ISO/IEC TR 18120:2016

TECHNICAL ISO/IEC TR
REPORT 18120
First edition
Information technology —
Learning, education, and training
— Requirements for e-textbooks in
education
Technologies de l’information — Apprentissage, éducation et
formation — Exigences pour les livres de texte électroniques dans
l’éducation
PROOF/ÉPREUVE
Reference number
©
ISO/IEC 2016
© ISO/IEC 2016, Published in Switzerland
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ii © ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .v
Introduction .vi
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Symbols and abbreviated terms . 3
5 Stakeholder inputs . 5
5.1 Overview of e-textbook pilots submitted . 5
5.2 Overview of conceptual model captured from use cases . 5
5.2.1 Technical scenarios for using e-textbooks . 5
5.2.2 Educational scenarios for using e-textbooks . 6
5.3 Results of online survey . 7
5.3.1 Overview . 7
5.3.2 Base content standard. 8
5.3.3 Metadata . 8
5.3.4 Annotations . 8
5.3.5 Interactivity and learning support . 9
5.3.6 Reorganization and re-sequencing . 9
5.3.7 Digital rights . 9
5.4 Summary of potential benefits of an e-textbook standards . 9
6 Key requirements for e-textbooks .10
6.1 Foundational e-book and packaging standards .10
6.1.1 Requirement for foundational e-book and packaging standards .10
6.1.2 Current standards environment for e-books and content packaging .10
6.1.3 Market conditions for e-books and content packaging .11
6.1.4 Key recommendations for foundational e-book and packaging standards .12
6.2 Metadata .12
6.2.1 Key requirements .12
6.2.2 Current standards environment .12
6.2.3 Market conditions .13
6.2.4 Key recommendations .13
6.3 Annotations.13
6.3.1 Key requirements .13
6.3.2 Current standards environment .14
6.3.3 Market conditions .14
6.3.4 Key recommendations .14
6.4 Reorganization and re-aggregation . .14
6.4.1 Key requirements .14
6.4.2 Current standards environment .14
6.4.3 Market conditions .15
6.4.4 Key recommendations .15
6.5 Interactivity and learning support .16
6.5.1 Key requirements .16
6.5.2 Current standards environment — www.w3.org/TR/html .16
6.5.3 Market conditions .17
6.5.4 Key recommendations .17
6.6 Digital rights .18
6.6.1 Key requirements .18
6.6.2 Current standards environment .19
6.6.3 Market conditions .19
6.6.4 Key recommendations .19
7 Recommendations for future work .19
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7.1 General .19
7.2 Recommendations for e-textbook standards .19
7.3 Recommendations for technical works combined with IDPF and other organizations .20
7.4 Recommendations for supporting education-specific standardization .20
7.5 Calls for technical demonstrations .20
Annex A (informative) E-textbook pilots submitted by NBLOs .22
Annex B (informative) Conceptual use cases submitted by NBLOs .29
Annex C (informative) Survey of stakeholder requirements .34
Annex D (informative) Examples of current technologies .65
Bibliography .68
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Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are
members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical
committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical
activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the
work. In the field of information technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee,
ISO/IEC JTC 1.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for
the different types of document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject
of patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent
rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the
Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation on the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment,
as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see the following URL: www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
The committee responsible for this document is ISO/IEC JTC 1 Information technology, Subcommittee
SC 36, Information technology for learning, education and training.
© ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved PROOF/ÉPREUVE v

Introduction
In the last few years, there has been a dramatic rise in the popularity of e-books, driven principally
by the development of mobile devices including tablets and smartphones. A number of e-book formats
have emerged to support this trend, the most prominent of which is EPUB 3, originally developed by the
International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) and discussed in ISO/IEC/TS 30135 (all parts).
At the same time, standards for digital learning content have not made significant progress. Advanced
Distributed Learning (ADL) produced the latest major revision of Shareable Content Object Reference
Model (SCORM®) in 2004; the IMS Global Learning Consortium (IMS Global) produced the Common
Cartridge specification in 2008; and both of these standards are based on the ISO/IEC 12785 series
and the ISO/IEC/TR 29163 series. While the digital learning content area was stagnant, data-driven
approach for usage of content has been growing rapidly. Progress in recent years includes the
development of the Experience API (Tin Can API or xAPI) version 1.0, a specification released in April
2013 which is commonly considered the successor to SCORM.
