lt costs about $1 million to create a new textbook. i A freshman textbook will have dozens ofcontributors,from subject-matter experts through graphic and layout artists to expert reviewers andclassroom testers.Textbook publishers connect professors，instructors and students in ways thataltematives, such as open e-textbooks and open educational resources,simply do not.This connectionhappens not only by means of collaborative development，review and testing,but also at conferenceswhere faculty regularly decide on their textbooks and curricula for the coming year.
lt is true that textbook publishers have recently reported losses，largely due to students renting orbuying used print textbooks. But this can be chalked up to the excessively high cost of their books一which has increased over 1,000 percent since 1977. A restructuring of the textbook industry may well bein order. But this does not mean the end of the textbook itself.
While they may not be as dynamic as an iPad, textbooks are not passive or lifeless.For example,over the centuries，they have simulated dialogues in a number of ways.From 1800 to the present day, textbooks have done this by posing questions for students to answer inductively. That means students are asked to use their individual experience to come up with answers togeneral questions. Today's psychology texts, for example，ask: "How much of your personality do youthink you inherited?" while ones in physics say : "How can you predict where the ball you tossed willland?”
Experts observe that “ textbooks come in layers, something like an onion.”For an active learner, engaging with a textbook can be an interactive experience.Readers proceed at their own pace.They“customize"their books by engaging with different layers and linkages.Highlighting，Post-It notes,dog-ears and-other techniques allow for further customization that students value in print books overdigital forms of books.
