| Sumario: | Background: Compared to paper textbooks, digital textbooks (DTs) offer greater accessibility, multimodal representations, and interactivity, which might boost personalized and social learning and greater motivation. However, past DT studies showed mixed results: more learning versus non‐significant results versus less learning. Objectives: Hence, this meta‐analysis (a) determines the overall effect of DTs (vs. paper textbooks) on student motivation, and (b) identifies moderators that account for different effect sizes across the original studies. Methods: We conducted a random‐effects meta‐analysis of 42 effect sizes from 27 experimental/quasi‐experimental studies of 3590 participants. Results and Conclusions: Compared to paper textbooks, DTs boosted students' intrinsic motivation (g = 0.536) but not their extrinsic motivation. DT effects were larger for (a) collectivist cultures than individualist cultures; and (b) students at higher educational levels. Implications: Educators and policymakers can consider how to help students use DTs to improve their motivation, especially starting with intrinsic motivation in collectivist cultures among older students. Practitioner Notes: What is currently known about this topic? ○Digital textbooks provide greater accessibility, multimodal representations, and interactive functions than paper textbooks, which may support personalized learning, social learning, and student motivation. But they may also create distractions, cognitive overload, or reduced attention if poorly designed or implemented.○Numerous empirical studies have explored the effect of the use of digital textbooks on students' learning motivation versus the use of paper textbooks; however, the results varied greatly in different studies.What does this paper add? ○The meta‐analysis findings show that digital textbooks have a positive overall effect on students' learning motivation, especially intrinsic motivation.○The motivational benefits of digital textbooks are stronger in collectivist cultural contexts and among students at higher educational levels.Implications for practice or policy ○Teachers should integrate digital textbooks with motivational scaffolding, such as timely feedback, goal setting, progress monitoring, and reflection activities.○Policymakers and school leaders should develop digital textbook quality standards that address both technical usability and pedagogical value.○Education authorities should provide professional development to help teachers integrate digital textbooks into instruction in ways that sustain students' motivation.○Digital textbook implementation should be gradual and evidence‐informed, beginning in contexts where motivational benefits may be stronger, such as higher education settings and collectivist cultural contexts.
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