OER DIGEST- May 3rd, 2018

From Camille Thomas (SPARC) | Volume 56 | May 3rd, 2018

THE OER DIGEST

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

NEW CO-AUTHOR: Hi! This is Camille Thomas. I am very excited to be SPARC’s first Open Education Fellow! I am the Scholarly Publishing Librarian at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. For the next few months, my work will include working on the digest, LibOER calls, etc. as well as building relationships with new community partners to grow awareness and support for Open Educational Resources. You can contact me at camille@sparcopen.org.

$1 TRILLION AND COUNTING: Student debt in the United States has been a $1 trillion problem for at least six years. Currently, the total debt is $1.5 trillion and financial aid expenditures for textbooks is $3 billion per year. Several articles and opinion pieces have surfaced covering the need for affordable education and how growing costs affect life after higher education. These pieces provide important context for OER advocates working in higher education.

ETEXTBOOK PRICE DROP? Inside Higher Ed reports that while new print textbooks are still costly, the price of etextbooks is falling, according to data from etextbook distribution platforms which work with major publishers. Since 2016, the average price of etextbooks on VitalSource has fallen by 31 percent, from $56.36 in 2016 to $38.65 in 2018. OER advocates questioned the significance of these numbers, noting that it reflects a shift to renting versus buying access to content, and that discounts are likely temporary.

IN THE STATES: Governor Hickenlooper of Colorado signed into law HB18-1331, creating an OER council and appropriating $660K for OER grants and other activities. Edison State Community College is teaming up with the Ohio Association of Community Colleges (OACC) as well as universities from around Ohio to reduce the cost of student textbooks. The initiative, named Open Educational Resources (OER), is supported by a $1.3 million Innovation Grant from the Ohio Department of Higher Education.  

SAVINGS AND MORE: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced an $8 million investment in open educational resources in 2017. Ann Fiddler, Open Education Librarian at the City University of New York, wrote an op-ed about bringing OER to scale for CUNY’s 500,000 students over the past year and how open education means so much more than financial savings.

OPEN CONFERENCES

Upcoming Events, Proposal and Registration Deadlines, Report-Backs  

REGISTER: The Open Education Southern Symposium is being hosted by the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville on October 1st-2nd. Register here. Proposals are still being accepted until May 31st.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: Proposals to host the 2019 Open Education Global Conference is re-opened.  Traditionally, the Conference is held in the spring but starting in 2019, the conference is moving to the Fall with preference for the month of November. More information here.

WRAP UPS: In case you missed any of these great conferences, report-backs are available from the San Diego GoOpen Summit and the Creative Commons Summit. Also, check out the blog post roundup for OER18, which includes multimedia and Twitter coverage of the event. The archive of livestreamed sessions at OE Global is available here.

LAST CALL:  May 11th is the priority application deadline for SPARC’s Open Educational Leadership Program for library professionals. Apply here.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM WYOMING: “The innovation and creativity of UW instructors in this round of grants were amazing. Faculty from three colleges will create new open textbooks and course materials to better meet student needs while saving thousands of dollars in the process,” said Cass Kvenild, interim associate dean of University of Wyoming Libraries. Read more >

FROM ILLINOIS: “It’s time DePaul University began incentivizing professors to switch to Open Educational Resources, which are 100 percent free online textbooks,” said Josh Kaufman, Student Government Association candidate, in his platform statement at DePaul University in Chicago. Read more >

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

The University of Michigan has published a new High Performance Computing open textbook, updating an out of print text to have more practical information for scientists who need to write and run their programs as part of their research. The textbook can be found in MERLOT and is available for print-on-demand.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

Opening a New Path to Success – A Journey with Open Textbooks | WCET

https://wcetfrontiers.org/2018/04/26/opening-a-new-path-to-success-a-journey-with-open-textbooks/

A New Study Found OER to Match and Even Outperform a Commercial Textbook | eLearning Inside

https://news.elearninginside.com/new-study-suggests-oer-matches-even-outperforms-commercial-textbooks/

Interesting to Consider >>

Williamson Schools to develop open source social studies curriculum | The Tennessean

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/williamson/2018/04/19/williamson-schools-develop-open-source-social-studies-curriculum/524207002/

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- April 19th, 2018

From Kaitlyn Vitez (U.S. PIRG) | Volume 55 | April 19th, 2018

THE OER DIGEST

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

BACK TO BACK TO BACK: April has been a packed month for conferences.

