OER Digest – November 21st, 2018

From Mo Nyamweya, SPARC | Volume 70 | November 21st, 2018

With updates from Tanya Spilovoy, Kaitlyn Vitez and Cailyn Nagle

THE OER DIGEST

Your bi-weekly newsletter for open education updates, opportunities, and reminders

NORTH DAKOTA AUDIT: According to a new report from the state auditor’s office, North Dakota’s investment of $110,000 in OER has saved students at least 10 times that, and likely much more. Looking at the first two years of the initiative, the audit documented at least 650 courses across the public higher education system that exclusively used OER, affecting at least 15,000 students and saving between $1.1 million and $2.4 million in textbook costs. State legislators released an accompanying report with additional data from institutions that put savings related to the initiative north of $10 million. Experts say that this is the first independent audit of a state OER initiative and that it confirms the case advocates have made.

STUDENT HABITS: A newly published survey conducted during the Fall 2015 semester at American University shows that rising textbook prices affect students at expensive private universities similarly as those attending less expensive, public institutions. Habits including not purchasing textbooks, resorting to illegal downloads, and poor study habits were all present within AU’s student population. OER proves to be a promising solution to these issues.

OER COURSE SEARCH: Starting in Spring 2019 for some campuses and Fall 2019 for all campuses, University of Hawaii instructors will be able to give their courses a “TXT0” attribute to indicate that the course has adopted an open textbook or moved to using only free materials. This implementation is meant to help students make informed choices regarding their course selections. Meanwhile, commercial provider Civitas Learning has launched a new OER search tool within their academic planning platform, which has been piloted by both California State University System and Grand Rapids Community College in Michigan.

THANKS: To those celebrating this week, we’d like to wish you a happy Thanksgiving from the OER Digest team! We are thankful for everyone out there working to advance the vision of open education to benefit students, and especially to those who take the time to share news about your work with us. Help us build the Digest by sending in tips, news, or events to oerdigest@gmail.com.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

SURVEY: The OCLC is collecting responses for their 2018 Open Access Content Survey until early January. Click through to participate!

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The Cascadia Open Education Summit has made a call for proposals. The summit takes place April 17-18, 2019 and proposals are due January 25, 2019.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The call for proposals for the Creative Commons Global Summit in Lisbon is now open. The Summit takes place May 9-11, 2019 and proposals are due on December 10, 2018.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The Library Publishing Coalition is hosting their annual forum in May of next year; proposals are accepted here.

REGISTER: the first Arizona Regional OER Conference will be held in Phoenix on Friday, February 22, 2019, followed by a half-day OER Leadership Strategic Planning Summit on Saturday, February 23, 2019.  

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

Quick snapshots of those making change on the ground level, and those impacted

FROM PENNSYLVANIA: “We decided, why not write our own materials 100 percent?”

At first, they considered building this new product on Canvas, a web portal for enrolled students. However, Taub-Pervizpour—who’d helped other faculty members explore the use of OERs in their classrooms—was “very convincing” that the OER path was the right one, Leisawitz says.

“It’s a matter of equity,” he says. “It’s free and open to anyone who wants to use it. We’re very happy if people outside Muhlenberg want to use it to learn Italian on their own. Since we’re going through the trouble, why not make it available to other people for free so they too can learn Italian?” Read More >

FROM UTAH: Salt Lake Community College’s mathematics department recently won the Digital Learning Innovation award from the Online Learning Consortium, presented on Nov. 13th during the annual OLC Accelerate Conference. “With the integration of OER into our learning management system, students have immediate access to learning materials from the first day of class,” said SLCC mathematics department Associate Dean Suzanne Mozdy. Read more >

HOT OFF THE PRESS

Each edition, we’ll highlight an interesting, new, openly-licensed resource

BCcampus and the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Learning Centres recently released University 101: Study, Strategize and Succeed, edited by Christina Page. The book helps readers create a foundation for post-secondary studies by learning how to learn.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

Open textbook pilot should be made permanent | The Baltimore Sun

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-op-1121-open-textbooks-20181119-story.html

Interesting to Consider >>

Open Educational Resources: What We Don’t Know | Inside Higher Ed

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/views/2018/11/14/what-we-dont-yet-know-about-open-educational-resources-opinion?utm_source=Inside+High

Does OER Actually Improve Learning? | EdSurge

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-10-11-does-oer-actually-improve-learning

Why do textbooks cost so much and how can you spend less on them? | The Global Dispatch

http://www.theglobaldispatch.com/why-do-textbooks-cost-so-much-and-how-can-you-spend-less-on-them/

The Coming Wave of Affordable Textbooks | The Scholarly Kitchen

https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2018/11/19/the-coming-wave-of-affordable-textbooks/

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Have suggestions for the next edition? Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com, or tweet us @OERdigest.

The OER Digest is a public newsletter distributed to a broad group of stakeholders across the higher education community. You can join the open Google Group or check out the distribution list here.

OER Digest: November 8th, 2018

From Kaitlyn Vitez, USPIRG | Volume 69 | November 8th, 2018

With updates from Camille Thomas and Mo Nyamweya

THE OER DIGEST

Your bi-weekly newsletter for open education updates, opportunities, and reminders

ELECTION RESULTS: The midterm elections this past Tuesday offer new opportunities to push for accessible and affordable education. One notable race was in Colorado,  where former U.S. Representative Jared Polis, a sponsor of the Affordable College Textbook Act, was elected governor.

