Designing a digital textbook for the instructor-led classroom based on the principles of learning

Digital textbooks have evolved into a variety of forms. This study explores the dimensions and future development of digital textbooks. We suggest several design strategies for developing digital textbooks for instructor-led classrooms. First, digital textbooks should support questions, answers, and assessments, which are fundamental to the activities of a classroom. Second, they should have the ability to collect and utilize data generated from learning processes, which is a critical way to observe students’ learning behaviors. Third and fourth, they should facilitate the engagement of students in learning activities and support some of the functionalities of course-management systems. These strategies are based on the principles of learning. Finally, we present several prototypes of the learning resources available on digital textbooks.