• The CC Summit (April 13-15) had more than 400 attendees from 64 countries. If you weren’t able to make it to Toronto, check out the keynote recordings or, of course, follow along at #ccsummit on Twitter.

• #OER18 (April 18-19) is wrapping today in Bristol, UK. You can view session recordings within the conference schedule.

• The Open Ed Global conference starts on the 24th in Delft and expects an audience of 360. Participate virtually or follow along at #OEGlobal18.

OPEN TEXTBOOKS PILOT UPDATE: The co-sponsors of the Affordable College Textbook Act have expanded upon their intentions in funding a $5 million open textbook pilot and their vision for the program. U.S. Senators Durbin, King, and Smith, as well as Representatives Polis and Sinema sent a letter to Secretary DeVos to use the funds to spur the creation and adoption of OER at traditional institutions of higher education. Furthermore, they requested that she use their 2017 bill as guidelines for the application process, including allowing funds to be used for professional development and greater accessibility. In addition, 26 U.S. Senators signed onto another letter urging their colleagues to renew and expand the program in next year’s budget.

DEFINING THE PROBLEM: As teachers across the country strike for better pay and school funding, greater scrutiny is being paid to conditions in K-12 classrooms. Teachers have been sounding off on their out-of-pocket expenses, multiple jobs, and crumbling textbooks. In one notable example, a girl had received a textbook previously owned by country star Blake Shelton in 1982.

COURT RULES ON CC-BY: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit has ruled in favor of school districts exercising the full permissions of CC-BY-NC-SA. The suit was originally brought to the court in 2016 by Great Minds, after the school district had hired FedEx to print copies of their open Eureka Math materials. According to the court, “each teacher and administrator who handles the Material is a ‘downstream recipient’ who acts as an independent licensee,” and may hire a for-profit company to print the open materials as they see fit.

TOP HAT STOPS CHARGING FOR OER: The for-profit platform has announced that they will stop charging students for access to OER, which constitutes about 90% of their textbook inventory. The company had received criticism for demanding students pay for open content. Top Hat cites the CARE Framework as the guiding principles of their transition to the new model. They will continue to charge for access to its classroom and assessment features, as well as closed copyright texts.

OPEN CONFERENCES

Upcoming Events, Proposal and Registration Deadlines, Report-Backs

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The Open Education Southern Symposium is being hosted by the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville on October 1st-2nd. You can read more and submit a proposal by May 31st here.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: OpenStax has announced that they’re seeking a new cohort of institutional partners. Submit your application by April 24th here.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: SPARC is officially launching their intensive Open Educational Leadership Program for library professionals following a successful pilot. Applications for the 2018-2019 cohort open next week — more details here.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Creative Commons has announced boot camps and online workshops to grant CC Certificates, building expertise in open licensing. The first class is in July — look at their calendar and course options here.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM VIRGINIA: “As our campus becomes more diverse, we expect that there will be students from very diverse backgrounds, including socioeconomic backgrounds, and we want to be sure we’re supporting those students, as well as everyone else, so that those students have a chance to be successful academically rather than being priced out of being able to afford textbooks,” said Anita Walz, the scholarly communications librarian at Virginia Tech. Read more >

FROM MARYLAND: “Some professors aren’t even aware that they can apply for grant money for adapting open-education resources into their classroom,” said Ary Papadopoulos, a senior public health science major. “If they don’t know about this program, then how can we expect them to utilize it?” Read more >

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

New America has published a new guide, “Making Connections: PreK–12 OER in Practice.” It contains information on how other school districts are using OER, search tools, and tips for professional trainings.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