TECH SUPPORT: The 2018 Campus Computing Survey revealed that two-thirds of IT budgets have not recovered from cuts after the Great Recession, but had good news for supporters of OER. 64% of colleges had programs to encourage OER use, up 30% from 2014.

FACULTY-TO-FACULTY ADOPTION: Steven Bell of the Temple University Libraries released a new survey of 1,400 undergraduate instructors,  “Course Materials Adoption: A Faculty Survey and Outlook for the OER Landscape.” The survey found that 38% of faculty who made the choice to use OER got recommendations from their peers, followed by 34% from a repository and less than 15% from a LibGuide. On the whole, the survey found that librarians are the least-consulted resource available to faculty, and that faculty relied overwhelming on the largest OER sites like OpenStax and the Open Textbook Library to identify high-quality resources quickly.

COMPARING COMMERCIAL “OER”: Abbey Elder of the Iowa State Library has released a new tool for comparing commercial platforms that use open content.While there is still heated debate within the open community about the role and impact of these products, the spreadsheet provides helpful comparison of platforms on the CARE criteria, the source of the base text, and more. The document is open for members of the community to enter their own research and experiences with these commercial products.

STUDENT REVIEWS: According to a new survey by FlatWorld, 15% of students used student loans to pay for books; that rose to 25% among students who spent more than $600 during the semester on course materials. The survey also found that faculty members who assign materials under $30 are 10 times more likely to get a positive review from students in their classes.

CRITICAL OPENNESS: Participants of OpenCon 2018 engaged in discussions about “critical openness”. As the open movement evolves, advocates seek ways to ensure open knowledge structures do not repeat historically exclusive and imposing practices. Educator and researcher, Monica Brown, reflected on her experience in a blog post. Organized by SPARC and the Right to Research Coalition, OpenCon seeks to bring together folks from diverse disciplines and backgrounds to inspire and motivate the Open community through networking and action planning.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

SAVE THE DATE: OpenEd19 will be October 30th – November 1st, 2019 in Phoenix, AZ.

REGISTER: Indiana is hosting a #GoOpen Summit in January 2019. Registration is open here.

REGISTER: Illinois is hosting a Community College OER Summit on November 30th, 2018. Registration closes on November 16th.

REGISTER: Oregon is holding an OER Symposium on May 17th, 2019. Registration is open here.

PROPOSALS: The call for proposals for sessions at the Library Publishing Forum in Vancouver closes on November 30th. The conference will be held May 8-10th, 2019.

PROPOSALS: The call for proposals and registration is open for the Wisconsin E-ffordability Summit on March 27th-28th, 2019. Proposals are due on December 3rd, 2018.

PROPOSALS: Organizers of the OER19 conference in Galway, Ireland on April 10-11th, 2019, have opened up their call for proposals.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

Quick snapshots of those making change on the ground level, and those impacted

FROM PENNSYLVANIA: “Assistant Professor and Department Chair of Kemp Library Megan P. Smith is currently working hard to convince professors to provide OER for students. “[East Stroudsburg University] students come from a variety of financial backgrounds and a lot of them are in places where they cannot afford even cheaper textbooks of 20 or 30 dollars” she says. “This is a part of financial aid that faculty can directly affect by easing the debt of students.” Read more >

FROM TEXAS: “These alternatives provide many benefits and incentives to professors. Since everyone in a class can access them, it can improve learning outcomes and allows classes to adapt. “Faculty appreciate the opportunity to try something new,” Open Educational Resources Coordinator Ariana Santiago said. “I see people pulling from multiple sources and open textbooks.” Read more >

HOT OFF THE PRESS

Each edition, we’ll highlight an interesting, new, openly-licensed resource

Apurva Ashok and Zoe Wake Hyde have released The Rebus Guide to Publishing Open Textbooks (So Far). The “book-in-progress” is informed by, and based upon, their past two years of work with the open community on publishing OER, and will be further edited and expanded in the Rebus Community Forum.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

The Academic Minute | WAMC https://academicminute.org/2018/11/william-blick-queensborough-community-college-open-educational-resources-at-community-colleges/

Interesting to Consider >>

Could OER Help Queer Students? | New America https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/oer-for-lgbtq/

The Need For An Open Assessment Platform | Medium https://medium.com/@bodilyrobert/the-need-for-an-open-assessment-platform-in-higher-education-7a6d718fb0b9

What Textbook Companies Will Do To Get Professors to Buy Their Product | The Daily Northwestern https://dailynorthwestern.com/2018/10/25/campus/publishing-companies-try-pretty-hard-to-keep-nu-professors-business/

How Open Education Relates to Socioeconomics | The NYU Dispatch https://wp.nyu.edu/dispatch/2018/10/29/how-open-education-relates-to-socioeconomics/

Is Open Content Enough? Where Open Advocates Say the Movement Must Go Next | EdSurge https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-10-30-is-open-content-enough-where-oer-advocates-say-the-movement-must-go-next

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Have suggestions for the next edition? Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com, or tweet us @OERdigest.

The OER Digest is a public newsletter distributed to a broad group of stakeholders across the higher education community. You can join the open Google Group or check out the distribution list here.

