proverbial thousand mile journey.

Read Post

Obama Administration's Challenge To Schools: Embrace Digital Textbooks Within 5 Years

AP | By KIMBERLY HEFLING | Posted 02.01.2012

Read More: Education Technology, Ipad Textbooks, Playbook, Barack Obama, Digital Learning, Secretary of Education, Digital Education, Arne Duncan, Textbooks, Technology in Schools, Julius Genachowski, Digital Books, Digital Textbooks, Apple Education Event, Ipad, Ebooks, Video, Education News

WASHINGTON -- Are hardbound textbooks going the way of slide rules and typewriters in schools? Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Federal Communicat...

Read Whole Story

Utah Schools Start Adopting Open Source Textbooks

AP | Posted 01.30.2012

Read More: Digital Learning, Utah Open Source Textbooks, Open Source Textbooks, Utah State Office of Education, Digital Textbooks, Utah, Utah Schools, Larry Shumway, Education News

SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah classrooms may soon be making the switch to open-source online textbooks that can be cheaper and easier to update. The Utah St...

Read Whole Story

How Will We Read: Textbooks?

C. M. Rubin | Posted 03.12.2012

Read More: The Power of U, Online Textbooks, C. M. Rubin, Digital Learning, How Will We Read?, Online Education, The Future of Books, Ebooks, McGraw-Hill Education, Digital Textbooks, Ereaders, Children?S Textbooks, Vineet Madan, K-12 Education, Education, U.S. Schools, Books News

It isn't my imagination. My children's backpacks got heavier with the weight of those textbooks over the past few years. And I don't think the weight of student backpacks are just my concern. I heard a rumor that even tiger moms are advocating for lighter school backpacks.

Read Post

In The Public Interest: Recap of the National 'Rebellion' Against High Textbook Prices

Nicole Allen | Posted 12.19.2011

Read More: Textbooks, Slidepollajax, Textbook Rebellion, Open Textbooks, Open Educational Resources, Digital Textbooks, Edtech, College News

Here is what the Textbook Rebelltion is about: Outrageous $200 price tags, incessant new editions, unwanted supplements, and an industry dominated by a handful of publishers intent on gouging students.

Read Post

Ex-Apple Exec Wants To Make Textbooks Like Computers

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Gilbert | Posted 10.29.2011

Read More: Matt Mcinniss, Video, iPad Apps, Inkling, Inkling Ipad App, Digital Textbook Rentals, Inkling App, Digital Textbooks, Ebooks, Etextbooks, Technology News

Inkling, a digital textbook company started by ex-Apple education exec Matt MacInnis, wants to make textbooks more like computers. MacInnis told Hu...

Read Whole Story

Can This Startup Become The LinkedIn For College Students?

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Gilbert | Posted 10.18.2011

Read More: Online Textbooks, Social Startups, Chegg Digital Textbook, Used Textbooks, Chegg, Digital Textbook Rentals, Textbook Rentals, Digital Textbooks, Homework Helper, Etextbooks, Technology News

Chegg, the largest website for textbook rentals in the United States, is going digital. The textbook-disseminating giant has announced that digita...

Read Whole Story

How To Save Money On College Textbooks Online

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Gilbert | Posted 10.12.2011

Read More: Nook, Barnes & Noble, Coursesmart, Textbooks, Chegg, Digital Textbook Rentals, Bookrenter, Amazon Kindle, Kno, Textbook Rentals, Digital Textbooks, Etextbook Rentals, Amazon, Technology News

Textbooks are expensive. No one in college right now needs any data to back up this assertion, but here are some numbers that'll send you running f...

Read Whole Story

Are Textbooks Transitory?

Tom Vander Ark | Posted 10.03.2011

Read More: Textbooks, Digital Learning, E-Books, Desmos, Digital Textbooks, Education News

With the shift from print to digital and from information scarcity to abundance, there's no reason to be limited to a single instructional resource. That's why I'm a skeptic about digital textbooks.

Read Post

California Embraces Open Source Digital Textbooks

Edutopia | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Student Books, Opensource Textbooks, Textbooks, Colleges, Opensource Books, Text, Book, Digital Textbooks, Students, College Book, Books News

California schools have cracked the spine on open source, free digital textbooks in an attempt to save money and to make educational resources easier ...

Read Whole Story

Why Do Students Still Cling To Paper Textbooks?

nytimes.com | LISA W. FODERARO | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Nook, Ereaders, Amazon.com Kindle, Ereader, E-Books, Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, Electronic Textbooks, Kindle, Textbooks, E-Reader, Ebook, E-Book, Digital Textbooks, Ebooks, Etextbooks, Books News

"The screen won't go blank," said Faton Begolli, a sophomore from Boston. "There can't be a virus. It wouldn't be the same without books. They've defi...

Read Whole Story

Academic Publishers In UK See strong growth from e-book sales

thebookseller.com | CAtherine Neilan | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: UK, Academic Publishers, UK Publishers, Textbooks, Book Publishing, Books, Ebooks, Britain, Digital Textbooks, Books News

Nearly 90% of commmercial academic publishers have seen growth in e-book sales over the past two years, according to a cross-sector survey released to...

Read Whole Story

Textbooks On Kindle: Students' Response Is Lukewarm

AP | JESSICA MINTZ | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: College Students, Ereaders, Texbooks, College, Kindle, Books, Kindle DX, Amazon Kindle, Digital Textbooks, Reading, Ebooks, Books News

SEATTLE — It's an experiment that has made back-to-school a little easier on the back: Amazon.com gave more than 200 hundred college students its Kindle e-reading device this fall, loaded with digital versions of their textbooks.

But some students are finding they miss the decidedly low-tech conveniences of paper – highlighting, flagging pages with sticky notes and scribbling in the margins.

"I like the aspect of writing something down on paper and having it be so easy and just kind of writing whatever comes to my mind," says Claire Becerra, a freshman at Arizona State University.

Becerra tried typing notes on the Kindle's small keyboard, but when she went back to reread them she found they were laden with typos and didn't make sense. After a month, she says she takes far fewer notes and relies on the Kindle's highlighter tool instead.

Amazon wants to adapt the Kindle to academia, where it could reduce the notoriously high cost of textbooks. The Kindle DX, with a larger screen than the regular model, costs $489, but digital books can cost less than half what physical ones do.

Read Whole Story

Digital Textbooks, Real Gains for Education

Lisa Petrides | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: K-12 Education, Education, California, Open Source Education, Open Education, Free Textbooks, Disruptive Technology, Open Source, Textbooks, Innovation, Open Education Resources, Teachers, Students, Digital Textbooks, Open Education Movement, Iskme, Oer, Politics News

Governor Schwarzenegger has a plan to make California the first state in the nation to provide its schools with free digital textbooks.

Read Post