Battle over college course material is a textbook example of technological change | Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/battle-over-college-course-material-is-a-textbook-example-of-technological-change/2018/04/14/fb3d0394-0db5-11e8-95a5-c396801049ef_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.676bdee8bc83

Interesting to Consider >>

Tips for Bringing OER to Your University, Institution, or School | Model eLearning

https://modelelearning.com/2018/04/10/tips-for-bringing-oer-to-your-university-institution-or-school/

As Good or Better than Commercial Textbooks | Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea/vol9/iss1/5/

“You might want to tell your instructors about this:” students as sales reps? | U.S. PIRG

https://medium.com/u-s-pirg/you-might-want-to-tell-your-instructors-about-this-students-as-sales-reps-d81a0dd5d3b4

Textbooks, OER, and the Need for Open Pedagogy | Jesse Stommel

http://www.jessestommel.com/textbooks-oer-and-the-need-for-open-pedagogy/

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 – April 5th, 2018

From Ethan Senack, Creative Commons USA | Volume 54 | April 5th, 2018

THE OER DIGEST

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

STATE UPDATES: Legislation to create a Colorado OER Council within the state’s department of higher education has been introduced, and passed in the House there. The Council is written to include “persons appointed by the executive director of the department from public institutions of higher education, including a student; the executive director of the department; the commissioner of education; and the state librarian.” In Virginia, both chambers have passed a bill requiring higher education institutions “to implement guidelines for the adoption and use of low-cost and no-cost open educational resources,” which now heads to the Governor for signing.

MICROSOFT LOOKS TO OPEN: Microsoft announced that they’re modifying their educational content app OneNote to incorporate open curricula from Open Up Resources, meaning the highly-reviewed Math and English Language content will reach a broad new audience. It’s expected that all of the content will be freely accessible, editable, and downloadable through the platform. Microsoft is the latest of a number of companies testing the waters with OER.

MORE APPROPRIATIONS COVERAGE: The FY18 Omnibus appropriations bill has been signed in to law, making the $5 million federal OER grant program official. Check out some of the follow-up coverage on the campaign to make it a reality and how things look moving forward:

• Salon: New federal program tackles spiraling costs of college textbooks
• EdScoop: OER for higher ed gets a boost with $5 million pilot program
• Inside Higher Ed: Feds Come Around to OER — Slowly
• E-Learning Inside: Open Educational Resources Could Finally Be On the Horizon

OPENSTAX CALL: Open textbook publisher OpenStax announced that they’re seeking a new cohort of Institutional Partners – apply by April 24th.

SPOTLIGHT: College of Canyons in California scored prime coverage of their OER work, including a widely-shared feature in EdSurge titled “How an OER Rookie Dove Deep Into a Zero-Cost Textbook Degree Program.” They’re also piloting a tuition-free grant program for qualified students – which will use OER to help tackle textbook costs as well. University of North Georgia’s OER work was highlighted this past week, as were students advocating for OER at Texas Tech.

OPEN CONFERENCES

Upcoming Events, Proposal and Registration Deadlines, Report-Backs  

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The deadline for session proposals at the OpenEd conference in October is tomorrow, April 6th. Submit here: https://openedconference.org/2018/call-for-proposals/

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The deadline for proposals at the Northeast Regional OER Summit are due on Wednesday, April 11th. Submit here: http://www.ctdlc.org/Conference/proposals.cfm

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM TEXAS (HIGHER ED): “Some other campuses have done other similar surveys, but we really wanted to get an idea of what Texas Tech students thought about open textbooks and what they would use them for,” Camille Thomas, scholarly publishing librarian, said. “We wanted to find out what students felt comfortable paying, what kind of choices they were making with the classes they were enrolling with and how well they were doing in their class or if they were deciding not to buy the book because of the cost and things like that.” Read More >

FROM IOWA (K-12): “One of the biggest issues we’ve had is having common understanding. We have a lot of people saying ‘oh, we love OER’ and then when you ask them to describe OER, they’re going to have a different definition than the person sitting next to them.” Hear More >

