With the rapid development of science and technology, printed textbooks will no longer be the main learning material in the 21st century, a conference in Hanoi heard on Dec. 6.

Attendees heard that digital textbooks should be developed to better serve learners' and teachers' needs, as well as administrators.

The conference was organised by the Ministry of Education and Training to discuss the development of digital textbooks for use on PCs, laptops, tablets and phones.

According to Deputy Minister Tran Quang Quy, digital textbooks will be an indispensable learning tool in the 21st century.

Jose Lloyd Espiritu from the Philippines Vibal Publish House said students are becoming more technology-savvy and will increasingly rely on e-learning tools.

A pilot project in which digital textbooks were provided to 60 schools in the Republic of Korea proved that e-learning will be readily embraced by students, said Seyeoung Chun, from Korea Chungnam National University .

"It is high time we think more about digital textbooks rather than printed ones," said Ngo Tran Ai, director of the Vietnam Education Publishing House./.