Electronic textbooks are an enticing idea. Most publishers tout digitalmedia as a cheaper and more portable textbook. Unfortunately, theelectronic textbook models that have been proposed too often seek to mimicthe paper textbook, perhaps adding search capabilities or touting thepossibility of interactive animations and activities. These electronictextbooks fail to take full advantage of the pedagogical opportunities thata digital medium provides.

This talk will outline the design goals and features of an electronictextbook application designed at Hope College with the goal of extending,rather than simply mimicking, a traditional textbook. In particular, wewill discuss how an electronic textbook can be used to bring the idea ofcollaborative learning into the textbook reading experience, and how such atextbook can be used to facilitate change in the way the classroomexperience is conducted.