OER Digest – October 26th, 2018

From Ethan Senack, Creative Commons USA | Volume 68 | October 26th, 2018

With updates from Sarah Sweeney and Mo Nyamweya

THE OER DIGEST

Your bi-weekly newsletter for open education updates, opportunities, and reminders

HAPPY OPEN ACCESS WEEK: Around the world, advocates are celebrating open access to research, educational materials and other information, under this year’s theme, “Designing Equitable Foundations for Open Knowledge.” Many institutions and organizations are hosting events; one major highlight being an OpenCon satellite event at the United Nations, where speakers from the World Bank, UNESCO, and WIPO joined open advocates from around the world to discuss the relationship between openness and the UN’s sustainable development goals. See more on Twitter.

REFLECTING: Achieving the Dream recently published a new report-back on their OER initiative at 38 college campuses, analyzing the academic and economic outcomes of increased OER use, as well as challenges of implementation. Some interesting finding include:

• The cost of traditional textbooks is a burden for students and can account for up to 80% of the cost of college attendance for Pell or other grant aid recipients.
• While only 12% of students reported that they have withdrawn from a course because they could not afford required materials, 41% responded that OER courses have a significant impact on their ability to afford college.
• Although 62% responded on the survey that access to technology and/or the internet impacts their ability to complete coursework, fewer than 10% cited this as a challenge for OER courses.

ADD TO WATCHLIST: A new video series from ISTE and New America dives in on OER implementation in PreK-12 settings, interviewing state and district leaders, covering everything from “Changing Educator Perspectives on OER” to “OER Sustainability Models”. The series is available here.

CAMPUSES OUT FRONT: A host of campuses made headlines this week for their OER work, from University of Missouri – Kansas City, Mount Wachusett Community College, Los Angeles Pierce College, and Valdosta State University reporting back on their campus adoption initiatives, to the University System of Maryland’s new OER grant, and a Virginia Tech open textbook gaining steam. Students at MSU McMaster and at Bay College also made news for their OER efforts. (Don’t see your campus news story listed here? Send us an email at oerdigest@gmail.com.)

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

REGISTER: Indiana is hosting a #GoOpen Summit in January of 2019. Registration is open here.

PROPOSALS: The call for proposals for sessions at the Library Publishing Forum in Vancouver is now open. The conference will be held May 8-10th of 2019.

PROPOSALS: Organizers of the OER19 conference in Galway, Ireland on April 10-11th, 2019, have opened up their call for proposals.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

Quick snapshots of those making change on the ground level, and those impacted

FROM CALIFORNIA: “Compared to what I spent on course materials in previous quarters, $387 is not much… This does not include “class fees,” which are supplemental charges made to a student’s bill when they take a class in physical education ($35), music ($250) and studio art ($50-100), to name a few… Here comes at least a partial answer to the question: “Why do we see a lack of socio-economic diversity in the arts?” There are financial barriers — both in the cost of textbooks and in the supplemental charges some classes carry — to pursuing music and visual arts here. Quarter after quarter, it adds up.This is especially true for students who have to send money back home to support their families — something not uncommon in the low-income community on campus. In addition to managing a full course load, these students balance their schedule with one or more jobs so that they are able to provide for their families. Each dollar matters.” Read More >

HOT OFF THE PRESS

Each edition, we’ll highlight an interesting, new, openly-licensed resource

An OER working group with participants from UT Libraries, Texas Digital Library, and COERLL published a series of talking points, sample outreach materials, and other tools broken down by particular audiences – students, faculty, administrators, and more. Check out “Talkin’ ‘Bout OER” here.  

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

OER promotes student success | Community College Daily

http://www.ccdaily.com/2018/10/oer-promotes-student-success/

Interesting to Consider >>

A Message to College Leaders: Don’t Overlook Resources Right Under Your Nose | Chronicle of Higher Education

https://www.chronicle.com/article/A-Message-to-College-Leaders-/244879/

OER Is Growing At Religious Colleges, But Raises Unique Challenges | EdSurge https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-10-24-oer-is-growing-at-religious-colleges-but-raises-unique-challenges

Introduction to Open Education: Towards a Human Rights Theory | IJOER

https://www.ijoer.org/introduction-to-open-education-towards-a-human-rights-theory/

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Have suggestions for the next edition? Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com, or tweet us @OERdigest.

The OER Digest is a public newsletter distributed to a broad group of stakeholders across the higher education community. You can join the open Google Group or check out the distribution list here.

OER Digest: October 4th, 2018

From Kaitlyn Vitez, U.S. PIRG | Volume 67 | October 4th, 2018

With updates from Karen Lauritsen and Camille Thomas

THE OER DIGEST

Your bi-weekly newsletter for open education updates, opportunities, and reminders

CONGRATS: On Tuesday, news broke that LibreTexts has been awarded  the first grant from the Open Textbook Pilot, a program which open advocates secured in last year’s federal budget. The U.S. Department of Education elected to grant all available funds – nearly $5 million – to the nonprofit. Based at the University of California at Davis, LibreTexts will use the funds to expand its STEM open textbook library over the next three years, as well as develop more materials for career and technical education. They will also create a “Z-degree” pathway for a bachelors in chemistry.

POLICY UPDATE: Meanwhile, the budget bill renewing the Open Textbook Pilot for a second year was officially signed into law last Friday. Under instructions from Congress, the second round of $5 million will be distributed in at least 20 smaller awards, as opposed to one large one. The timeline for the second competition has yet to be established.  In Colorado, applications are now open for their state grant program, which was created in the state budget earlier this year. Read more and submit your proposal by October 31st here.

PUTTING STUDENTS FIRST:  A coalition of open nonprofits have launched a new social media campaign, #ForStudentsForever, to “shift focus to where it needs to be: on making sure that students have open access to the materials they need to succeed in class.” You can read more at their website or follow the conversation on Twitter.

