OER Digest – January 26, 2023

THE OER DIGEST
Your monthly newsletter for open education updates, opportunities, and reminders

Happy New Year! 

From all of us on the OER Digest Team, we’d like to wish you a happy and fulfilling new year! The OER Digest has switched to a monthly newsletter, so welcome to the January edition. In addition, you may see some other exciting changes to the digest coming in the new year as we reevaluate how we can best serve the OER community. Stay tuned!

OPEN CONNECTIONS
Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

SAVE THE DATE: The 2023 Open Education Conference will be held as a virtual event on Nov 7-9, 2023. Join more than 1,600 advocates and practitioners to learn about the latest research, practices, and innovation in open education. Save the date and join the conference mailing list for updates. Read More >>

REGISTER NOW: Registration is open for the 2023 Open Educational Resources and Dual Enrollment Conference: Making a Case for Student Success, hosted by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). The conference will take place on March 2 and 3 in Atlanta, GA. Learn More and Register Now >>

JOB OPPORTUNITY: Creative Commons is hiring an Open Climate Data Manager to facilitate the creation of a community-supported, long-term solution for the better sharing of large, distributed open climate datasets. The position is a 12-month grant-funded and remote position. The application deadline is January 31. Learn More and Apply Now >>

WEBINAR: Adrian Stagg, Open Educational Practice Manager at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia is presenting a webinar on February 21 about ‘Exploring the reality of open educational practice in Australia: An ecological perspective’. All are welcome to tune in! Learn More and Join >>

DISCUSSION: On February 8 at 1:00pm ET join EDUCAUSE members for a QuickTalk on the topic “Should Students Pay to Turn in Homework? Navigating Digital Courseware Models.” Learn More and RSVP >>

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

FROM TEXAS: The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) and Rice University’s OpenStax are working to address staffing shortages in the nursing profession and reduce financial barriers for nursing students by launching a comprehensive free online curriculum for nursing education in spring 2024. “Nursing students and faculty face a multitude of challenges,” said Denise Neill, department head and director of the Department of Nursing at Texas A&M University-Commerce. “One is high course-materials costs, which can be a significant barrier to entering the profession. We learned throughout the pandemic how crucial it is to adapt and improve instructional practices. Dynamic, high-quality open educational resources have the potential to address both issues — increasing access and improving teaching and learning.” Read More >>

FROM CALIFORNIA: Loyola Marymount University has received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to lead a three-year initiative that will support the creation and use of open educational resources (OER) across four California private institutions. Librarians at LMU, Saint Mary’s College, Santa Clara University, and the University of San Francisco will use the funds to train and prepare up to twelve faculty teams to create, modify and publish OER that can integrate diverse, inclusive and anti-racist resources into high-enrollment courses in numerous disciplines. Read More >>

FROM PENNSYLVANIA: Two Penn State University Libraries employees received Open Education (OE) Global’s 2022 Open Education Award for Excellence in Open Pedagogy. Christina Riehman-Murphy, open and affordable educational resources librarian and Sally W. Kalin Librarian for Learning Innovations, and Bryan McGeary, learning design and open education engagement librarian, received the award for their Open Pedagogy Project Roadmap. “Collaborating with students on contributing to public knowledge within their course work is highly engaging for both students and faculty alike. It might involve authoring an anthology chapter, customizing a textbook, writing for the web, or editing Wikipedia, but it brings additional considerations for faculty to navigate to ensure that students have agency over their contributions,” Read More >>

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

Dr. Laura Neser’s new OER, Introduction to Earth Science, is an exciting addition to the Virginia Tech OER library. It’s an update and adaptation of three different OER and includes a number of features designed to enhance the student learning experience including a multitude of high quality images, self-test assessment questions, and QR codes that allow students using a printed copy to easily access quizzes online. It’s been public since late December and has over 10,000 downloads already!

WEIGH IN
Great reads to repost or share and interesting discussions to consider

Great to Share >>

U.S. Open Textbook Pilot Program Renewed for Sixth Year | SPARC

Confused by open-access policies? These tools can help | Nature

Issue #21: Open Educational Resources | Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy

Interesting to Consider >>

AI, Instructional Design, and OER | OpenContent.org

Why NASA and federal agencies are declaring this the Year of Open Science | Nature

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

OER Digest – December 16, 2022

Aishah Abdullah (SPARC) | Volume 166 | December 16, 2022

THE OER DIGEST – YEAR IN REVIEW

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

2022 YEAR IN REVIEW: It’s been another eventful and impactful year for the open education community. There has been important legislation, celebration of anniversaries, significant milestones shown in data, and continued resilience highlighted across our community. As this year comes to an end, we reflect on some of the big stories of 2022. 

OPEN EDUCATION POLICY: The U.S. federal government continued its support for OER by awarding $11 million to Open Textbook Pilot program projects. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Congress reintroduced the Affordable College Textbook Act (H.R.7040/S.3818), which would permanently authorize a federal open textbook grant program in addition to strengthening federal textbook price disclosure requirements. Numerous states passed legislation relating to OER, including updates to course marking requirements in Florida and transparency requirements for “inclusive access” fees in West Virginia.

