Overview
ISO/IEC TR 18120:2016 is a Technical Report from ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 36 that recommends requirements and potential standards for e-textbooks used in learning, education and training (LET). Rather than a prescriptive standard, it synthesizes stakeholder inputs, market review, use cases and surveys to propose which international standards for e-textbooks should be developed. Its aim is to bridge e-book publishing technologies with LET needs - enabling packaged offline content, cloud integration, learning analytics and richer interactivity.
Key topics and technical requirements
The report identifies and discusses key technical topics required for interoperable e-textbooks:
- Foundational e-book & packaging
- Leverage existing e-book technologies (for example EPUB 3) and content packaging models to support offline and online usage.
- Metadata
- Define educational metadata needs to support discovery, course integration and content management.
- Annotations
- Support portable, interoperable annotations and learner notes that can be stored locally or synchronized with services.
- Reorganization & re-aggregation
- Enable breaking content into learning objects, re-sequencing and assembling modules for different curricula or adaptive learning paths.
- Interactivity & learning support
- Support HTML5-based interactivity, assessments, embedded media and integration with learning services.
- Digital rights & access control
- Address DRM and rights management while balancing platform integration and institutional authorization.
- Standards review & recommendations
- Assess existing standards (e.g., SCORM, Common Cartridge, xAPI) and identify modifications or new standards needed to meet LET requirements.
- Reader software functionality
- Propose a set of functional requirements for e-textbook readers (annotation handling, offline support, sync with LMS/VLE, etc.).
Applications and who uses it
ISO/IEC TR 18120 is practical guidance for organizations involved in digital learning and publishing:
- Standards bodies and working groups - prioritize and draft formal e-textbook standards.
- Education publishers - design e-textbooks that meet LET interoperability and packaging expectations.
- EdTech and LMS/VLE vendors - implement reader features, annotation sync, metadata ingestion and rights management.
- Institutions and policymakers - evaluate procurement criteria and interoperability strategies for digital course materials.
- Developers of learning analytics and adaptive systems - integrate e-textbooks with xAPI/analytics services.
Related standards
Relevant existing standards and specifications discussed in the report include:
- EPUB 3 (digital publishing profile)
- ISO/IEC 12785 series and ISO/IEC TR 29163 series (content packaging heritage)
- SCORM, IMS Common Cartridge
- Experience API (xAPI/Tin Can API)
- W3C HTML5 technologies
ISO/IEC TR 18120:2016 helps align publishing and LET communities to create interoperable, flexible e-textbook ecosystems that support teaching, learning and analytics.