ERIC Number: EJ799842
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 2
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1528-5324
EISSN: N/A
E-Texts in the Classroom
Hannon, Charles
EDUCAUSE Quarterly, v31 n1 p12-13 2008
A May 2007 Congressional advisory committee found that average full-time undergraduates spent between $700 and $1,000 on textbooks in 2003-2004 and that from 1987-2004, textbook prices at four-year public colleges rose 109 percent compared to a rise in the Consumer Price Index of 65 percent. Higher education is transitioning from atoms (paper-based books) to bits (screens). In this article, the author points out that in the future, it simply will not make sense to harvest trees, make paper, print and bind textbooks, and ship the books to a college campus for use in at most a few classes over two or three semesters. It will make more sense to carry a modestly priced e-text reader with easy browsing and annotation features, capable of displaying any textbook a teacher assigns. (Contains 1 endnote.)
Descriptors: Advisory Committees, Textbooks, Public Colleges, Cost Indexes, Higher Education, Undergraduate Students, Educational Technology, Electronic Equipment, Reader Text Relationship
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A