NEW RESOURCE: The Open Textbook Network has created an open textbook publishing curriculum. Content includes an orientation to publishing, how to structure a textbook, institutional resources, and reflective questions for guiding your program development. The course is openly available and OTN members will be invited to live sessions. Get started with a short intro to the course here.

EXCELLENCE IN OPEN ED: BCcampus has recognized Dr. Maja Krzic of the University of British Columbia with their latest “Award for Excellence,” for her work to launch the Virtual Soil Science Learning Resources (VSSLR) group with 30 Canadian soil scientists, media developers, students, and educators to develop open access tools.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

JOBS: OpenStax is hiring for a number of positions, from product manager to user experience analyst. Check out their full listing to learn more and apply.

#OPENED18: The Digest team will be at #OpenEd18 in Niagara Falls producing a special video edition. Email us at oerdigest@gmail.com if you’d like to contribute a short update!

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

Quick snapshots of those making change on the ground level, and those impacted

FROM BRITISH COLUMBIA: The BC Federation of Students has made a $30,000 gift to BCcampus to support their work to develop and promote open textbooks. “OERs remove the barrier of the pay-to-succeed model, creating equitable access to our classrooms and promoting open pedagogical practices that support student success in an inclusive way,” said Aran Armutlu, chairperson of BCFS. Read more>>>

FROM MARYLAND: MaryPIRG board member and former textbooks campaign coordinator Gaurav Dayal opines on how the latest textbook publisher tactics hold students back: “Access codes go against the fundamental American ideal of equal opportunity… We students tolerated high cost of textbooks despite its corrupt industry; however, we cannot and must not sit idly by as companies force us to pay to do homework.” Read more >>>

FROM TENNESSEE: Partnerships at University of Tennessee Knoxville were recognized for raising awareness and supporting faculty through the Libraries’ grant program. “I thought it would be a good chance to get some help finding better quality resources than the ones I have used,” said Associate Professor of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, Joanne Logan. Read more >>>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

Each edition, we’ll highlight an interesting, new, openly-licensed resource

Daryl Janzen at the University of Saskatchewan has released Introduction to Electricity, Magnetism, and Circuits, an adaptation of OpenStax’s University Physics. The textbook promises to “making physics concepts interesting and accessible to students while maintaining the mathematical rigour inherent in the subject.”

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

Open Ed Southern Symposium Opening Keynote | Jasmine Roberts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BvuclK4nuM&feature=youtu.be

Interesting to Consider >>

Latest Textbook Editions Put An Extra Burden On Students |The Pitt News https://pittnews.com/article/135562/uncategorized/latest-textbook-editions-put-an-extra-burden-on-students/

Textbooks Arrive Late | LA Pierce College Roundup http://theroundupnews.com/2018/09/19/textbooks-arrive-late/

A Statement of Academic Purpose | Chuck Pearson https://chuckpearson.wordpress.com/2018/10/01/a-statement-of-academic-purpose/

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Have suggestions for the next edition? Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com, or tweet us @OERdigest.

The OER Digest is a public newsletter distributed to a broad group of stakeholders across the higher education community. You can join the open Google Group or check out the distribution list here.

OER Digest – September 20th, 2018

From Ethan Senack, Creative Commons USA | Volume 66 | September 20th, 2018

With updates from Nicole Allen

THE OER DIGEST

Your bi-weekly newsletter for open education updates, opportunities, and reminders

FEDERAL UPDATE: Last week, Congress unveiled its final Fiscal Year 2019 education budget, including proposed renewal of the $5 million Open Textbook Pilot grant program first funded earlier this year. Along with renewed funding, Congress responded to concerns voiced by the OER community by adding more explicit instructions for the Department of Education this time around, including requiring a larger number of awards, a longer application period, and clarifying open licensing requirements. The bill currently awaits a vote in the House. Meanwhile, the Department is expected to announce the first round of awards by the end of next week.

STATE UPDATE: A bill in California requiring textbook publishers to take better measures to inform students of the cost of book, including to “post in a prominent location on their Internet Web sites, among other things, a detailed description of how the newest edition differs from the previous edition.”

NEW BUSINESS: OpenStax announced the creation of a new series of six openly licensed business textbooks, the first of which was released this week. The series will cover nearly all the textbooks required for an Associate of Arts degree in Business.

FREQUENTLY ASKED: Open Oregon published a new FAQ tool this week, a collaborative effort aimed at supporting librarians and faculty exploring OER. The site not only includes Q and A, but a ‘Who to Contact” page for all of their campuses in state, “Words of Encouragement,” and more.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

CONFERENCE: The Michigan OER Summit is tomorrow, September 21st. See the agenda here.

REGISTER: Early bird registration for the Illinois OER Summit on November 30th is now open! More information is available on their website.

REPORT BACK: The Canadian Association of Research Libraries organized a full-day discussion towards enhancing Canadian library involvement in OER. Read the report-out.

OPPORTUNITY: SPARC is looking for mentors to join its Open Education Leadership Program. Applications are due by November 1.

