Friend J sent this today:  

USA Today reviewer Edward C. Baig describes his experience using the first Multi-Touch digital textbooks published for the iBooks 2 for iPad app, noting that they are “engaging in ways that were simply not possible with the textbooks I grew up with.” Baig likes the portability, updatability, and low pricing of iBooks 2 digital textbooks and touts specific features like instant search, highlighting, bookmarking, and interactive graphics. Writes Baig, “It’s better to see an animated tour of the genome in E.O. Wilson’s Life on Earth than just to read about it. ”Read more…

I hope our State Legislators read USA today!  My only beef with the article is that Baig says," ...And no matter how compelling a digital textbook might be, it is only useful to a student if the teacher or school decides that this is indeed the textbook to use with their class."  (emphasis mine)  In Texas, it doesn't really work that way, unless the legislature and State Board of Education allow the book as a choice.  I hope they take this to heart and allow school boards (with the input and guidance of teachers and schools) to consider the digital textbooks.  That way, communities can chime in on which resources are appropriate for their particular community.  And MOST importantly, the Legislature need to allow digital textbooks to be considered a resource for which they will PAY.