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The textbook is the single most defining source of content in US public schools. In the current economic climate, however, school administrators are looking for ways to control rising textbook expenditures by shifting to digital textbooks. In this chapter, we explore a range of digital textbook formats and applications and weigh their potential benefits and pitfalls. Florida, the first state to pass a mandatory digital textbook law, provides a context in which to examine many of these factors. We conclude with recommendations for school administrators and educators, with particular attention to the leadership role the school librarian can play in digital textbook implementation, management, and innovation. [For the complete volume, "Educational Media and Technology Yearbook, Volume 37," see ED595734.]

Demands for the Internet in administrative, instructional, and learning tasks in schools are rising. Because adequate bandwidth in schools supports the home-school learning continuum, links to civic and governmental organizations, and situations in which home connectivity is scarce, reconsiderations in investments in connectivity supply and support are due. Yet, many school administrators report concerns about their bandwidth and employ strategies to level access among their teachers and students. Limited access in schools and classrooms results in stifled instructional creativity and few opportunities for students to gain twenty-first-century skills needed later academic and workplace success. Even when connectivity is adequate, educators and learners require support to make the most of the Internet. School librarians, on-site technology leaders with expertise in supporting digitally immersive learning, have great potential to help administrators, teachers, and students make the best use of the connectivity. [For the complete volume, "Educational Media and Technology Yearbook, Volume 36, 2011," see ED597737.]