OPPORTUNITY: The Open Textbook Network has opened applications for their inaugural OER Librarian Certificate program. Find out more here.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

Quick snapshots of those making change on the ground level, and those impacted

FROM ILLINOIS: “Studies have shown that courses that use OER have lower percentage of students in a class who get a D or an F, or who withdraw. Also, one study suggests that the use of OER may positively impact disadvantaged student populations at greater rates than the general populations,” she said. “This means that OER is not only saving students money, but contributing to student success overall.” Read more >

FROM PENNSYLVANIA: “In a perfect world, the sharing of knowledge would be accessible to everyone. Students wouldn’t have to pay to do homework online when they’re already paying tens of thousands of dollars to attend university in the first place.” Read more >

HOT OFF THE PRESS

Each edition, we’ll highlight an interesting, new, openly-licensed resource

VT Publishing and the University Libraries at Virginia Tech announced the finalized publication of it’s CC BY-SA textbook Electromagnetics Volume 1, by Steven W. Ellingson. The book, as described, “is intended to serve as a primary textbook for a one-semester first course in undergraduate engineering electromagnetics within the third year of a bachelor of science degree program,” and comes with openly-licensed accompanying problem sets, a solution manual, and LaTeX source files.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

An open-source solution for soaring college costs | the Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/an-open-source-solution-for-soaring-college-costs/2018/09/12/9330d670-b6ae-11e8-a2c5-3187f427e253_story.html?utm_term=.e435b0da3a0e

Interesting to Consider >>

Traditional Knowledge and the Commons | CC Blog

https://creativecommons.org/2018/09/18/traditional-knowledge-and-the-commons-the-open-movement-listening-and-learning/

Students fight back against sky-high textbook costs | Okanagan Life

https://okanaganlife.com/students-fight-back-sky-high-textbook-costs/

AMS Textbook Broke campaign urges university, professors to expand access to affordable learning materials | The Ubyssey

https://www.ubyssey.ca/news/AMS-textbook-broke-campaign-urges-access-to-affordable-learning-materials/

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Have suggestions for the next edition? Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com, or tweet us @OERdigest.

The OER Digest is a public newsletter distributed to a broad group of stakeholders across the higher education community. You can join the open Google Group or check out the distribution list here.

OER Digest – September 6th, 2018

From Mo Nyamweya, SPARC | Volume 65 | September 6th, 2018

With updates from Nicole Allen, Dave Dillon, Nicole Finkbeiner, and Kaitlyn Vitez

THE OER DIGEST

Your bi-weekly newsletter for open education updates, opportunities, and reminders

FEDERAL POLICY UPDATE: Applications for the U.S. Department of Education’s Open Textbook Pilot grant program were due last week, and the 1-3 successful proposals are expected to be announced by the end of the month. Meanwhile, things are heating up on Capitol Hill as Congress enters final negotiations on the Fiscal Year 2019 education budget. Members of the OER community have been writing, calling, and tweeting elected officials to advocate renewal of the $5 million Open Textbook Pilot. Congressional champions circulated a letter recommending language that would also strengthen open licensing requirements, increase the number of potential awards, and lengthen the application window for future grants. Letters of support were also sent by SPARC and by student leaders organized by USPIRG. News on the outcome of these efforts could come as early as next week.

ZED CRED: Kwantlen Polytechnic University has introduced their second degree with zero textbook costs. Now, along with a certificate in arts, KPU has added their adult graduation diploma to the “Zed Cred” program. KPU’s adult education graduation program enables students to complete their grade 12 equivalency credits using open resources, eliminating a costly financial barrier for adult learners. BCcampus gave KPU a $35,000 grant to help run the program.

NEW OER SEARCH TOOL: SUNY Geneseo’s Milne Library has developed and launched a new search tool called OASIS (Openly Available Sources Integrated Search), which can access 52 different OER sources that contain more than 150,000 items. OASIS offers users the ability to search a range of materials, including textbooks, courses and corresponding materials, interactive simulations, public domain books, audiobooks, modules, open access books, videos and podcasts on a variety of topics. Users can also limit searches by license or by faculty review.

OER PLAYBOOK: Lumen Learning has released their OER Champion Playbook, which provides tips, how-tos, examples and tools intended to help OER leaders and advocates build effective OER initiatives. You can sign up here or access the Playbook directly here.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

FELLOWSHIP: U.S. PIRG is seeking a higher education fellow to organize student governments in support of OER, among other higher education issues. Interested applicants (or current seniors who will graduate soon) can apply here.

REMINDER: SPARC is seeking help from the OER community to document the cumulative student savings through OER to present at the OpenEd Conference. The deadline to contribute data from your campus or project is September 26, and you can sign up through this form.

DUE SOON: MERLOT and the Online Learning Consortium are seeking proposals for the OLC Innovate conference on April 3rd-5th, 2019. This year’s theme is “Moving Mountains in Digital, Blended, and Online Learning.” Proposals are due by September 12th. Submit here.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

Quick snapshots of those making change on the ground level, and those impacted

FROM LOUISIANA: With more professors switching from traditional textbooks to OER over the last year, students across the Louisiana Community and Technical College System saved $2.7 million. “It’s going to make teaching a little more efficient. Students can get it immediately. Now there’s no waiting. You get the resource the second you click on the link.” Read more >>>

#TEXTBOOKBROKE: Ontario post-secondary institutions have announced their own #textbookbroke campaign, hoping to highlight the devastating costs of textbooks. Students will use social media to encourage institutions, faculty, and governments to fund, adopt, or adapt OER. “eCampus Ontario has created an entire library of free options… We are asking instructors and institutions to use the library and remove the burden of textbooks from the backs of students, figuratively and literally.” Read more >>>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