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

OER champs Robin DeRosa and Rajiv Jhangiani launched openpedagogy.org, designed to be a space for educators, staff, and students to “browse diverse examples of open pedagogy in practice as well as share their own practices & ideas.” They welcome constructive feedback and new examples.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

How OpenStax books are made | OpenStax

Interesting to Consider >>

Signing Students up for Surveillance: Textbook Publisher Terms of Use for Data | Medium

Schools Shift to Free, Public-Domain Curricula | Wall Street Journal

OER and Obstacles to Adoption | Inside Higher Ed

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

OER Digest – March 22nd, 2018

From Katie Steen (SPARC) | Volume 53 | March 23rd, 2018

With updates from Kaitlyn Vitez

THE OER DIGEST

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

VICTORY: In a landmark win for the OER community, the U.S. Congress included $5 million for an open textbook grant program in the FY18 federal appropriations package that was released late last night. The grant program will be administered by the Department of Education and will support projects at institutions of higher educations that create or expand the use of open textbooks. SPARC and U.S. PIRG worked over the past three weeks to rally students, librarians, and OER champions to call and tweet Congress. This is the first time the U.S. Congress moved to fund open textbooks and is the result of nearly a decade of advocacy. The bill passed the House this afternoon and is expected to be signed into law before the end of the week. Join us in celebrating the victory on twitter by quote retweeting this tweet.

#OEWEEK HIGHLIGHTS: During Open Education week, OER advocates hosted and participated in events across the country. We’ve included a few highlights below:

• SXSWedu: Leaders from OpenStax, SPARC, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Ohio State University participated in a panel at SXSWedu on OER and Equity
• Creative Commons: The CC Global Network hosted a timezone-spanning 24-hour webinar on OER
• Missouri: the University of Missouri System hosted a state-wide Affordable and OER Summit to discuss best practices and opportunities for collective action on OER
• Hawaii: The University of Hawaii hosted an event with KPU’s Dr. Rajiv Jhangiani on OER and open pedagogy

Check out other highlights from #OEweek on Twitter or tweet yours at us and the OER Digest will RT them!

CAMPUS SAVINGS: Georgia Highlands College (GHC) has saved students over $6M by eliminating textbook costs through OER. GHC’s OER efforts are supported by the Affordable Learning Georgia initiative, a state-wide program that helps faculty adopt and create OER for their courses. Other shoutouts to CSU Channel Islands, CU Boulder, UC-San Diego, and Rutgers for making the news!

PRESIDENTS ON OER: A new survey by Insider Higher Ed asked college and university presidents about their views on a host of higher education issues including OER and course materials. 61 percent agreed that textbooks and course materials cost too much while 85 percent agreed that institutions should embrace OER. Some of the phrasing in the survey questions caused concern in the OER community because they imply a lack of quality among OER.

OE AWARDS: The Open Education Consortium announced its 2018 OE Award Winners of Open Resources, Tools, and Practices. These awards recognize outstanding contributions to the Open Education community. Check out the Open Education Consortium website to learn more about the 12 awardees!

SIGNING OFF (from Digest co-author Katie Steen): At the end of next week I will be transitioning out of my role at SPARC and starting a new position on the policy team at the Association of American Universities (AAU). Thank you to everyone in the OER community for being wonderful colleagues and mentors, especially Nicole Allen. You can reach me on twitter at @katiesteen627.

OPEN CONFERENCES

Upcoming Events, Proposal and Registration Deadlines, Report-Backs  

REGISTER: CC’s Global Summit is just over a month away on April 13-15th in Toronto. Register for the conference: https://summit.creativecommons.org/register2018/

REGISTER: The Teaching and Learning Today conference is May 1st-2nd at the University of Saskatchewan. Register for the conference here: https://teaching.usask.ca/tlt2018/

REGISTER: BCcampus’ Festival of Learning is May 28-30th in Vancouver. Register for the conference here: https://bccampus.ca/festival-of-learning-2018/

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The Northeast Regional OER Summit call for proposals and registration is now open. Proposals are due by Wednesday, April 4th. Submit and register here: https://www.library.umass.edu/services/teaching-and-learning/oer/northeast-oer-summit/