While conventional e-books and the ISO/IEC 12785 series both support packaged content installed
locally on a user’s device or learning management system/virtual learning environment (LMS/VLE)
on the web, considerable advances were in cloud computing and Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA).
The latter approaches anticipate that much activity will be distributed across different servers accessed
remotely using packaged content on user devices.
ISO/IEC/JTC 1/SC 36 has consequently identified a requirement for new standards for digital learning
content that
— leverage common standards being used with digital publishing technologies for e-books,
— support packaged content for installation on a mobile device and usable off-line for learning
activities, and
— support integration with cloud services, when this environment is available.
At the same time, the popularity of e-books raise a number of challenges for learning, education and
training (LET) content. These challenges can be articulated as a series of comparisons (see Table 1).
Table 1 — Comparison major characteristics between e-book and learning content
e-Book Characteristics Learning Content Characteristics
Interpretation of an actual book as an aggregation Aggregated content by granularity of learning object,
of static text, graphics and pagination that can be required with dynamic pagination (linear or multiple
a
flipped. paths), and interactive digital media and activity such
as assessment on the web.
General environment of e-book and player are locally General environment of learning content is on the web,
installed and protected by strong copyright protection in particular via LMS/VLE. Content is controlled and
software such as Digital Rights Management (DRM). protected by authorization of the learning platform
without using DRM.
Standards are dedicated profile for e-books content Standards are very diverse and heterogeneous per
based on web specifications, such as HTML5, CSS and characteristics of content, service, or teaching and
Java Script. Currently, EPUB 3 has taken a position as learning model. However, almost all standards have
both a de-jure and a de-facto standard. adopted web specifications including an e-book profile.
a
“Book” means complete aggregated content bound with a spine.
The purpose of this document is to propose an approach which ensures that the benefits, advantages,
and outlooks of both e-books and LET content are maximized. In particular, this document aims to
identify the requirements for e-textbooks which are expected to adopt e-book technology in LET. The
substantive parts of this document are presented in Clauses 5 to 7.
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Clause 5 investigates LET stakeholder requirements as collected in 2012,
— summarizing information about e-textbook pilots submitted by NBLOs and interested parties,
further details of which are included in Annex A,
— summarizing conceptual use cases submitted by NBLOs and interested parties, further details of
which are included in Annex B,
— summarizing the LET requirements gathered or collected from the online survey sent to stakeholders,
further details of which are included in Annex C, and
— drawing out from these consultations key requirements for e-textbook functionality.
Clause 6 reviews the technology/market capability as of 2013 (with some updates to 2015) by
— reviewing the available standards that support the requirements to functionality listed in
Clause 5, and
— drawing conclusions as to the best way to implement the required functionalities for potential
e-textbook standards.
Clause 7 makes specific recommendations for future standardization work to support e-textbook.
© ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved PROOF/ÉPREUVE vii

TECHNICAL REPORT ISO/IEC TR 18120:2016(E)
Information technology — Learning, education, and
training — Requirements for e-textbooks in education
1 Scope
This document makes recommendations that are intended to build consensus on which International
Standards for e-textbooks can be developed. This document is a follow up to the collection of inputs
from interested parties and aims to
— review the current state of the e-textbook market,
— summarize LET requirements for e-textbooks based on use cases and survey of interested parties,
— review existing data standards that are referenced by potential e-textbook standards,
— describe key terms and concepts that underpin any further discussion on e-textbook standards,
— propose a set of functionalities that will be required for e-textbook reader software,
— make recommendations for any modification to existing data standards, and
— make recommendations for any new data standards that might be needed.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp
3.1
aggregation
process of combining e-textbook components (3.2) to form new composite components (3.3)
3.2
atomic component(s)
smallest unit of content component that can no longer be divided
3.3
composite component(s)
component (3.2) that is composed of at least two other content components
Note 1 to entry: A composite component is one of two types of content components forming part of the content
structure of the e-textbook Information Model. The other is an atomic component.
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3.4
digital content
usable information in an e-textbook (3.9), either as a single or multiple logical unit(s)
EXAMPLE Text, images, media, interactive items represented visually in digital form.
Note 1 to entry: Digital content will generally depend on appropriate software services that may be required to
render or deliver other functionality associated with the digital content.
Note 2 to entry: A logical unit of usable (or re-usable) information is a logical package.
Note 3 to entry: A logical package may contain one or more logical units of digital content.