Each edition, we’ll highlight an interesting, new, openly-licensed resource

Georgia Southwestern State University has released a set of ancillary materials for Experimental Psychology, created by Judy Orton Grissett. The materials include slide presentations, test banks, and online resources and they are intended to be used for psychology research methods courses.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

What students should know about OER and why professors should use them | The Lantern

https://www.thelantern.com/2018/08/letter-to-the-editor-what-students-should-know-about-oer-and-why-professors-should-use-them/

How to find, curate and assess OER | eSchool News

https://www.eschoolnews.com/2018/09/06/how-to-find-curate-and-assess-oer/?all

Interesting to Consider >>

4 Questions authors are asking about open textbooks | Text & Academic Authors Association

https://blog.taaonline.net/2018/08/4-questions-authors-are-asking-about-open-textbooks/

OpenStax partner schools expected to save students $17.4M on textbooks | Rice University

http://news.rice.edu/2018/08/22/openstax-partner-schools-expected-to-save-students-17-4m-on-textbooks/

Outrage over university’s $999 online textbook | Inside Higher Ed

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/08/28/universitys-999-online-textbook-creates-confusion-and-outrage

6 trends shaping the near and far future of higher ed | eCampus News

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2018/08/28/6-trends-shaping-the-near-and-far-future-of-higher-ed

The questionable ethics of the textbook market | The Crow’s Nest

http://crowsneststpete.com/2018/08/27/the-questionable-ethics-of-the-textbook-market/

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Have suggestions for the next edition? Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com, or tweet us @OERdigest.

The OER Digest is a public newsletter distributed to a broad group of stakeholders across the higher education community. You can join the open Google Group or check out the distribution list here.

OER Digest: August 23rd, 2018

From Kaitlyn Vitez, U.S. PIRG | Volume 64 | August 23rd, 2018

With updates from Tim Holt, Mo Nyamweya, and Camille Thomas

THE OER DIGEST

Your bi-weekly newsletter for open education updates, opportunities, and reminders

LAST CALL: The call for proposals for the US Department of Education’s $5 million OER grant program closes next week on August 29th. Last week, officials held a Q&A session for interested applicants with technical questions; you can watch a recording here.

STATE UPDATES: California bills supporting open are moving forward: AB2385 was sent to the governor’s desk; it urges textbook publishers to inform students and faculty about information such as the substantive differences in editions to help cut costs. SB947, which would require the state Department of Education to develop digital literacy best practices for school districts, passed through the Assembly.  

LEARNING REGISTRY: The Department of Education announced that it would end support for the Learning Registry, a public index of metadata about learning resources.The project was launched in 2011, and played a role in the #GoOpen campaign. The Department will post the code base, documentation, and archived metadata on GitHub after closing submissions for new data on September 1st. Federal support ends September 24th.

NOW TRENDING: Educause released its 2018 Horizon Report, listing OER as one of the key trends accelerating technology adoption in higher education for the next three to five years. “Perhaps the most powerful potential outcome of OER is the opportunity for institutions to develop a broader set of investments in course development and infrastructure”.

REPORT SAVINGS: At OpenEd 2013 OER leaders Nicole Allen and David Wiley issued a challenge to the OER community to reach $1 billion in student savings by 2018. SPARC announced an effort to collect information on whether the community reached this goal. Click here to learn more and sign up to help.

LOWER PRICES?: The National Association of College Bookstores (NACS) has released the findings from its annual survey of textbook costs. The survey concluded that annual spending on course materials has dropped to a low of $484, spurred by “increased use of free and lower-cost digital and rental materials.” Advocates point to the 32% of students who use OER and other free materials as driving the downward trend. Others question the finding that only 17% of students download texts for free, speculating that unreported illegal downloads may be nearly twice that number.

ANOTHER MILESTONE: After OpenStax declared last month that its books were in use at half of American colleges and universities, Lumen Learning announced that in June, more than 100,000 students were using its products per term. The company has doubled enrollment in its courses each term since it launched in 2012.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

LEADOERS: SPARC announced the 2018-2019 cohort of fellows in their Open Education Leadership Program. These 24 academic librarians will complete a yearlong program to strengthen OER leadership skills.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: MERLOT and the Online Learning Consortium are seeking proposals for the OLC Innovate conference on April 3rd-5th, 2019. This year’s theme is “Moving Mountains in Digital, Blended, and Online Learning.” Proposals are due by September 12th. Submit here: https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/attend-2019/innovate/cfp/

LAST CALL: Early bird registration for the OpenEd conference in Niagara Falls ends on August 31st. Register here: https://openedconference.org/2018/

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

Quick snapshots of those making change on the ground level, and those impacted

WRITING FROM CALIFORNIA: “The average amount that students spend on textbooks throughout their entire undergraduate experience at [CSU Channel Islands] is $6,206.67,” says openCI Ambassador Program faculty coordinator Jacob Jenkins. For students who must work their way through college, not having to pay for textbooks can be a game-changer. Jacobs explains that many of CSUCI’s students are first-generation and Pell Grant recipients who hold down a job while going to school. Read more >>>

PODCASTING FROM NEW YORK: Theater professor Mya Brown talks about finding and developing OER with her students at SUNY Oswego on “OER Stories” with Felice Banner. “There’s this misconception that if [the textbook] is not from some big [publishing] house, that it has less value… but the wealth of knowledge from people that are currently working in the industry, to me, was just invaluable.” Listen here >>>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