CELEBRATING ANNIVERSARIES: This year marked a number of important anniversaries in the open education community. OpenStax and Open Textbook Library celebrated their 10-year anniversary. In addition, Creative Commons and ISKME celebrated 20 years. These milestone anniversaries highlight the growth in the availability of course materials and the continued work put in by the community. 

SURVEY SAYS: The latest report by Bay View Analytics found that OER continues to grow in both awareness and adoption. According to a survey of U.S. faculty, 67% say that they are at least somewhat aware of OER, a number that has more than doubled since 2014-15. The results also show that 22% or 1 in 5 faculty use OER as a required material in at least one course, a number that has jumped significantly since 2019-20. Meanwhile, a student survey released by Florida Virtual Campus highlights that while textbook spending has declined—thanks at least in part to OER—many challenges remain. Students reported that the cost of textbooks caused them to take fewer courses (~2 in 5), earn a poor grade in a course (~1 in 3), or drop a course (~1 in 5). 

ILLUSTRATING IMPACT: Numerous OER initiatives released reports this year highlighting their impact on students. The Iowa Open Education Action Team published a report documenting $4 million in student savings, and Open Oregon Educational Resources found that the state’s investment in textbook affordability lowered costs for students in general education pathways. The Midwest Higher Education Compact released a report examining best practices and principles for understanding cost savings and return on investment for OER. Based on a survey of 17 states and systems, the average estimated savings per student for courses using OER was $116. 

OPEN ACCESS TO RESEARCH: The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued new guidance that will make taxpayer-funded research available to the public, eliminating the current 12-month waiting period for access to research outputs, including articles and data. “When research is widely available to other researchers and the public, it can save lives, provide policymakers with the tools to make critical decisions, and drive more equitable outcomes across every sector of society,” said Dr. Alondra Nelson, head of OSTP. Public access to articles, data, and other research outputs expands the number of resources openly available to the public.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

OPENED23 FORMAT SURVEY: The Open Education Conference Board of Directors is seeking input from the community regarding whether to organize OpenEd23 as an in-person/virtual hybrid event. As we explore the possibility of moving back in person, we are committed to working with the community to maintain robust virtual participation.

JOB POSTING: University of California Santa Barbara is hiring an Open Access Collections Strategist. You can learn more and apply here. 

JOB POSTING: If you are ready to lead students, faculty, and staff to new possibilities an open library can offer, Excelsior University is hiring a new library team focused on open education. There are four positions available and you can apply here. 

APPLY NOW: You can help improve the content on Wikipedia this spring by running a Wikipedia assignment. Visit teach.wikiedu.org to find out more about this free pedagogical opportunity. The deadline to run a Wikipedia assignment for the next term is December 16. 

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM VIRGINIA: A Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Libraries program, The Open and Affordable Course Content Initiative, provides support to faculty to help them identify, customize or create free alternatives to expensive course materials. With over 75% of Virginia college students worrying about the cost of textbooks, this initiative has had a huge impact on the student population. Over the past 5 years, more than 77,000 VCU students have saved $7.2 million. The librarians have put in immense work to make this happen but Jessica Kirschner, OER Librarian, shares how faculty have also stepped up.  “One of the things that’s been most exciting to me since coming to VCU is just the interest from faculty. We’ve had a record number of applications for our grant program over the past two years, which blew me out of the water.” Read More >>

FROM OREGON: Oregon Tech faculty are partnering with Oregon Tech Library’s Open Educational Resources program to reduce student costs associated with textbook materials. Their partnership and commitment have saved students the past three years over $1 million in textbook costs. University Librarian, John Schoppert, shares how, “Fifty-five percent of Oregon Tech students are unable to meet college expenses, so addressing textbook affordability is critical to student success and retention.” This has made textbook affordability a high priority given the number of students impacted. Read More >>

FROM NEBRASKA: The University of Nebraska has saved students over $13 million in textbook costs. This has been made possible due to the push for more affordable digital course materials. “Open Nebraska”, a policy on all four University of Nebraska campuses, reduces textbook costs for students. Ted Carter, NU System President, shared his goal for Open Nebraska: to save $10 million for students by the 2023-2024 school year which has already been surpassed. Read More >>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

The University of Minnesota is pleased to announce the publication of a new open textbook: Critical Perspectives on Technology and the Family by Susan K. Walker. As information and communications technology (ICT) evolve, families and the professionals who work with them are best armed with tools that enable their intentional use. From the perspective of a long time family practitioner, researcher, and educator, and technology innovator, this textbook offers the first comprehensive view of technology in the family for college students, professionals and the public. 

WEIGH IN

Great reads to repost or share and interesting discussions to consider 

Great to Share >> 

Boise State Librarian, Staff and Alumni present on OER at Conferences | Boise State News

OER Gives Students the Opportunity to Reclaim Their Education | Michelson 20MM 

Interesting to Consider >> 

Open Education Can Achieve Equity | Mail & Guardian

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. Subscribe here.