3.5
digital learning content
digital content (3.6) displayed within an e-textbook (3.9) including both static and interactive items for
use in LET
3.6
digital content
single or multiple logical unit(s) of useable information in an e-textbook (3.9)
Note 1 to entry: A digital resource can be referenced via an unambiguous and stable identifier in a recognized
identification system (e.g. ISBN, ISAN, UPC/EAN, URI).
3.7
e-book
structured digital content (3.6) in which searchable text is prevalent, and which is often seen as a
metaphor of a printed book or pamphlet
Note 1 to entry: An e-book is usually an aggregation of digital content compressed into a single document, and
from this perspective is regarded as a content package.
3.8
e-reader
computer hardware with appropriate software capable of loading and rendering an e-book (3.7) and
providing functional support required to deliver digital content (3.6)
3.9
e-textbook
structured aggregation (3.1) of digital content (3.6) intended to support LET activities and which uses
an e-textbook reader (3.12)
3.10
e-textbook fixed page
virtual surface of controlled size, and fixed layout (3.14), for the purposes of displaying digital content
(3.6) of an e-textbook (3.9)
3.11
e-textbook flowable page
virtual surface whose size and geometrical properties can be adapted to the e-textbook (3.9) reader or
user choices for the purposes of displaying digital content (3.6) of an e-textbook
3.12
e-textbook reader
hardware with the appropriate software capable of loading and rendering an e-textbook (3.9) and
providing the functional support required to deliver interaction (3.14) and learning support (3.18)
3.13
fixed layout
digital content (3.6) that is attached to a particular position on an e-textbook fixed page (3.10)
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3.14
interaction
behaviour and data exchange within an e-textbook (3.9) context that occurs between a user and the
digital content (3.6)
Note 1 to entry: Substantive changes do not include standard embedded video controls (start/stop/pause/fast
forward, etc.) or changing presentation (e.g. increasing font size, highlighting, zoom, etc.).
3.15
ITLET system
set of one or more computers, associated software, peripherals, terminals, human operations, physical
processes, information transfer means, that form an autonomous whole, capable of performing
information processing and/or information transfer
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 20006-1:2014, 4.12]
3.16
learning device
computer hardware capable of accessing an e-textbook reader (3.12) and running an e-textbook (3.9)
EXAMPLE Desktop computer, table, mobile phone or smartphone.
Note 1 to entry: Computer hardware used to support learning, education and training capable of accessing an
e-textbook.
3.17
learning service
processes or sequence of activities designed to enable learning
[SOURCE: ISO 29990:2010, 2.13]
3.18
learning support
functionality that is initiated by interaction (3.14) with an external service or digital content (3.6)
EXAMPLE Assignments, reporting of results, learning activities dependent on communication between
students and teachers, discussion forums.
3.19
media
digital assets, which may include separately or bundled together, text, audio, video, image, pictures,
animation, or graphics within an IT system.
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC/TR 24725-3:2010, 2.4]
4 Symbols and abbreviated terms
API Application Program Interface
CMS Content Management System
a, b
CSS3 Cascading Style Sheets
DF Disk free (UNIX)
DITA Darwin Information Typing Architecture
DRM Digital Rights Management
EPUB 3 Electronic publication, a free and open e-book standard by IDPF,
also a multipart standard ISO/IEC 30135
© ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved PROOF/ÉPREUVE 3

ICT Information and Communication Technology
IDPF International Digital Publishing Forum
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
IMS IMS Global Learning Consortium, Inc.
IT Information Technology
IT System Information Technology System
ITLET Information Technology for Learning, Education and Training
LCMS Learning Content Management System
LET Learning, Education and Training
LRMI Learning Resource Metadata Initiative
LRS Learning Record Store
LTI Learning Tools Interoperability (IMS)
(www.imsglobal.org/activity/learning-tools-interoperability)
LMS Learning Management System
LOM Learning Object Metadata
MLR Metadata for Learning Resources
NBLO National Body or Liaison Organization
OAinEPUB Open Annotation in EPUB
OER Open Educational Resources
Q&A Question and Answer
QTI Question and Test Interoperability (IMS specification)
REL Rights Expression Language
SCORM Sharable Content Object Reference Model
SOA Services Oriented Architecture
SVG Scalable Vector Graphics (W3C)
TEI Text Encoding Initiative
W3C World Wide Web Consortium
xAPI Experience Application Programming Interface,
also known as Tin Can API or Experience API
XML eXtensible Mark-up Language
a
CSS (2015), Cascading Style Sheets, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CascadingStyleSheets#CSS3.
b
W3Schools (2010), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Snapshot 2010, www.w3.org/TR/css-2010/, http://
www.w3.org/TR/css-2010/.