Each edition, we’ll highlight an interesting, new, openly-licensed resource

Washington State University has published Essentials of Abnormal Psychology, written by Alexis Bridley and Lee W. Daffin Jr. and edited by Carrie Cuttler. The book covers five key categories of psychological disorders and lays out different models of abnormal psychology, plus an overview of clinical assessment, diagnosis, and treatment.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

Local schools tackle aging textbook problem, shortages by going online l FOX25 OK City

https://okcfox.com/news/back-to-school/local-schools-tackle-aging-textbook-problem-shortages-by-going-online

Interesting to Consider >>

Why a professor buys his books from the bookstore | Chuck Pearson https://chuckpearson.wordpress.com/2018/08/20/why-a-professor-buys-his-books-from-the-bookstore/

New semester, same burden | U.S. PIRG
https://medium.com/u-s-pirg/new-semester-same-old-tricks-8ea46b54f456

The campus push for open educational resources continues into 2018 | The Arbiter
http://arbiteronline.com/the-campus-push-for-open-educational-resources-continues-into-2018

Op-Ed: Dual Credit Programs – It Could be Better | El Paso Herald-Post

https://elpasoheraldpost.com/op-ed-dual-credit-programs-it-could-be-better/

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Have suggestions for the next edition? Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com, or tweet us @OERdigest.

The OER Digest is a public newsletter distributed to a broad group of stakeholders across the higher education community. You can join the open Google Group or check out the distribution list here.

OER Digest – August 9th, 2018

From Ethan Senack, Creative Commons USA | Volume 63 | August 9th, 2018

With updates from Kendra Lake, Nicole Allen, and Mo Nyamweya

THE OER DIGEST

Your bi-weekly newsletter for open education updates, opportunities, and reminders

FEDERAL UPDATE: The formal call for proposals around the US Department of Education’s $5 million OER grant program was announced late last month. Applications are due August 29th. The Department stated their intent to only make 1-3 individual grants from the pool, requiring applications to be submitted by consortia, and seeking to prioritize “technology-based” strategies. OER champions in the Senate sent a letter raising concerns with the limited number of grants and requesting the strongly maintain open licensing requirements for all materials created through the grant.

• Additional Reading: Lindsey Tepe and Sabia Prescott of New America have an in-depth analysis of the implementation process here >

GOING MAINSTREAM: The open textbook publisher OpenStax announced this month that their textbooks are in use at 48% of all US colleges, and at an additional 1,150 schools abroad. By their count, that totals around 2.2 million students, saving $177 million on textbook costs.

FROM INSIDE THE INDUSTRY: Continuing the recent trend of traditional publishers conducting studies that conclude textbook prices are too high, both VitalSource and Cengage are out with new research on the subject. Some findings include:

• 85% percent of current and former students say that their textbook and course material expenses are financially stressful, more so than meals and food. – Cengage

• 43% percent of students have taken out a loan; and 31 percent have taken fewer classes to save on textbooks costs. – Cengage

• 85% of students admit they have either postponed buying required materials or chosen not to buy them at all, and almost all (92%) the students who delayed or skipped buying textbooks cited costs as the reason for their decision. – VitalSource

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

REGISTER: Michigan is hosting an OER Summit on September 21st, in Port Huron. Register here: http://www.mioersummit.org/

VOTE: There are a number of OER-focused panels up for consideration at next year’s SXSW, including “How Students Created the Open Education Movement”, “Making Open Educational Resources Work for You”, and “Scaling the OER Movement for Growth and Impact”. Create an account to vote on these sessions or other OER ones here: https://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote

REGISTER: Registration for Big Ideas Fest, this Nov 29 – Dec 1 in Washington, DC, is now open. Register here: http://www.bigideasfest.org/

JOB: The Open Textbook Network is hiring a Community Manager. See the description: z.umn.edu/communitymanager

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

Quick snapshots of those making change on the ground level, and those impacted

FROM ARKANSAS: “I used an free, open, and online textbook in my Introduction to Sociology class this past semester, just as I have done for last five years,” commented Dr. Kelly Damphousse, chancellor. “My students have the option of purchasing a very inexpensive version of the book or to download the book, for free, to their phone or other device. I believe that these kinds of textbooks increase the likelihood of student success in the classroom.” Read More >

FROM NEW YORK: “Learning outcomes for a course should drive the instructions, not a commercial textbook. Sometimes even a free OER textbook does not entirely address the learning outcomes. I tell faculty that they may need chapters from several OER textbooks, supplemented with library resources, like e-books, journal articles and videos to create the new material.” Read More >

HOT OFF THE PRESS

Each edition, we’ll highlight an interesting, new, openly-licensed resource

The Rebus Community released an updated version of “Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship” this month, edited by Michelle Ferrier and Elizabeth Mays. The new version includes a chapter on product management for media professionals, feedback from full-book peer reviewers, and more.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

OER is at a tipping point. Here’s how to keep it moving in the right direction | EdScoop

https://edscoop.com/oer-is-at-a-tipping-point-heres-how-to-keep-it-moving-in-the-right-direction

Interesting to Consider >>

SETDA guide urges educators to focus on the process, not the purchase | EdScoop

https://edscoop.com/focus-on-the-process-not-the-purchase-of-quality-instructional-materials

Open Educational Resources Provider Talks About Shaking Up the K-12 Market  | EdWeek

(Login Req).

https://marketbrief.edweek.org/analysts-view/open-educational-resources-provider-talks-about-shaking-up-the-k-12-market/

Thoughts on OER and Cost Savings | OpenContent

https://opencontent.org/blog/archives/5658

When It Comes To Free Textbooks… Who Pays? | Forbes

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshmoody/2018/07/29/when-it-comes-to-free-textbooks-who-pays/#2e110c323181

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Have suggestions for the next edition? Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com, or tweet us @OERdigest.