OER Digest – November 10, 2022

Michael Basmajian (PIRG) | Volume 165 | November 10, 2022

With updates from Bilan Jama

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

2022 FLORIDA SURVEY: Florida Virtual Campus (FLVC) has released the results of the 2022 Student Textbook and Course Materials Survey, reporting the impact that high textbook costs have on college affordability, student success, and degree completion based on responses from 13,000 students. “This report highlights the real struggles that college students face due to the high cost of textbooks, and their perceptions of how those costs impact their academic decisions and progress.” said Dr. John Opper, executive director of Distance Learning and Student Services at FLVC. View the full survey >>

OER CIVICS: The midterm elections were this week, so in the spirit of civic engagement, we’d like to share a collection of OER focused on the history of voting rights, how the electoral college works, and other civics related topics. Check out the resources via OER Commons here. 

SIGNING OFF (digest co-author Bilan Jama): Hello, OER Digest community! Working alongside the entire open community has been an absolute privilege. At the end of this week, I will move on from my position as the Education Policy Specialist with Creative Commons USA and onto new projects within the education field. Feel free to tweet (@blnjama) if you’d like to reach me.

OPEN CONNECTIONS
Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

PARTICIPATE: The Open Education Conference is holding its monthly community meeting on Friday November 18th at 1:00pm EDT. All are welcome to give input on the conference planning process. Register here.

APPLY NOW: Applications from prospective doctoral students are currently being sought for two generously funded PhD positions that will focus on OER in relation to late medieval/early modern book history and literary studies. These practice-based PhD opportunities are offered as part of an EU-funded MSCA Doctoral Network called “Re-mediating the Early Book: Pasts and Futures.” Applications are due by January 10, 2023. Learn more and apply here.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: With generous support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) invites proposals from individuals and groups seeking to develop OER that build upon, enhance, or complement dLOC. There will be three open calls for proposals awarding over $100,000 over the course of the program period. In this first round, proposals will be due on March 15, 2023. Learn more and submit your proposal here. 

OER COFFEE CHAT: Join the #GoOpen Network for another Saturday Morning Chat “OER” Coffee! This Saturday November 12, 2022 at 11:30 AM EST via Twitter. Participate here.

RSVP NOW (California): LibreTexts has announced four new in-person workshops on their ADAPT and LibreStudio platforms as free homework assessment platforms for all California instructors and students. Workshops will take place at: Folsom River College (11/18), Chabot College (11/19), San Diego City College (12/2), and College of the Canyons (12/3) from 9-3 PST. Learn more and RSVP here.

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

FROM TEXAS: As part of its Adopt a Free Textbook Initiative, the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) libraries awarded 13 grants to faculty members for the 2022-2023 academic cycle to incorporate OER into their curriculum. Four of the 13 grants were awarded to faculty members to develop their own OER. “[So far,] we’ve had 138 grants awarded with student savings [that just passed] the $10 million mark,” said Dean Hendrix, university librarian at UTSA, “What we have spent is about $200,000 since 2016, but the result of just that little investment has been $10 million, which gives us a return on investment of [approximately] $48 per one dollar spent.” Read More >>

ALSO FROM TEXAS: The Texas A&M Student Senate unanimously passed a bill urging the Texas Legislature to further expand and maintain the sustainability of statewide OER programs. The “Expanding Open Education Resources” bill acknowledges the rising cost of the prices of textbooks and additional course materials, placing a burden that affects students’ academic performance. “I think [OER] is something that can really be done at the Texas Legislature this upcoming session,” said Legislative Relations Chair Patrick Englehart”. Read More >>

FROM IDAHO: Graf Kirk, a recent graduate and student government leader from Boise State University teamed up with Shannon Smith, the university’s OER librarian to form a task force to address access, accessibility and affordability of course materials for students. Smith and Kirk presented the work of the task force to the Associated Students of Boise State University and got $15,000 allocated towards Smith’s OER work at the library. The duo co-authored “More Than a Seat at the Table: Including Students as Peers”, an OER & Beyond article about how students and librarians can work together effectively to advocate for affordable learning options. Read More >>

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

From the University of Oregon’s school of Planning, Public Policy, and Management, comes a new OER on nonprofit organizations called Introduction to the Nonprofit Sector. The book, written by professor Dyana Mason, provides an overview of the vocabulary used in defining the work of nonprofit organizations, topics of interest to nonprofit managers, and describes the primary roles nonprofits play in American (and to a lesser extent international) communities. The book is featured on the UMN Open Textbooks Library website.

WEIGH IN
Great reads to repost or share and interesting discussions to consider

Great to Share >>

How We Learned to Relax and Encouraged Others to Embrace OER | Journal of Open Educational Resources in Higher Education

Alberta needs its own OER program | The Gauntlet

Interesting to Consider >>

How and Why to Evaluate Open Educational Resources | Faculty Focus

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. Subscribe here.

