OER Digest – April 29, 2021

From Aishah Abdullah (SPARC) | Volume 128 | April 29, 2021

With updates from Hailey Babb

THE OER DIGEST

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

OER IN COVID RELIEF: Several states have leveraged COVID-19 relief funding from the federal government to expand OER programs, recognizing the benefits of OER in distance learning. The latest is Oregon, which has awarded a $1.2 million grant from the federal Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER) to Oregon’s statewide open education program. With this grant, Open Oregon Educational Resources will launch new initiatives, including hiring a statewide Open Education Instructional Designer, translating OER into languages other than English, designing a related professional development course for non-faculty roles, and developing openly-licensed materials with an equity lens. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania is implementing a $500,000 OER Grant Program and Texas established an OER Course Development and Implementation Grant Program through their respective GEER funds. Read more “OER Digest – April 29, 2021” →

OER Digest – April 15, 2021

From Cailyn Nagle (PIRG)  | Volume 127 | April 15th, 2021

THE OER DIGEST

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

UPDATES FROM THE STATES: In Colorado, bi-partisan legislation that would expand the statewide OER grant program to include zero textbook cost degree pathways is moving through the state senate. The bill would also provide $1 million in annual state funding for the next five years. Meanwhile, legislation that would regulate automatic billing for course materials has met with strong resistance from the commercial publishing industry, who have framed the legislation as OER vs automatic billing. California’s AB403, which would require automatically billed materials to allow students to opt-in, has stalled in the Committee on Higher Education for now. Two bills in Texas remain under consideration after hearings last month, HB 1707 and HB 1027. Read more “OER Digest – April 15, 2021” →

OER Digest – April 1, 2021

From Bilan Jama (CC USA)  | Volume 126 | April 1st, 2021

THE OER DIGEST

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

NEW REPORT: Bay View Analytics has released their latest report on Digital Texts in the Time of COVID on behalf of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The Fall 2020 academic semester saw a shift in the proportion of higher education faculty teaching online, driving a transition of existing courses and educational materials into digital formats, according to a survey of faculty conducted by Bay View Analytics. Survey results also show that while the level of awareness of OER grew for the fifth straight year, OER adoption rates remained stable. The results reflect responses from over 3,200 faculty and department chairpersons. The report shows improvements in faculty satisfaction with OER textbooks and an increased reliance on digital materials to meet online instruction demands. Read more “OER Digest – April 1, 2021” →