From eSchool News: In a move that could be considered encouraging for advocates of digital learning, leaders from the Education Department (ED), the Federal Communications Commission(FCC), and the textbook and broadband industry met March 29 on Capitol Hill to discuss how companies can better serve schools and districts with digital textbooks. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the meeting was a follow-up to a challenge issued by the two agencies last month to state and industry leaders to drive national adoption of digital textbooks in the next five years. (See “Feds’ challenge to schools: Embrace digital textbooks.”) “That’s why we called this meeting, to bring together...

From the website; In recent weeks, industry news and announcements have sparked further discussion about the digital evolution of course materials.   Follett understands that schools across the country need practical information to navigate the challenges of implementing a digital course material strategy. To help you make sense of the transition, we’ve assembled our experts to explain where digital course materials will likely gain traction first; our philosophy about the two ways digital will evolve; and Follett’s predictions for the near and long-term future of digital learning.  Our opinions are based on more than...

From a BML Bowker Announcement: While the majority of the U.K.’s undergraduate students are now using e-books, none are yet relying on them as a primary source of information. Print continues its hold as a key resource for at least two-thirds of students. That’s one of the key findings of a major new study that explores student information sources in the digital world from the book research experts at BML, a Bowker business. The study was conducted in December 2011 and shows significant change since 2003 when BML conducted similar research. [Clip] Indeed, the study plots a variety of changes and pace at...

That's the result shown in an excellent graphic in the Mercury News.  It's part of an article called Will Apple create the all-iPad classroom? According to the graphic, for 32 students over a period of 6 years, the cost of an iPad textbook will run $36,000.  This includes the initial cost of the iPad and replacement costs during the 6 year period.  By way of contrast, the cost of a regular textbook over that period will be $11,328, including replacement costs.  That's a big difference! The article goes on to say: Many schools are forging ahead with iPads, even without the iBook...

From the press release: MBS Direct and global education leader Houghton Mifflin Harcourt have joined forces to create a unique, industry-leading relationship that will provide a sizeable catalog of select K-12 e-textbooks in core subject areas. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt titles will be added to MBS Direct’s growing e-textbook catalog, and will give MBS Direct customers strong support for digital content in their K-12 curricula. Technology in the form of e-readers, tablets and smartphones continues to create new opportunities for both publishers and educators. As a cost-effective alternative to traditional textbooks, MBS Direct Digital textbooks are designed specifically to support learning, and most...

A couple of interesting posts on the closure of pirate etextbook/academic/arcane book site library.nu.  The first is by Alan Toner, and intellectual property and communications researcher, on his blog knOw Future Inc.: On a final note, the case of library.nu is significant because the demand for the works offered there demonstrates that filesharing is not just about pop music, porn and cams of action movies, but also those forms and sources of knowledge whose acquisition are ritually celebrated within ‘enlightenment’ culture. Many of those whose works were offered derive income not from royalties, but from related activities such as teaching and research....

From the California State University System News Release: The California State University [has] announced partnerships with Cengage Learning, CourseSmart® and Follett that will provide more than 5,000 of the most popular eTextbooks at discounted prices as part of a systemwide digital textbook rental program. [Clip] Beginning in the fall, students will be have the choice to rent digital versions of texts – eTextbooks – at a cost savings of 60 percent or more compared with the cost of purchasing the same text as a new printed version. Students will have access to the digital material for the length of the academic term and also...

That's the title of a most interesting article in ReadWriteWeb.  Written by someone in the trenches.  Here's an excerpt: If you were to visit the library on the campus where I teach, you would see students waiting to use outdated desktops in the computer labs and library, particularly around midterms and finals week. It seems odd at first, considering the school has a laptop requirement for all undergraduates. That means you have to have a laptop computer when you enroll, and presumably, as an instructor, I can require my students to bring them to any class. But here's the reality: laptops break,...

From an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education: If you have recently published with an academic press, or if your book is in press now, you might have been disappointed to learn that your work won’t be available on your e-reader anytime soon. While novelists take for granted that their new books will appear in all the electronic formats simultaneously with print publication, for scholars there are no such assurances. Why? The answers fall into three main areas: (1) technology, (2) rights, and (3) money. Technology While novels typically consist of straight prose that is relatively easy to pour into the proprietary formats required by...

From Campus Technology: Beginning this fall as many as 5,000 students taking an introductory psychology course at the University of Cincinnati (UC) will be able to access their textbook online for free. Students will also be able to purchase a suite of electronic versions of the text, compatible with tablets, e-readers, netbooks, and smartphones, for $35, a black-and-white print version for $35, or a $70 color print version. "Under this pilot project, we can now be certain that course content materials are available to the students, because price is no longer a factor," UC Associate Professor of Psychology Charles Ginn said. "Due to rapidly...

Hundreds and hundreds of visitors have read LibraryCity‘sproposal for the sale of OverDrive to public libraries or a related nonprofit. The idea drew favorable reaction fromThad McIlroy, a prominent publishing consultant, and it even made an ALA newsletterand Reddit. Still not convinced of the possibilities? Well, consider that 39 percent of U.S. public libraries don’t offer downloadable e-books. Check it out for yourself. Ironic, isn’t it? Rockford, Illinois, is ODing on e-books, while many U.S. communities are so cash-strapped or e-backwards that they lack any. Or maybe not quite so backwards. Remember, with OverDrive as a middleman, many public librarians might not feel quite as comfortable with e-books as they would...

From Inside Higher Ed: Cost-conscious students can of course save money with used or online books and recoup some of their cash come buyback time. Still, it’s a steep price for most 18-year-olds. But soon, introductory physics texts will have a new competitor, developed at Rice University. A free online physics book, peer-reviewed and designed to compete with major publishers’ offerings, will debut next month through the non-profit publisher OpenStax College. Using Rice’s Connexions platform, OpenStax will offer free course materials for five common introductory classes. The textbooks are open to classes anywhere and organizers ...