OER Digest – October 27, 2022

Aishah Abdullah (SPARC)  | Volume 164 | October 27, 2022

THE OER DIGEST

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

OE GLOBAL AWARD WINNERS: Open Education Global (OEGlobal) is honored to announce the 2022 winners of the Open Education Awards for Excellence. The 12-member Open Education Awards Committee, comprised of educators and open education advocates from around the world, reviewed 89 nominations across 22 countries. These individuals and groups have shown a strong commitment to open education. Congratulations to the fifteen Open Education Awards for Excellence winners and you can read more about them here. 

OPENED CONFERENCE BOARD ELECTION: The Open Education Conference has launched its annual election process for its Board of Directors. The election is to appoint six new community members to serve on the Board for a two-year term. Interested candidates are invited to review the requirements and self-nominate by November 6, 2022. For more details, visit the election page.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

APPLY NOW (COLORADO): The 2022/23 Colorado Open Educational Resources Grant request for proposals opened this month. The Colorado OER Grant Program will fund $1 million toward open education in the cohort 5 grant cycle. The deadline for eligible institutions is Monday, December 19.

JOB OPENING: Touro University Libraries is seeking a highly motivated, enthusiastic, and creative scholarly communication librarian to lead and advance the scholarly communication services at Touro University. Apply here.  

JOB OPENING: The University of Texas Austin is hiring for an Open Education Librarian to build on existing work and relationships to lead the planning, implementation, and assessment of the UT Austin open education program. Apply here.  

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM TEXAS: The University of Texas at El Paso implemented a new search tool for their spring 2023 semester. During registration, undergraduate and graduate students can search for courses on Goldmine that use free textbooks or require all books to total less than $40. The goal is to not only save students money but make it easier to do so. Lizbeth Flores shared, “I think this is a great tool to have, especially for new students who start at the University and don’t know how much money they will spend on books.” Read More >>

FROM PENNSYLVANIA: At Gettysburg College more than 80 instructors on campus have adopted open textbooks for their courses, impacting more than 5,000 students. This fall semester, OER reached a monumental milestone—students have saved a cumulative amount of $1 million on textbooks with professors switching to open textbooks. This change did not happen overnight. Janelle Wertzberger, the assistant dean and director of scholarly communications at Musselman Library, attended a conference in 2014 where she discovered OER. This led to 8 years of hard work in order to save students thousands of dollars. Read More >>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

The debut issue of the Journal of Open Educational Resources in Higher Education (JOERHE), an open peer-reviewed journal, published by the University of Wyoming Libraries, just launched. JOERHE features eight peer-reviewed articles, two columns, and one resource review. The peer-reviewed literature is published alongside its review. 

WEIGH IN

Great reads to repost or share and interesting discussions to consider

Great to Share >> 

Graceanne Hoback is Leading the Initiative to Make Textbooks Affordable at FSU | Her Campus 

Interesting to Consider >> 

OER Initiative Offers Tools to Expand Awareness of Digital Accessibility | Campus Technology 

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. Subscribe here.

OER Digest – October 14, 2022

From Bilan Jama (CC USA)  | Volume 163 | October 14, 2022

THE OER DIGEST

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

#OPENED22: The 2022 Open Education Conference will be held next week as a virtual event on October 17-20, 2022. Organized through a community-driven process, the 2022 Open Education Conference seeks to engage advocates and practitioners who strive to make education more accessible, affordable, and equitable to everyone. Register now or apply for a scholarship. Join the conversation at #OpenEd22.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

REGISTER NOW: Join North Carolina State Libraries for a weekly casual Café via Zoom and enjoy a relaxed, coffee shop-style chat about open educational topics. Next session, “Evaluating the Quality of OER – Do You Really Get What You Pay For?” will be held on October 19th. Click here for more information. 

REGISTER NOW: Join the University of British Columbia Library for the Open Scholarship in Practice workshop and webinar series. The next session, “Advancing Open Science in the Government of Canada” will be held on November 1st.  Click here for more information. 

REGISTER NOW: Kennesaw State University invites you to celebrate Open Access Week! Our virtual events will take place October 24-28, beginning at 12 pm ET each day. Click here for the full schedule and registration details.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM TEXAS: Texas Tech University Libraries and the Raider Depot Campus Store by Follett are partnering in the OER Adoption Initiative, which is intended to increase OER adoption efforts in core classes at Texas Tech. “We are so excited to partner with Follett on this important initiative,” said Sabrina Davis, OER librarian at Texas Tech. “The hope is that this incentive will encourage faculty to support equity in education and advocate for student success by using OER.”

In this unique partnership, Follett will provide $10,000 annually for the duration of its contract with Texas Tech to support this project. The initiative is funded by Follett and will award select faculty a $750 stipend for adopting existing OER in a course. Applications will be reviewed and awarded on a rolling basis.  Read More >>

FROM VIRGINIA: In Fall 2021, in cooperation with their member institutions, VIVA, Virginia’s academic library consortium, conducted the Virginia Course Materials Survey. The survey built on the work of previous states and regions and included a special emphasis on educational equity. More than 5,600 valid student responses from 41 institutions were received, reflecting an overall response rate of 10%. The overarching research questions were: What is the impact of course material costs on educational equity among Virginia students? What course content materials do students find to be most beneficial to their learning? Executive Summary and Results and Findings documents for the Virginia Course Materials Survey are now available.   Read More >>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

Kwantlen Polytechnic University has released, People Learning and Development by Monica Affleck. Are you interested in the topic of people learning and development or are tasked to implement learning and training opportunities in your workplace? Use this resource full of information and tools to help support people and organizations in their learning journey.

