E-Textbooks Transforming Publishing Industry
Textbook of the future? The enTourage eDGe e-book is displayed at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center January 7, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
With the economy in flux, going digital would save school systems millions of dollars, which could be used for programs that would be or already have been cut.
Promoting e-textbooks, Open Education said on its Web site that, “As the digital age continues to work its way into the stuffy world of academics, there are clear indications that textbooks are gradually being phased out in many areas of the country.”
A recent survey of educators by the California Learning Resource Network (CLN) found that more than half of school administrators believe that going digital will save the school system money that could be used otherwise. About 84 percent agree that e-textbooks would result in more up-to-date educational material and the majority asked CLN to undertake a study of e-textbook costs versus benefits.
A CompassLearning survey of educators, published this month, discovered that 65 percent expect e-textbooks to replace print textbooks in the very near future. But less than 20 percent thought that their school district could handle going digital at this time.
California an Early Player
The e-textbook initiative started in earnest with Arnold Schwarzenegger, California’s governor, buying into the program in 2009. The initiative calls for California’s schools to go digital with textbooks.
“This first-in-the-nation initiative will reduce education costs. ... This initiative has the potential to save California’s schools millions of dollars,” Governor Schwarzenegger said in a 2009 press release.
California’s school system spent $350 million for schoolbooks and associated teaching materials, with one book costing between $75 and $100. The savings for just science and math class books are estimated to be