OER Digest – February 21st, 2019

From Kaitlyn Vitez, U.S. PIRG | Volume 75 | February 21st, 2019

THE OER DIGEST

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

POLICY UPDATES: A new bill was introduced in West Virginia that would create a statewide program to increase the use of OER in both K-12 and higher education. Maryland introduced legislation that would require apprenticeship program operators to pay for books and materials for students, unless there is OER already available to students for free. A Virginia bill requiring no- and low-cost course markings has now passed both chambers and heads to the governor’s desk for signature.

COLORADO UPDATE: Nearly a year after the legislature funded a statewide OER initiative, the first grantees have been announced- 20 proposals in total. “There is limitless potential when it comes to OERs,” said Commissioner Pardis Mahdavi in a statement from the Colorado Department of Education. “We know from national data that adoption and implementation of OER can positively impact both affordability and student success. Colorado is well-positioned to make a great push forward in this arena to lead innovative practices in education.” MSU Denver was awarded one of the largest grants of $60,000, which was supplemented with an additional funding from the provost’s office. Notable among the other grantees is Arapahoe Community College, which is actively working with student government to get students to take an active role in talking to their professors about OER.

SAVINGS STATS: In the first year of a new partnership between Lumen Learning and Folle, one of the largest campus bookstore chains in the U.S., students have saved about $4 million through their OER-based courseware. More than 45,000 college students from 35 institutions were part of the program.

COURSE MARKING: Earlier this month, the Connecticut State College and University system implemented new textbook price transparency measures in its course registration system, Banner. The “NoLo” marking will identify courses with less than $40 in materials costs. Said President Mark Ojakian: “We know textbook costs remain a burden for many students, and for some, the cost of books inhibits their ability to complete coursework and be successful. Through NoLo, CSCU remains committed to accessibility, student success and affordability.”

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

REGISTER: Open Ed Week starts March 4th- just over a week away!

• Add your event to the official list at OpenEducationWeek.org
• The Texas Digital Library is hosting a special webinar in their “Getting Started with OER” series on March 5th, entitled “Lessons Learned in OER.” Register here.
• eCampusOntario is hosting daily webinars throughout the week. Check out the schedule here.

OPPORTUNITY: eCampusOntario is hiring an Open Community Lead to work on growth and sustainability of OER initiatives across the province. Learn more and submit your application here.

REPORT BACK: OER advocates gathered in Savannah, GA last week for the Hewlett grantees conference. Check out #HGCsavannah for more on sessions, takeaways, and more!

REGISTER: The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education OER Working Group has announced a fifth session in their workshop series for faculty. Learn more about the initiative and register here.

REGISTER: The Open Textbook Network has announced that their annual Summer Institute and Summit will be held on July 22-26. Register by March 15th here.

SUBMIT: The International Journal of OER, a publication of the for-profit American Public University System, is seeking papers for its spring edition. Submit your paper by February 28th here.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM NEW JERSEY: Building off of the success of their local open textbook program, Rutgers students are taking OER to the state level. Since last December, the Rutgers University Student Association have pushed for a legislative bill that would require all public universities in New Jersey to submit a plan to the Secretary of Higher Education explaining how they would transition their most popular course offerings to provide open textbooks. “The idea here being that it lowers the barrier, it lowers the cost of entry to universities, especially during the formative years when students aren’t sure what their major is or what they’re interested in,” said Julien Rosenbloom, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore and legislative affairs committee chair. Read More >>>

FROM KANSAS: Student Body President Noah Ries said he supports a bill in the state legislature that would exempt books trom sales tax, but that the quickest way to make an impact on the students’ wallets is to reduce the cost of textbooks. He’s pushing for open textbooks over pricey books and access codes, and sent out a survey last week to assess their impact on the University of Kansas student body. “When [students] are already paying the course fee and are already paying their tuition and are already paying their student fee, that’s supposed to be included in that. But then, they’re still expected to pay for [access codes] on top of that. That’s not really fair,” Ries said. Read More >>>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

BCcampus has developed a new curriculum on electronic health records systems, serving instructors and students in nursing, pharmaceutical, allied health, and physicians programs. The testing will be configured such that students and instructors will use the tool as they might in a classroom or simulation lab: instructors will deliver a lesson plan, students will complete assigned work in the tool, and the instructor will evaluate their submissions. The new OER tool will be beta tested across four institutions this semester, across four different learning management systems.   