WEIGH IN

Great reads to repost or share and interesting discussions to consider

Great to Share >> 

Mini-grant program helps faculty build Open Educational Resources | Iowa State Daily 

News Spotlight on Open Educational Resources at Transforming Education Summit | UNESCO

Interesting to Consider >> 

Guest Essay: Textbooks should be free | Washington Square News 

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. Subscribe here.

OER Digest – September 29, 2022

Michael Basmajian (PIRG) | Volume 162 | September 29, 2022

THE OER DIGEST

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

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: We’re less than one month away from International Open Access Week, October 24 – 30, 2022! This year’s theme seeks to encourage connection and collaboration among the climate movement and the international open community. Sharing knowledge is a human right, and tackling the climate crisis requires the rapid exchange of knowledge across geographic, economic, and disciplinary boundaries. Learn more and submit an event.

OPEN CONNECTIONS
Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

REGISTER NOW: Join PIJIP and New America for the Creating Culturally Responsive Materials with Open Educational Resources: Beyond Commercial Publishing II webinar on October 6th at 6 pm ET. Learn more and register here.

CALL FOR AUTHORS: The DOERS3 Collaborative is seeking authors for a book-length project  centered around valuing open education work in the tenure, promotion, and reappointment process. To that end, they are interested in case studies written by faculty, staff, and administrators detailing their experiences trying to appropriately value OER and open educational work in that process. Abstracts of case studies (250 words or less) are due on October 24, 2022. Learn more and submit a proposal here.

SURVEY: The ENCORE+ project has launched a new survey to collect data around OER innovation. The survey hopes to build a world-leading collection of cases of OER implementation, amplify interesting and important work being done in the OER world, and to form and structure their upcoming OER Innovation Evaluation Framework publication. The survey runs through November, 2022. Take the survey here.

SAVE THE DATE: The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) has announced that their Open Educational Resources and Dual Enrollment Conference will be on March 1-2, 2023 in Atlanta, GA. More information will be announced soon.

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

FROM TEXAS: The library at the University of Texas at San Antonio awarded 13 Adopt-a-Free-Textbook grants to UTSA faculty for the 2022-23 academic year that will save students nearly $206,000. These grants will support and enable faculty to adopt or create free or Open Educational Resources textbooks as the primary textbooks in their courses. “It is our pleasure to provide faculty with an opportunity to integrate free textbooks into their courses,” said Dean Hendrix, UTSA vice provost and University Librarian. “Our collaborative work has an impact on thousands of UTSA students by helping them overcome cost hurdles so that they may focus on learning. This boosts course completion rates and makes graduation more attainable.” Read More >>

FROM MASSACHUSETTS: The University of Massachusetts Amherst has been selected as one of 73 institutions to participate in the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) 2022-23 Institute on Open Educational Resources. This yearlong institute supports educators in launching, expanding, or hastening campus adoption of free and affordable instructional materials. “The institute provides a framework for shifting our Open Education initiative to a more strategic and collaborative approach,” says Theresa Dooley, UMass Amherst Open Education Librarian. “I’m proud of the team we’ve created and the goals we’ve set. Through the combined efforts of students, faculty, and campus partners, we will be creating a sustainable infrastructure to support long term change and the constant evolution of the open education movement.” Read More >>

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

Open Education Content Librarian Nikki Andersen of University of Southern Queensland in Australia recently published a guide. This practical guide provides a framework and tips to enhance inclusion, diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in Open Educational Resources.

WEIGH IN
Great reads to repost or share and interesting discussions to consider

Great to Share >>

Let’s help struggling students rather than benefiting textbook publishers | EdSource

Let’s call college textbooks what they are: a scam | The Hofstra Chronicle

Interesting to Consider >>

How Creative Commons Is Empowering Open Educational Resources Advocates in the California Community College System | Michelson 20MM

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. Subscribe here.

OER Digest – September 15, 2022

Aishah Abdullah (SPARC)  | Volume 161 | September 15, 2022

THE OER DIGEST

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

OPEN CLIMATE CAMPAIGN: To make open sharing of research outputs the norm in climate science, Creative Commons, SPARC and EIFL are proud to launch a 4-year Open Climate Campaign with funding from Arcadia Fund, which builds on planning funds from the Open Society Foundations. Climate change, and the resulting harm to our global biodiversity, is one of the world’s most pressing challenges; however, knowledge and data about these global challenges and the possible solutions are too often not publicly accessible. One purpose of this campaign is to bring attention to the issue of access to knowledge on climate change and biodiversity. Another goal of this campaign is to work directly with national governments, funders, and environmental organizations to create open access policies and make it easier to share their climate change content.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

REGISTER NOW: Early bird registration for the 2022 Open Education Conference on October 17-20, 2022 is ending on September 16th. There is also a student rate of $25 USD and scholarships by application. Register here.