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5 Stakeholder inputs
5.1 Overview of e-textbook pilots submitted
When this document project was initiated in 2012, China and Korea submitted use cases describing
pilot experiments in K-12, which included the use of e-textbooks before, during and after class. In case
of Korean pilot, e-textbook (which they called digital textbook) services for teachers were set-up for
the classroom environment (including learning models, lesson plans, etc.). The log-in status of students
was checked automatically, student computer screens could be monitored by the teacher to see what
they were learning, and students were given feedback from the teacher. In addition, assignments and
assessments were used to report learning outcomes. E-textbook services were provided for students
using tablet PCs instead of (traditional) paper-based textbooks. Digital textbook software was
installed onto student devices. Various multimedia resources were used to motivate student learning,
to facilitate the provision of the teacher feedback, to check assignments, and to improve the student’s
learning experience using new media.
In the Chinese pilot, e-textbooks were used in a technical environment equipped with projectors,
electronic board, and learning platforms that integrated digital courseware, teaching tools and other
teaching software. The teachers were responsible for preparing lessons, collecting resources in the
learning platform before class. They taught, interacted, monitored student activity and provided
feedback on the platform in class; and they provided supplementary instruction after class when this
was required by students. Students used the platform to prepare for their lessons, to interact with other
students and with the teachers during learning; and to review their learning and do further homework
assignments after class.
5.2 Overview of conceptual model captured from use cases
Specific application scenarios are described from two aspects. The first part is based on use cases from
different nations; the second part is based on the stakeholder survey conducted by project editors
of this report from different countries and areas. The pilots were done between November 2012 and
March 2013.
5.2.1 Technical scenarios for using e-textbooks
The main features of e-textbooks and how they worked by connecting tools and services within the
learning device and/or from outside are highlighted by describing the application scenarios. Possible
scenarios for using e-textbooks are illustrated in Figure 1, where e-textbooks
— are used as a resource out of any learning, education and training context, using a generic e-book
reader (as in left bottom),
— run on a mobile device using an education-specific plug-in (as in top left),
— run on an LMS/LCMS to support learning (as in bottom right), and
— can run on a tablet or other mobile devices as within an application scenario (as in top right).
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Figure 1 — Possible e-textbook scenarios
5.2.2 Educational scenarios for using e-textbooks
While e-textbooks are used in all LET environments (corporate training and lifelong learning), the four
use cases from China, Korea, and the UK indicated that the most universal application of e-textbooks is
for classroom teaching and learning. As such, e-textbooks are used
— to allow classroom teaching and learning in pre-school, K-12, and higher education in pre-school,
K-12, and higher education,
— to allow learners to study anytime, anywhere both online and offline,
— to allow personal reading,
— to allow classroom learning and testing,
— to allow tool-supported practices, and
— to access service-supported activities such as assignments and collaborative learning.
Educational users of e-textbooks include the teachers, students, technologists, administrators,
educational experts, and in some cases, parents.
The case studies on e-textbooks are summarized below and have been grouped according to how
e-textbooks were used, i.e. teaching and classroom learning; exercises and testing; and informal
learning activities.
a) Classroom teaching and learning
There were three use cases from Singapore, Korea and Taiwan that used e-textbooks for classroom
teaching and learning. The use case “Chinese cartoon book for primary school digital textbook”
(Singapore) successfully used an e-textbook for the teaching of Chinese. The teachers also used an
e-textbook to assign exercises to students for completion in class.
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The use case “Class using digital textbook led by the teacher” (Korea) used an e-textbook before,
during and after class, for comprehensive teaching and learning processes.
A third use case “Highly interactive e-textbook intelligent learning classroom” (Taiwan)
demonstrated the use of an interactive e-textbook in the classroom.
b) Classroom exercises and testing
Four use cases from China and the UK described the use of e-textbooks for classroom exercises and
testing.
In the use case “E-textbooks for pupils — quizzes” (China) and the use case “Assessment within
e-textbook” (UK), similarly, students accessed the quiz either by following a link from the e-textbook
or by completing an embedded test within the e-textbook. Students were supported with learning
tools within the e-textbook and were able to save their results (in a new exercise book). The quiz
was analyzed by the teacher (or by an automated evaluation service), and the results were sent
back for feedback, and also used for reporting (and statistics) to the class as a whole.