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The #OpenEd18 call for proposals has now opened. Submissions are due by midnight on Friday, April 6th. Submit here: https://openedconference.org/2018/call-for-proposals/

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM CALIFORNIA:  “This event is about providing awareness for students on how to access and find Alamo Open courses. We’re hoping that they can see in writing what they spend in a semester on textbooks and what they would do with that money.” Read more>>

FROM VIRGINIA: “Greenlaw’s open textbook, Principles of Economics, has been used by 152,722 students since it was published in 2014, according to the open textbook publisher OpenStax. That represents a $15 million savings, about $98 per book. For some students, those savings make all the difference in their academic success.” Read more>>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

An update for an existing OER: the popular, collaboratively written American Yawp will be available in print from Stanford University Press in August. “We’re pleased that this resource is being utilized in classrooms all over the country,” said the Yawp’s editor, Dr. Ben Wright. “We believe our collaborative process makes our content stronger than traditional texts, and hopefully it provides a break for students trying to reach graduation without burdensome debt.”

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

Feds Pick California Nonprofit as Partner on Open Educational Resources Project | Ed Week https://marketbrief.edweek.org/marketplace-k-12/feds-pick-california-nonprofit-partner-open-educational-resources-project/

New Boost for Student Aid and Research | Inside Higher Ed https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/03/22/omnibus-spending-package-boosts-student-aid-while-restricting-devos-priorities

Interesting to Consider >>

How to Sort the Good from the Bad in OER | The Hechinger Report

http://hechingerreport.org/how-to-sort-the-good-from-the-bad-in-oer/

MERLOT Updated for Mobile OER Hunting | Campus Technology https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/03/15/merlot-updated-for-mobile-oer-hunting.aspx

101 Partners with OpenStax to Deliver More Affordable and Engaging Course Materials for College STEM Students | Cision

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/101-partners-with-openstax-to-deliver-more-affordable-and-engaging-course-materials-for-college-stem-students-300613681.html

The Detroit school district has been using a curriculum that’s ‘an injustice to the children of Detroit’ — but it’s not alone | Chalkbeat

https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/detroit/2018/03/08/the-detroit-school-district-has-been-using-a-curriculum-thats-an-injustice-to-the-children-of-detroit-but-its-not-alone/

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- March 8th, 2018

From Saman Azimi and Kaitlyn Vitez, U.S. PIRG | Volume 52 | March 8th, 2018

With updates from Karen Vaites and Jeremy Smith

THE OER DIGEST

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

HAPPY #OEWEEK: from the OER Digest team! It’s been great to see the many events happening across the globe to promote open education — from student tables to faculty workshops to regional events. Check out the list of events around the world at the official Open Education Week website, or keep up with the latest coverage under the many permutations of #OEWeek on Twitter.

CALL CONGRESS TODAY: to ask that an open textbooks grant be included in the federal budget for the current fiscal year, due to be finalized in the next few days. The budget deal reached last month sets aside $2 billion this year for “college affordability and completion” initiatives, and we’d like to see $10 million go to support OER adoption and creation via a short term federal grant program. Thanks to the OER community’s support, SPARC and U.S. PIRG delivered letters from libraries and student governments calling on Congress to fund open textbook grants, and have generated hundreds of calls to key House and Senate lawmakers. Check out the twitterstream at #opentextbooksFY18 or contact katie@sparcopen.org or kvitez@pirg.org for more information on how to get involved.

CHART-TOPPING CURRICULUM: The second openly-licensed curriculum from Open Up Resources, EL Education K–5 Language Arts, has just become the top-rated K-5 ELA curriculum on EdReports, the Consumer Reports of K–12 materials. It’s now the highest-rated elementary curriculum that they’ve ever reviewed.

IN THE STATES: Legislation in Iowa would require institutions to mark OER in course catalogs. The bill was recommended favorably by Senate subcommittee, and if passed would make Iowa the first state in the Midwest to enact this kind of law. A bill in Washington creating a pilot grant program for four-year institutions now heads to the governor’s desk.