APPLY NOW:  The Open Education Network is accepting applications for a cohort of librarians to be certified in OER Librarianship. The Certificate in OER Librarianship offers formal training, a community of peers, and expert mentors in order to build sustainable, collaborative, and effective open education programs on higher education campuses. Learn more and apply here.

REGISTER NOW: Join PIJIP and New America for the Creating Culturally Responsive Materials with Open Educational Resources: Beyond Commercial Publishing II webinar on October 6th at 6 pm ET. Learn more and register here.

REGISTER NOW: Join Wiki Education on Tuesday, October 11 at 9:00 AM PT to learn how to run a Wikipedia assignment. During this session, you’ll gain a better understanding of how the assignment is structured, what types of support you’ll receive from Wiki Education, and how the assignment may play out in your own class. 

REGISTER NOW: LibreFest workshop will be held virtually over two days on October 10-11. Learn how to construct, edit, and remix content on the LibreTexts platform, and get an in-depth look at their open homework system, Adapt. Learn more and apply here.

REGISTER NOW: The Open Education Network (OEN) is hiring an open educational practices specialist to serve as the point of contact for members regarding the use of all OEN-supported online platforms and technologies to advance open educational practices. Learn more and apply here.

REGISTER NOW: The Pathways Project team is hosting free webinars this fall. Join their Digital Humanities and Authentic Resources discussion on October 12th. Their final webinar, titled Remixing and Redistributing, is occurring on November 10th.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM ALBERTA: The Student Union (SU) at the University of Calgary is advocating for Alberta to fund open educational resources to help struggling students. The high cost of textbooks is paired with a rising cost of tuition, which has risen 25% at the University of Calgary since 2019. In 2021, the SU committed $500,000 to support the development of OERs, creating up to 50 new OERs over five years. Their work is not stopping there. This year the SU, along with other students, have been pushing for their University to address the textbook crisis. SU spokesperson Shaziah Jinnah Morsette shared, “Students aren’t just broke, they’re at a breaking point. Affordability is such an issue for students. It’s not just isolated to saying, ‘Can we afford to participate and receive a quality education?”  Read More>>

FROM CONNECTICUT: University of New Haven’s Open Pedagogy Project began its new cohort. The University’s Open Pedagogy Project offers faculty and students exciting opportunities to collaborate to create meaningful educational experiences. The program and the grant-funded projects that several faculty and staff members are a part of also foster the creation of open educational resources, which provide important learning tools while reducing textbook costs. The co-director of the Open Pedagogy Project, Dr. Wranovix shared how they include students in the creation of their OER, “Involving students in the creation of course content makes the classroom feel like a more collaborative environment because students and faculty are creating something together.” Read More>> 

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

The Open RN team is pleased to announce that the first edition text, Nursing: Mental Health and Community Concepts, has been released in Pressbooks with CC-BY 4.0 licensing. They will continue to collaborate with XanEdu to create affordable print versions of the Open RN textbooks and anticipate the print version of this book will be available in January 2023.

WEIGH IN

Great reads to repost or share and interesting discussions to consider 

Great to Share >> 

Inflation Impacting Education: The Rapidly Rising Cost of Textbooks | The Review

Interesting to Consider >> 

For Open Education we Need Staff, Infrastructure, and Courage | Archynetys

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. Subscribe here.

OER Digest – September 1, 2022

From Bilan Jama (CC USA)  | Volume 160 | September 1, 2022

THE OER DIGEST

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

STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS PLAN: President Joe Biden announced last week historic new steps to address student loan debt, which includes forgiving up to $20,000 for millions of borrowers and extending the payment freeze one final time until the end of the year. Borrowers who hold loans with the Department of Education and make less than $125,000 a year are eligible for up to $20,000 in student loan forgiveness if they received Pell Grants, which are given to students from low- and middle-income families. Individuals who make less than $125,000 a year but did not receive Pell Grants are eligible for $10,000 in loan forgiveness. Read more here.

OPEN ACCESS TO RESEARCH: In a busy week in U.S. federal policy, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued new guidance that will make taxpayer-funded research available to the public, eliminating the current 12-month waiting period for access to research outputs, including articles and data. “When research is widely available to other researchers and the public, it can save lives, provide policymakers with the tools to make critical decisions, and drive more equitable outcomes across every sector of society,” said Dr. Alondra Nelson, head of OSTP. Public access to articles, data, and other research outputs expands the amount of resources openly available to the public. 

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

REGISTER NOW: Registration for the 2022 Open Education Conference on October 17-20, 2022 is open. The early bird rate of $75 USD ends on September 15th. There is also a student rate of $25 USD and scholarships by application. Register here.

REGISTER NOW: Join PIJIP and New America for the Creating Culturally Responsive Materials with Open Educational Resources: Beyond Commercial Publishing II webinar on October 6th at 6 pm ET. Learn more and register here.

