Also called e-textbooks or e-text, digital textbooks are books that can only be read using a computer or other internet-capable device. They offer many advantages over traditional print textbooks. Here, The Audiopedia takes a closer look at these benefits.
Digital textbooks are often much less expensive than traditional textbooks. There are no shipping costs to consider, either. If a new edition comes out, it’s much less expensive to get the new edition rather than buying a whole new textbook. It costs publishers a lot of money to publish a physical book, and they pass those costs onto the purchaser. Changing a digital book is much less costly for a publisher.
Digital textbooks also are not limited to just showing text and 2D pictures. They can add other components like games, 3D images, links to web pages for more information, and embedded videos. This makes teaching more fun for the student.
Digital textbooks also help teachers. Teachers can see how far a student has progressed with any experiments or test questions offered in the book. Some e-text offers the ability for students to make notes to the teacher and the teacher to write back. This can help quickly clear up any questions a student has about the material presented. Digital textbooks can also be easily modified to help students with disabilities, too.
