Perceived Factors Influencing Instructors' Use of E-Textbooks in Higher Education

Digital Content

Digital content applies to digital learning as a way to change and enhance current education. In a digital learning environment, the creation, development, and selection of highly-qualified digital content to facilitate education and maximize the benefits of digital learning is vital (Levin, 2011). A universal definition of digital content does not exist. All content that is “electronic in nature that supports or acts as the curriculum and helps students learn,” and “delivering traditional content used in the classroom through a technology-based mechanism” (Center for Digital Education, 2013, p. 5) is included. This can be “as simple as an article scanned into a computer for one class,” and can be “as complex as all instructional materials being digital” (p. 5). No matter what format the digital content appears in the instructional process, digital content enables learners to access learning with personalized experiences that “aligns to different learning styles, educational goals and overall learning outcomes” (Levin, 2011, p. 5). Digital content is crucial to educators and learners in digital learning because they enhance both traditional schools and non-traditional schools by “providing blended or hybrid educational opportunities for students, as well as teachers” (Center for Digital Education, 2013, p. 14).