Athabasca University's eText Initiative is intended to assist AU in improving our online learning environment and providing a single access point for all course materials.

AU’s first concerted effort to move online appeared in 2002 in the Strategic University Plan. The supporting e-Learning Plan emphasized that course development should be based primarily on online delivery and that off-line options should be derived from primary online course components. In the years following AU’s strategic decision to go online, a series of initiatives such as eduSource, the Digital Reading Room, E-Learning Accelerator, and projects under the Community Adjustment Fund (CAF) and the Knowledge Infrastructure Program (KIP) were used to integrate Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into the teaching and learning environment .

As part of this continued strategy, Athabasca University will proceed with the provision of eTexts, where such media form exists, for all textbooks that are required in its courses. This initiative will assist the university in attaining its commitment to being a fully online university and offering enhanced access and flexibility to quality learning.

Where eTexts are adopted, AU will not be providing textbooks at all (other than for accommodation). A link to the publisher web site will be embedded in the Moodle course, from which students may order the bound book if they wish (often at a discount). As an alternative,  all eTexts are fully printable by students..