Electronic Textbooks
E-books are being widely adopted as alternatives to traditional textbooks. Here you'll find articles detailing new developments in the area of e-book and e-textbook technologies, along with stories about institutions adopting them.
In 2020-2021, the majority of college students (58 percent) used digital course materials more than in the previous year, according to a survey from the National Association of College Stores.
Campus bookstores have a critical role to play in open educational resource efforts, according to a recent report from the Driving OER Sustainability for Student Success Collaborative. Yet there is room for improvement in the way stores list and fulfill learning materials and make OER options available to students.
Textbook publisher FlatWorld has introduced new capabilities for its homework and online reader platforms as well as 11 new and recently revised titles in its course materials catalog.
OpenStax, Rice University's open educational resources initiative, is reviewing and updating images, examples and other materials in its textbooks to improve diversity and representation.
In higher education, faculty awareness of open educational resources — course materials that are freely available for use, reuse, adaptation and sharing — has grown for the fifth straight year, according to a study by Bay View Analytics.
California's National University, a nonprofit institution serving adult learners, educators and veterans, is ramping up its textbook affordability initiative to offer students better pricing as well as expanded purchasing choices for course materials.
A recent student survey on the use of open educational resources at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County garnered positive responses from the majority of respondents, who reported engaging with the low- or zero-cost digital course materials and homework tools.
Rice University's OpenStax has added additional titles from its line of open education resources to its tutoring application, along with new functionality.
California's Saddleback College is up to 15 zero textbook cost (ZTC) pathways. These are full degree or certificate programs that have no textbook-related costs or fees for online materials, though some classes may require students to buy essentials, such as safety goggles or calculators.
A community college in Massachusetts reported that it has doubled the use of free or open educational resources over the last year. Seventy-four courses at Massachusetts Bay Community College have adopted OER as way to make classes more affordable.
