The Effects of Digital Textbooks on Students' Academic Performance, Academic Interest, and Learning Skills.

This article examines the impact of digital textbooks on students' academic performance, academic interest, and learning skills, using data from Korea's Ministry of Education digital textbook experiment conducted in pilot elementary schools from 2014 to 2016. Employing rigorous empirical methods—including panel regression with teacher fixed effects, propensity score weighting, and instrumental variable approaches—the study finds that greater in-class utilization of digital textbooks significantly improves students' academic outcomes, with particularly strong benefits for low-achieving students. The digital textbooks used in Korea feature interactive multimedia resources, self-assessment tools, and online collaboration platforms, which contribute to making learning easier, more engaging, and more interactive. A cost–benefit analysis indicates that the potential lifetime earnings gains from digital textbook use substantially exceed the implementation costs, suggesting important policy implications for educators, school administrators, and policymakers aiming to enhance educational equity and effectiveness through technology integration.