APPLY NOW: UniSQ is seeking someone for a short-term contract (until December 16) to work with the Open Education Team.  The Project Officer will focus on their HEPPP funded program of open textbook development, working directly with academic staff who already have texts in production. An Expression of Interest is required (one page) with the applicant’s CV by 5:00 pm Thursday September 1. All queries, and applications are forwarded to Adrian.stagg@usq.edu.au.

APPLY NOW: The Open Education Network (OEN) is hiring an open educational practices specialist to serve as the point of contact for members regarding the use of all OEN-supported online platforms and technologies to advance open educational practices. For more information, click here. 

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM FLORIDA: The University of West Florida Libraries and Provost’s office are pleased to announce that nine faculty have received Faculty OER Awards for 2022. All will be adapting or creating textbooks using Pressbooks. Their work will deliver quality texts at no cost to students, saving them thousands of dollars each semester. Read More >>

FROM OHIO: The University of Cincinnati (UC) Board of Trustees recently approved a textbook auto adoption policy to make textbooks more affordable and accessible to students.With the ever-increasing price of college course materials, the Ohio General Assembly mandated through H.B. 110 that universities consider applying the auto adoption policy in June 2021. UC approved its version of the policy a year later, in June 2022. Faculty are encouraged through the UC policy to use Follett Discover to find affordable and non-traditional learning materials to use in their course. “Students benefit from no cost and access on ‘day one,”’ states the textbook auto adoption policy. “It is not uncommon for faculty to assign a blend of purchased materials with OER materials in a particular course syllabus.”  Read More >>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

Christopher Hammond, Professor of Mathematics at Connecticut College, published The Art of Analysis, an introductory textbook in real analysis. This resource is freely available for anyone to use, either individually or in a classroom setting. The primary innovation of this text is a new perspective on teaching the theory of integration.

WEIGH IN

Great reads to repost or share and interesting discussions to consider

Great to Share >> 

The impact of open education | Medium

Interesting to Consider >> 

Inflation impacting education: The rapidly rising cost of textbooks | The Review 

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. Subscribe here.

OER Digest – August 18, 2022

Michael Basmajian | Volume 159 | August 18, 2022

THE OER DIGEST

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

“ORGO” GOES OPEN: John McMurry’s Organic Chemistry is the most widely used textbook of its kind and has helped millions of students pass Organic Chemistry (or “orgo”) since it was first printed in 1984. For its 10th edition, McMurry has decided to part ways with his longtime publisher Cengage, and instead sell the rights to OpenStax. That means for the first time, the digital version of Organic Chemistry and its accompanying solutions manual — usually priced at almost $100 — will be available for students to download for free! Read more via InsideHigherEd.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

REGISTER NOW: Registration for the 2022 Open Education Conference on October 17-20, 2022 is open. The early bird rate of $75 USD expires on September 15th. There is also a student rate of $25 USD and scholarships by application. Register here.

REGISTER NOW: The Open Texas 2022 virtual conference coming up next month on September 21- 23, 2022. This year’s conference theme, “The Labor of Open Education,” invites participants to reflect on the work, creativity, art, and science of open education 20 years since UNESCO adopted the term “open educational resources” in 2002. The conference is fully online and free to attend. Learn more and register here!

REGISTER NOW: The Michigan OER Summit of 2022 is taking place online on September 29-30, 2022. The virtual summit’s theme is  “Looking Back, Looking Forward,” focusing on how work in open education has been changed and transformed during the past two years and your plans for a re-imagined future. Learn more and register here!

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The Forum for Open Research in MENA (F.O.R.M.) is a conference taking place in Cairo, Egypt this October, and is designed to support the spread of Open Science across the Middle East and North Africa. The Knowledge E Foundation is working with UNESCO the Egyptian Knowledge Bank on the event. Organizers are accepting proposals through the end of August. Learn more and submit a proposal here.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: Kennesaw State University has a call out for presentation proposals for Open Access Week 2022 at KSU. The deadline for proposals is September 15th. Learn more and submit a proposal here.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM CALIFORNIA: The San Diego Community College District plans to adapt 20 courses in high-demand areas to feature free textbooks for students, thanks to a new $975,000 federal grant. Officials say it will help up to 60,000 students attending San Diego City, Mesa and Miramar Colleges. “For many, a $200 to $300 textbook can be the difference between whether a student has enough to eat, can gas up their car, or even pay the rent. Multiply that by four, five or even six classes each semester, and those costs really compound.” said Edward Borek, who was the Associated Student Government president last school year at Miramar College. Read More >>.

