Digital technology could put a wealth of material in the hands of elementary and secondary school students across the country.  Digitized textbooks and online interactive learning materials have the potential to advance education for thousands of students grades K-12, including disabled students who could benefit from the unique advantage that digitized learning materials provide.

The Digital Media Project, in collaboration with Prof. Martha Minow at Harvard Law School and the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), a nonprofit organization that specializes in uses of technology for the disabled, will explore the possibility of offering digital textbooks to elementary and secondary schools across the country.  Future research will focus on different pricing and financing models, potential copyright or rights-related challenges, and possible concerns of publishers.

Further Reading

The Harvard Law Bulletin featured an article in its Summer 2004 issue about some of the digital curriculum work underway at Harvard with a number of researchers involved in the Initiative.

In July 2004, the Department of Education adopted a voluntary file format standard that could help standardize the distribution of electronic materials to classrooms. Read more about the format, National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS).

Read more about CAST's education initiatives and a CAST whitepaper about the availability of print materials for students with disabilities.

CAST also produced a summary of resources in each state available to students with print disabilities.

Read excerpts of the book Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age by David H. Rose and Anne Meyer (ASCD 2002).