OER Digest

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.

Regular Edition

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.

Regular Edition

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.

Regular Edition

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.

Regular Edition

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 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.

Regular Edition

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.

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.

Regular Edition

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.

Regular Edition

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.

Regular Edition

OER DIGEST – July 14, 2022

From Bilan Jama (CC USA) | Volume 157 | June 14, 2022

THE OER DIGEST

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

PIRG OER GRANT PROGRAM SURVEY: In the last few years, many colleges and universities have established grant funding for Open Textbooks, but little research has been done on the collective impact of these programs. Student PIRGs is conducting a short survey of colleges and universities across the country to highlight the benefits of OER grant programs and help the community identify best practices. Student PIRGs are university-student-run advocacy organizations on college campuses across the United States working to achieve a vision of sustainability, equity, and democracy through their campaigns.The survey is about 20 questions and should take no more than 10-15 minutes. In collecting this data they hope to offer greater expertise to blossoming OER grant programs across the nation, all working to collectively achieve textbook affordability. They will compile the results and share them with the community before the next school year. Please complete this survey by July 22nd.

U.S. OPEN TEXTBOOK PILOT UPDATE: The 2022 application period for the Open Textbook Pilot program is open. The grant competition will award approximately $2.6 million in federal funds to higher education institutions to create new open textbooks and expand the use of open textbooks. Applications are due July 25, 2022. The Department is also calling for Peer Reviewers.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

REGISTER NOW: The Digital Higher Education Consortium of Texas invites you to their webinar, In Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Inclusive Access But Were Afraid to Ask, Trudi Radtke, Open Education Project Manager for SPARC, will address challenges, facts, and myths of Inclusive Access programs. The webinar will be held on July 20, 2022 @ 2:00 PM CDT. For more details and to register, see the event flyer here.

REGISTER NOW: Join the Southern Regional Education Board for their upcoming webinar series on Open Educational Resources. Can’t make the date? Register to receive a link to the recorded session. Learn more and register here.

NOMINATE NOW: The Open Education Awards for Excellence 2022 is open for nominations. Nominate from 16 categories your favorite Open Education leader or resources – or nominate your own project. Learn more about all of the OE Award categories, past winners, OE Award Committee members, and the 10+ year history of the awards on the OE Awards website.

APPLY NOW: The Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries, a member of the Association of Research Libraries, invites applications and nominations for the position of Head, Digital Libraries and Publishing. Review of applications will begin July 31, 2022 and will continue until the position is filled. The complete position description is available here.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM SASKATCHEWAN: During the COVID-19 pandemic two University of Saskatchewan (USask) faculty members found a way to make the most of a worldwide pivot toward online learning. As most North Americans began “social distancing” and Zoom became a household name, Dr. Joe Rubin (DVM, PhD), an associate professor at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, shifted his focus toward teaching a completely online classroom. USask associate librarian Carolyn Doi was preparing to teach her upcoming music research methods course fully online for the College of Arts and Science’s Department of Music. Doi and Rubin had sought help from Shannon Lucky, a information technology librarian at USask. Lucky realized that despite the differences in their disciplines, both were approaching their new teaching challenges in very similar ways. “Often creating OER is something that instructors would like to do, but it’s kind of a ‘nice to do,’ not a ‘have to do.’ We’re in this context with COVID where we had to move all of these things online and other instructors had to start generating all of this digital teaching material, and we thought it would be interesting to see this as an opportunity rather than a burden,” said Lucky. Read More >>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

The University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing has released The Science of Plants written by Tom Michaels, Emily Hoover, and Laura Irish. The textbook is an approachable guide to the fundamentals of plant science. Created for horticulture students, gardeners, science teachers, and anyone interested in understanding plants and how they grow.

WEIGH IN

Great reads to repost or share and interesting discussions to consider

Great to Share >>

Supplemental Instructional Materials Market to Grow to $4.6 billion in 2024 | WV News

Interesting to Consider >>

Course Hero Quietly Took Over Hosting Lumen’s OER Content. They Say It’s No Big Deal | EdSurge

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.

Regular Edition

OER DIGEST – June 30, 2022

Aishah Abdullah (SPARC) | Volume 156 | June 30, 2022

THE OER DIGEST

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

BAY VIEW ANALYTICS: Turning Point for Digital Curricula: Educational Resources in U.S. Higher Education, 2022 found that students are returning to the classroom, with 58% of faculty stating they taught at least one face-to-face course in the 2021-22 school year. While this is a large increase over the just 14% of faculty who did so in 2020-21, it is still far below the pre-pandemic level of 96% from 2018-19. In addition, over half of the faculty stated that they “agree” or “strongly agree” that they would like to teach their courses as a combination of in-person and online and also as fully online. The report also finds that awareness and usage of open educational resources (OER) has grown.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

NOMINATE NOW: Open Education Awards for Excellence 2022 is open for nominations. Nominate from 16 categories your favorite Open Education leader or resources.

REGISTER NOW: LibreFest registration is open and will be held virtually on July 18, 20, and 22, 2022. This workshop will provide three days of working sessions covering how to create OER, how to modify existing OER, as well as how to use the new ADAPT homework system.

REGISTER NOW: Join the Education & Behavioral Science (EBSS) Scholarly Communication Committee on July 27th to watch & discuss, “Boundary Spanners: Bridging Gaps Between Higher Education & PK12.” Register here.

APPLY NOW: The University Libraries at Virginia Tech Residency Program is offering up to six entry-level resident librarian positions to recent graduates of a master’s degree program or entry-level library, data, or information professionals. Learn more and apply here.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM PENNSYLVANIA: Four Penn State campuses have awarded faculty members the Open and Affordable Educational Resources (OAER) award for the spring 2022 semester. The OAER award recognizes faculty who go above and beyond in promoting OER. The recipients of this award have contributed to the expansion of OER in different ways. While some switched their traditional course materials out for OER, others made their own open textbooks for their students. These four individuals have collectively saved students thousands of dollars. Read More >>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

Jacob Moore, an engineering professor at Penn State Mont Alto, published a new open resource, Mechanics Map Digital Textbook. The Mechanics Map is an open textbook for engineering statics and dynamics containing written explanations, video lectures, worked examples, and homework problems.

WEIGH-IN

Great reads to repost or share and interesting discussions to consider

Great to Share >>

Embrace of Digital Course Materials Grew During Pandemic | Inside Higher Ed

Interesting to Consider >>

Nonprofit Provides Free High Quality Instructional Materials for Teacher Prep Programs | Philanthropy Roundtable

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.

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