The use case “Learning tools within e-textbook” (China) illustrated the use of an e-textbook for
the study of 9th grade mathematics. This use case employed a learning tool within the e-textbook
that helped students measure the degree of an angle. The learning tool also allowed the students to
finish the assignment and exercises quickly.
The use case “Shanghai HSJC e-Learning cloud service platform” described the use of learning
activities that were supported by an e-textbook connected to external services rather than using
learning tools embedded within the e-textbook. Students were able to access the external service
to download the e-textbook after school to do assignments.
c) Informal learning activities
Use cases from the UK and Kenya indicated that informal learning activities take place mostly in
the public service (sector), and in learning communities.
The use case “E-textbooks as the basis of a community of learners” (UK) focused on informal
learning in tertiary and adult education. In this use case, participants developed their own
e-textbook, shared it with a group, and collaboratively created an e-textbook adding to the shared
knowledge of the group.
Finally, the use case “Kenya e-textbook use case” demonstrated how to provide ubiquitous access
to digitized hard copy books from the Kenya National Library Service (KNLS).
5.3 Results of online survey
5.3.1 Overview
An online survey was undertaken by the project editors to gather input from interested parties on the
international requirements for e-textbook standards. The survey questions were made available in
Chinese, English, French, Japanese and Korean and its existence was advertised through a variety of
liaisons, online communities, and at relevant trade shows and conferences. A total of 119 responses
were received between February 2012 and March 2013.
Respondents considered six main areas of requirements:
— the most appropriate base content standard;
— education-specific metadata;
— annotations;
— interactivity and learning support;
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— remixing of content;
— rights and DRM.
The conclusions of the survey are presented below. Full details of the survey are analyzed in Annex C.
5.3.2 Base content standard
The most appropriate base content standard was identified to be EPUB 3 [current issue as ISO/IEC/
TS 30135 (all parts)], including all of its referenced standards (HTML5, XML, MathML, SVG, ChemML, etc.).
Particular communities of practice specified several other standards that are considered to be optional.
These include varieties of the IMS Content Packaging (particularly the ISO/IEC 12785 series), DF, DITA,
TEI and DocBook ( www.docbook.org).
It was recommended that a general mechanism be developed to allow such standards to be incorporated
into local profiles.
The survey and analysis used in this document were completed before IMS Global and the W3C-initiated
EPUB whose focus was to produce a standard profile for e-textbooks. As a result, the implications of
EPUB are addressed only partially in this document. Currently the EPUB profile addresses many of the
issues and features discussed in 5.3.3 to 5.3.7.
5.3.3 Metadata
Respondents identified a small range of core metadata that are widely supported, including
— title,
— description,
— author information, and
— rights information.
The use of keywords also provides strong support, though at a slightly lower level than the four
metadata elements noted above.
A wide range of other requirements were mentioned, though in none of these cases did the survey
indicate a consensus.
The most widely recognized and supported metadata formats were Dublin Core (see ISO 15836) and
LOM (see IEEE 1484.12.1–2002), although there was no clear consensus on a single specification.
It should be noted that only one of the metadata fields in the LOM that commanded general support is
specific to education, i.e. [insert the name of the field].
NOTE According to EDUPUB alliance projects, LRMI (www.lrmi.net) based on Dublin Core and schema.org
are adopted rapidly by textbook publishers in North America and Europe.
5.3.4 Annotations
There was strong support for the ability to annotate e-textbooks, including the addition of bookmarks,
notes and hyperlinks and the highlighting of text.
Some respondents argued for a more inventive approach to annotations, including
— the export of annotations to discussion sites or between e-textbook users,
— the ability to collapse and expand different e-textbook sections, as an alternative to the use of
highlighter tools, and
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— the inclusion of annotations that were drawn or handwritten.
It has been noted that annotations have been proposed in EPUB 3 standards.
NOTE When the survey and its analysis were conducted, W3C’s Open Annotation was just being developed.
IDPF and W3C have since announced the development of an Open Annotation profile called Open Annotation
in EPUB (OAinEPUB), which addresses many of the issues on annotations presented above. IDPF issued a draft
specification in July 2015, which can be found at http://www.idpf.org/epub/oa/.
5.3.5 Interactivity and learning support
There was a strong sense that interactivity would be an important characteristic of the e-textbook. It
was felt that HTML5 provided a good technical platform for presenting interactivity.
It was recognized that interactivity would often require online connectivity, for a variety of reasons
including
— reporting of activity outcomes,
— streaming of media, and
— communication with the teachers and peers.
It was also recognized that there was a tension between these requirements and the paradigm of the
e-book that is meant to be useable off-line.