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

A New Way to Motivate Faculty Adoption of OER l Inside Higher Ed

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/views/2019/02/13/encourage-faculty-adoption-oer-share-savings-departments-and

Interesting to Consider >>

Reduce textbook costs for students l The Technician

http://www.technicianonline.com/opinion/article_ad9513dc-3228-11e9-8a60-531d90fdca32.html

Reframing the conversation about OER l Inside Higher Ed

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/digital-tweed/reframing-conversation-about-oer?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=3904afdf65-DNU_2019_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-3904afdf65-228783545&mc_cid=3904afdf65&mc_eid=ae9697b0b8

College Stores Adapt to Change | Publishers Weekly

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/79300-college-stores-adapt-to-change.html

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

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

OER Digest – February 7th, 2019

From Ethan Senack, Creative Commons USA | Volume 74 | February 7th, 2019

THE OER DIGEST

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

POLICY UPDATES: With the new legislative year underway, a host of OER bills have been introduced at the state level. Bills to create course designations for low-cost/no-cost materials passed the House in Virginia, and were introduced in Washington (4-year schools and 2-year schools). Legislators in Minnesota introduced a bill requiring each college to offer an “Z-degree”. New York introduced a pair of bills creating a NY OER Council, and requiring Boards of Trustees to report back about use of OER on their campuses. Hawaii and Massachusetts have proposed bills to study the feasibility of a statewide OER initiative and greater investment in digital, low cost materials, respectively.  

SUING OVER INCLUSIVE ACCESS: A used textbook store is suing Trident Technical College in South Carolina over their “inclusive access” policy. The school has contracted with Pearson for access to their catalogue, paid for by an automatic fee on students tuition bill. While the specifics or the legal challenge aren’t clear yet, the store calls into question two particular aspects of the deal – that the college guaranteed Pearson a certain number of enrollments in the program (falling short of which, Pearson would be allowed to revert all materials to their full cost), and that the deal did not legitimately offer students a way to “opt-out” of the program, as required by federal regulation, because access codes are  essentially required to participate in class. More to come as this progresses.

OPEN UP 2.0: Open Up Resources released the second version of their lauded Math 6-8 curriculum this week, which includes updates and a full Spanish version. Per their CEO, “The second edition of Open Up Resources 6–8 Math is a massive step forward for education equity, and a perfect example of how we’re committed to helping all students and districts succeed.”  

ON THE RISE:  A new report from Simba Information, a high-profile industry research group, finds thats use of OER in K-12 education has increased. While the report itself is not public, this is their key takeway: “Despite the challenges with using OER—like identifying and sustaining quality resources amid a plethora of available material—schools’ good experiences with OER likely will lead them to continue down that path, while positive feedback shared will encourage other educators to give OER a try.”

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

EVENTS: We’re just one month out from Open Education Week (March 4-8th). Submit your events to the official site here AND send them to us to share in the Digest!

REGISTER:  NC Live is hosting their annual conference, themed “The Future is Open” on May 13th in Greensboro. Proposals are due in two weeks, and you can register here.

PROPOSALS: The call for proposals for OE Global 2019 in Milan, November 26-28th, opened this week. Session ideas can be submitted here.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM NEW YORK: So, before taking their PUB 320 final, Kruger’s students got to savor their achievement — with cake and an unveiling of their scholarly work, “Models and Mechanisms of Public Health.” Every student in the class received a bound copy of the textbook, which they wrote during the semester and used as the reading material for the course. The book covered three main topics: environmental health, health behavior theories and health disparities.The textbook was created as an open educational resource, meaning it’s free and accessible to anyone, anywhere. That’s what made the project more special to sophomore Alexandra Kouptsova, who designed the cover. Read More >

FROM TORONTO: With a provincial grant, Hinić-Frlog worked with staff from the University of Toronto Mississauga Library and U of T’s Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation to create a nine-chapter textbook that is built around Hinić-Frlog’s biology course and includes review questions and learning objectives as well, as links to external podcast and video resources. “It fits exactly what I want to do in every lecture,” Hinić-Frlog says. “This is a living document and can change as we are using it. Before I post a lecture, I edit the book to integrate parts of the chapters into my lectures, and parts of my lectures into the textbook.” Read More >

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

Mixing it up this week, we want to highlight a set of new, high quality simulations from PhET Simulations at CU Boulder. These animations, licensed CC-BY, cover a variety of topics in physics, chemistry, and more. See one of their latest – Energy Forms and Changes, or follow them on Twitter for more updates.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

Faculty save students $1.1 million on course materials | UAB News

https://www.uab.edu/news/campus/item/10154-faculty-save-students-1-1-million-on-course-materials

Interesting to Consider >>

‘Inclusive Access’ and the Comcast Problem | Inside Higher Ed    https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/inclusive-access-and-comcast-problem

    Is it possible to decolonize the Commons? | Creative Commons

Is it possible to decolonize the Commons? An interview with Jane Anderson of Local Contexts

OER as an Institutional Survival Strategy | Inside Higher Ed http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/oer-institutional-survival-strategy

The rising cost of textbooks is making life more difficult for students | The Triangle

The rising cost of textbooks is making life more difficult for students

Have suggestions for the next edition? Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com, or tweet us @OERdigest.The OER Digest is a public newsletter distributed to a broad group of stakeholders across the higher education community. You can join the open Google Group or check out the distribution list here.