FROM INDIANA: Indiana colleges including Earlham College in Richmond, are reducing textbook costs for students with the “PALSave”’ initiative, promoting the use of free open course materials and library e-books. Funded by Lilly Endowment, Inc. and supported by the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI), this initiative has saved over $850,000 for an estimated 14,000 students. “We’re fortunate to have so many early adopters of this initiative who are actively listening to students’ needs and care about their success,” said Karla Fribley, Earlham’s instructional technologies director, seminaries librarian and faculty liaison for PALSave. Read More >>

FROM ONTARIO: Five faculty members from Western University in Ontario, Canada are embracing the use of open education resource course materials thanks to a pilot initiative spearheaded by Western Libraries. “We are responding directly to students through this program,” said research and scholarly communication librarian Emily Carlisle-Johnston, noting a 2016 University Student Council policy recommending Western facilitate an open educational resources pilot. “Cost is definitely one of the driving factors and is largely tied to equity and ensuring everyone has access to the material that will help them succeed in a course.” Read More >>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

Touro University Libraries in New York are pleased to announce the publication of a new open textbook, Introduction to Financial Analysis, for undergraduate Business students. This peer-reviewed open textbook is a collaboration between Touro Libraries’ OER initiative and faculty author Kenneth S. Bigel. Students and readers will learn how to insightfully read a Financial Statement, utilize key financial ratios in order to derive forward-looking investment-related inferences from the accounting data, engage in elementary forecasting and modeling, master the theory of the Time Value of Money, and learn to price stocks and bonds in an environment in which interest rates constantly change. 

WEIGH IN

Great reads to repost or share and interesting discussions to consider

Great to Share >> 

Free online textbooks really work | GatesNotes

Rodríguez: Alternatives to paying for pricey textbooks | San Jose Spotlight

What a Homework Help Site’s Move to Host Open Educational Resources Could Mean | EdSurge

Interesting to Consider >>

The Old World (of Textbooks) Is Dying, and the New World (of Textbooks) Hasn’t Arrived | Voice of San Diego

Textbook publisher: NFTs will let us squeeze even more money out of students | The Verge

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. Subscribe here.

OER Digest – July 28, 2022

Michael Basmajian (PIRG) | Volume 158 | July 28, 2022

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

OPEN CONNECTIONS
Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

JOB: The Open Education Conference is seeking a conference manager to coordinate annual conference logistics and provide year-round support to the broader conference community. Learn more and apply here.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The Wisconsin Open Education Symposium is currently accepting proposals for the second annual, virtual event held October 28, 2022. The Committee is looking for engaging presentations on the theme “Open for Equity.” Learn more and submit a presentation proposal here.

REGISTER NOW: There is still space available for this year’s Cal OER conference, which is taking place virtually on August 3-5, 2022. The keynote panel on Thursday, Aug. 4th will focus on the often too neglected non-financial benefits of OER for the community. Learn more and register here.

REGISTER NOW: Clover Park Technical College is hosting their first OER Faculty Institute on Friday, August 5 and Saturday, August 6 for free over Zoom. There will be keynote presentations from internationally recognized professional/technical colleges as well as breakout sessions on finding OER, accessibility in OER, open licenses, as well as panels on prof/tech OER opportunities and challenges, and a panel on OER and librarians. Learn more and register here.

REGISTER NOW: BCcampus in British Columbia is holding a webinar on accessibility and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in open educational resources on August 16, 2022. The session will build on what we know about technical accessibility to explore how we can go beyond minimum accessibility requirements. Learn more and register here.

REGISTER NOW: SPARC is hosting a Knowledge Equity Discussion Series to provide an introduction to broad concepts and considerations of epistemic injustice and knowledge equity in the areas of academic libraries and archives. Learn more and register here.

GRANT OPPORTUNITY: The U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is accepting applications for the National Leadership Grants for Libraries and Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Programs. IMLS’s efforts in OER have been to promote the use of technology and an “open” environment to enhance the quality and reach of museum, library, and educational resources. Learn more here.

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

FROM CALIFORNIA: The Michelson 20MM Foundation’s Open Educational Resources initiative recently awarded grants to three projects that will support the implementation of California’s Zero-Textbook-Cost program, provide education on licensing and copyright issues, and protect student privacy. These projects include: mentorship and training for five California community colleges in their zero-textbook-cost degree program; training 15 California Community College educators, librarians and course designers from across the Bay Area on copyright, open licensing and open practices in a week-long CC bootcamp; and conducting an analysis of how digital courseware and textbook publishers collect student data and create resources help the higher education community protect students’ data privacy. Read More >>

FROM TENNESSEE: A group of Middle Tennessee State University faculty and staff are using an OER grant to save students on textbooks costs. Since 2019, the group has used $100,000 in grant money to save 2,500-plus students more than $150,000. In total, more than 70 faculty members in 25 different courses used OER in the most recent academic year. Read More >>

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

Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Virginia Tech Publishing are pleased to announce publication of two new open textbooks by Andrew Binks, titled Pulmonary Physiology for Pre-Clinical Students and Pulmonary Pathophysiology for Pre-Clinical Students. These works are the fourth and fifth in a five-volume series of open textbooks for pre-clinical medical education by Renee LeClair and Andrew Binks.

WEIGH IN
Great reads to repost or share and interesting discussions to consider

Great to Share >>
Pandemic Boost for Digital Course Materials | Inside Higher Ed

5 websites to download free textbooks | Study International

Interesting to Consider >>
Newsom’s bid to make textbooks free delayed in community colleges central office | EdSource

Evolving Faculty Views on Teaching, Publishing and Technology | Inside Higher Ed

Does Inclusive Access Affect Academic Outcomes? Interview with Dr. Elizabeth Spica | InclusiveAccess.org

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. Subscribe here.