5.3.6 Reorganization and re-sequencing
There was support for the requirement to reorganize e-textbook content in order to meet different
learning objectives, to respond to different learning environments, and to combine materials from
different sources, both commercial and Open Educational Resources (OER).
At the same time, respondents were cautious about the technical, pedagogical and intellectual property
difficulties that might be encountered when content was remixed.
5.3.7 Digital rights
Respondents supported the need for a simple, lightweight rights expression language such as Creative
Commons. A minority, composed mainly of commercial publishers, required a more complex approach
to Rights Expression Language (REL) that would encode the interlocking rights of their various content
suppliers.
It was widely recognized that some suppliers would want to use DRM technology. While a significant
minority supported the development of a single DRM specification, there was no consensus on what
that approach would mean in practice. The majority supported a permissive approach.
5.4 Summary of potential benefits of an e-textbook standards
E-textbooks have many benefits for interested parties in both the e-learning and digital publishing
communities including the learners, the teachers, LET managers, publishers, and service providers.
For learners, the benefits of e-textbooks include:
— providing support for (traditional) learning activities;
— accessing learning resources and digital content;
— collaborative learning;
— personalized learning.
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For teachers, e-textbooks act in assistive and supportive roles helping to realize the statement “students
are the centre of education”. E-textbooks also have the potential of providing support for traditional
teaching activities, conventional teaching management, learning measurements, and scientific research.
For LET managers, the LMS that delivers e-textbooks has the potential to provide
— course information management,
— learner information management;
— teacher information management,
— teaching and learning process information management.
For publishers, e-textbooks have the potential of providing e-book basic and extended information.
For service providers, e-textbooks have the potential of providing services for
— content and resources,
— teaching and learning management,
— user management, and
— copyright management.
6 Key requirements for e-textbooks
6.1 Foundational e-book and packaging standards
6.1.1 Requirement for foundational e-book and packaging standards
An e-book is a structured document consisting of an aggregation of searchable digital content including
text, images, audio/video and interactive items which is transmitted and/or accessed via an IT system.
The purpose of any report or standard that may be created in standards development organizations
focused on e-textbooks will be to address specific functionalities that are required in e-book that are
intended specifically for use in education. Standards development organizations should take care not to
duplicate work being done elsewhere in the creation of generic standards for e-books. This document,
therefore, assumes the need to identify a generic format for e-books, preferably one that already has
international recognition, which can be used as a foundation for any education-specific specifications
and standards that may need to be created.
6.1.2 Current standards environment for e-books and content packaging
EPUB 3 (ISO/IEC/TS 30135 series)
The ISO/IEC/TS 30135 series is a republication of EPUB 3, a free and open e-book standard developed
by IDPF. EPUB was approved as a “Recommended Specification” by IDPF membership in October 2011.
The latest version of the EPUB specification is 3.0.1 issued in June 2014.
The relationship between EPUB 3 and the ISO/IEC/TS 30135 series is defined in the IDPF website,
http://idpf.org/epub/30:
“In 2014, these specifications (with the exception of the changes in the document) were republished
by the International Standards Organization as ISO/IEC/TS 30135, parts 1–7. Each of these seven ISO
specifications is identical to its IDPF equivalent, for example, ISO/IEC/TS 30135-1 is exactly the same
content as the EPUB Overview. So, the IDPF names and ISO numbers may be used interchangeably.”
The ISO/IEC/TS 30135 series provides profiles to create e-books and related digital publishing, which
adopt HTML5 and other web specifications (e.g. CSS3 and JavaScript). In addition, EPUB 3-based content
10 PROOF/ÉPREUVE © ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved

can also be rendered in a browser using ReadiumJS on Chrome™, as well as dedicated applications on
mobile devices in a disconnected environment.
EPUB 3 is one of the most important standards to be considered for any application of an e-book.
Note The EPUB Alliance formed in 2011 is originally a collaboration between IDPF, IMS Global, and the W3C,
but now includes the Book Industry Study Group (BISG), the DAISY Consortium and the Readium Foundation. The
EPUB Alliance’s mandate is: “to work to ensure that the existing standards maintained by the EDUPUB Alliance
organizations avoid conflicts and become ever more interoperable as they evolve” (http://idpf.org/edupub).
The W3C contribution to EPUB 3 is the Open Annotation in EPUB, while IMS Global incorporates Caliper
Analytics™, and Question and Test Interoperability (QTI)® and Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI)®
in the cont
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