OER Digest – July 26th, 2018

From Camille Thomas and Mo Nyamweya, SPARC | Volume 62 | July 26th, 2018
With updates from Nicole Allen, Sarah Cohen, Cable Green, and Sara Hare.  

THE OER DIGEST
Your bi-weekly newsletter for open education updates, opportunities, and reminders

FEDERAL UPDATE: This week, the U.S. Congress approved legislation reauthorizing the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, which governs the nation’s career and technical education (CTE) framework. Included in the bill are provisions permitting OER as an allowable use of funds for state and local activities. The Department of Education took its first public step toward implementing the $5 million Open Textbook Pilot funded by Congress in March by issuing a call for peer reviewers. Candidates interested in reviewing applications for the pilot can submit their resume by August 6th. New America has analysis on what to expect as the program rolls out here.

IN THE STATES: Texas continues to collect applications for its OER grant program, and will hold public hearing on the draft of its Statewide OER Feasibility Study this week. Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission released a report assessing progress on the OER course designation requirements established in 2015. Recommendations include increasing consistency across institutions and ensuring course materials are reported in a timely manner. Meanwhile, the editors of the forthcoming monograph Marking OER Courses: Best Practices and Case Studies are currently seeking chapter and case study contributions.

OPEN SUSTAINABILITY: As the OER movement grows, community colleges are thinking deeply about OER sustainability, including ways in which student savings affect institutions’ bottom lines. To navigate this changing landscape, some community colleges are seeking funding based on increased enrollment, while others see OER course fees as an option. Open advocates continue to seek sustainability models that uphold open principles and include stakeholders.  

CURRENT EVENTS: This week, the Open Textbook Network is hosting its fourth annual Summer Institute and Summit, bringing together more than 100 leaders from across the country to connect, share, and strengthen their programs and the open education community. You can follow the action on Twitter at #OTNSI18. Next week, the Greater Western Library Alliance and Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries will host OER: From Vision to Action, a conference to build up regional partnerships and collaborations. Follow along at #OERvisionaction18.

NEW CO-AUTHOR: Hi there! I’m Mo Nyamweya and I’ve just joined the SPARC team as Open Education Coordinator. I recently graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University, where I worked as a student employee in the library on the campus OER initiative. I’m excited to join as a Digest co-author while working on SPARC’s Open Education programming. You can find me at @MoNyamweya.

OPEN CONFERENCES
Upcoming Events, Proposal and Registration Deadlines, Report-Backs

REGISTER: Registration is now open for the Open Education Conference, October 10-12 in Niagara Falls, NY. Early bird registration ends August 31.

PROGRAM: The Open Education Southern Symposium has released its schedule and session descriptions. The conference is October 1-2 in Fayetteville Arkansas and registration ends September 7.

SAVE THE DATE: Florida Virtual Campus will be holding the Florida OER Summit on October 24-25.

JOB: BC Campus is hiring a Researcher for Open Practices. This position will work on projects that inform and advance the use of Open Educational Practices in British Columbia post-secondary education.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD
Quick snapshots of those making change on the ground level, and those impacted

FROM MICHIGAN: “Faculty OER adoptions at Lansing Community College have increased 71% since Fall 2017. The Michigan community college now boasts 127 faculty members in 46 courses using OER for the Fall 2018 semester, with a total of 227 sections using OER.” Read more >

FROM SOUTH CAROLINA: “USC English professor Hannah Rule switched to OERs several years ago after receiving a $500 grant from USC libraries and USC student government. That money goes toward overhauling the entire course, in order to convert from conventional textbooks to free online textbooks.” University of South Carolina’s OER program has saved students an estimated $429,000 since 2014. At least 24 professors across seven of USC’s colleges use open textbooks for their courses, thanks in large part to support from the University’s student government. Read more >

HOT OFF THE PRESS
Each edition, we’ll highlight an interesting, new, openly-licensed resource

The Center for Open Education Research (COER) released Experiences in Self-Determined Learning, a textbook on heutagogy from a variety of learning environments from secondary to the workplace. It was edited by Lisa Blaschke, Chris Kenyon and Stewart Hase. The text is available as a PDF or in print, with all proceeds from print copies donated to educating children in Africa.

WEIGH IN
Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

University of British Columbia: Recognizing Open in Promotion and Tenure | Educause Review
https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2018/7/university-of-british-columbia-recognizing-open-in-promotion-and-tenure

7 Things You Should Know About Open Education: Practices | Educause
https://library.educause.edu/resources/2018/7/7-things-you-should-know-about-open-education-practices

Interesting to Consider >>

Open textbooks – an untapped opportunity for universities, colleges and schools | UKSG
https://insights.uksg.org/articles/10.1629/uksg.427/

Free Digital Textbooks vs. Purchased Commercial Textbooks | Inside Higher Ed
https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/07/16/measuring-impact-oer-university-georgia

UB research lab studies how university courses can be more ‘open’ | UBNow
http://www.buffalo.edu/ubnow/stories/2018/07/open-educational-resources.html

Have suggestions for the next edition? Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com, or tweet us @OERdigest.

The OER Digest is a public newsletter distributed to a broad group of stakeholders across the higher education community. You can join the open Google Group or check out the distribution list here.