DEFINING OPEN: In light of the recent introduction of new OER-based products by Cengage, Macmillan, and other publishers, there has been a flurry of blogs on what materials or characteristics can be considered open. Paul Stacey reflects on framing good citizenship in the commons, and ISKME, Ed Tech Strategies, and AAC&U released their “CARE” framework for evaluating OER-based courseware as the movement grows: contribute, attribute, release, and empower. Have your own thoughts on the topic that you’d like to share? Send them to the OER Digest to be featured in the next edition!

CH-CH-CH-CHANGES: Some major news broke in the traditional publishing market that OER advocates should know about: Pearson announced that it is selling its K-12 division despite a rise in profits in the past fiscal year as it pushes out more digital content. Their K-12 offerings, mostly traditional textbooks, are out of sync with the publisher’s  “digital transformation strategy” rebrand as a courseware developer. This is part of a larger trend of publishers moving away from print towards what Pearson’s CEO calls the “Spotify” model – streaming digital access without ownership.

GROWING #GOOPEN: The U.S. Department of Education announced a new partnership with the Institute for the Study and of Knowledge and Management in Education (ISKME) to expand and enhance the #GoOpen network. The partnership will facilitate the sharing of OER and implementation strategies and integrate evidence of the efficacy of OER into the broader education policy dialogue.

OPEN CONFERENCES

Upcoming Events, Proposal and Registration Deadlines, Report-Backs  

REGISTER: CC’s Global Summit is just over a month away on April 13-15th in Toronto. Register for the conference before it sells out: https://summit.creativecommons.org/register2018/

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The #OpenEd18 call for proposals has now opened. Submissions are due by midnight on Friday, April 6th. Submit here: https://openedconference.org/2018/call-for-proposals/

LAST CALL: Regular registration for OpenStax’s Creator Fest in Houston, TX on April 5th-6th ends tomorrow. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/openstax-creator-fest-2018-tickets-38510722608

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM ILLINOIS: “I pay $30,000 a year to learn from expert professors and access DePaul amenities, I don’t pay $30,000 a year to then pay an extra hundred dollars to have my professors pawn their work off to a third rate, for-profit company.” Read more >

FROM MASSACHUSETTS: “I avoid buying textbooks at all costs,” said one student in UMass’s latest mini-documentary on their OER initiatives. The video features student and faculty testimonials. Watch more>

FROM IOWA: “Students could potentially save $3,000 over the course of their Liberal Arts degree. Textbooks are becoming unaffordable for our students, so we decided to use a different approach.” Read More >

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

From Rebecca Morales and Alesha Baker comes an article in the Journal of Interactive Media in Education titled “Secondary Students’ Perceptions of Open Science Textbooks.” The article, which explores the perceptions of 6th-8th graders in a suburban public school, includes findings that students’ perceptions of an open textbook in place of a standard textbook are improving students’ attitudes and behaviors toward learning.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

A Guide to Good OER Stewardship | Inside Higher Ed https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/03/05/advocates-develop-framework-stewardship-open-educational

How OER can help overcome the higher education equity barrier | EdScoop

https://edscoop.com/how-open-education-resources-can-help-overcome-the-higher-education-equity-barrier

Interesting to Consider >>

‘One and Done’ Model of Higher Ed is in the Past | Education Dive

https://www.educationdive.com/news/one-and-done-model-of-higher-ed-is-in-the-past/517801/

The Future of Educational Publishers | eLearning Industry

https://elearningindustry.com/future-of-educational-publishers

Five Examples of How Higher Education is Changing with Technology | Business & Finance

https://businessandfinance.com/guest-blog-five-examples-higher-education-changing-with-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. You can join the open Google Group or check out the distribution list here.

OER Digest – February 22, 2018

From Ethan Senack, Creative Commons USA | Volume 51 | February 22nd, 2018

With updates from Nicole Allen

THE OER DIGEST

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

FROM THE DEPARTMENT: The Department of Education’s open licensing requirement for educational resources produced through competitive grants is now in full swing. Language is now being included in new grant programs specifying the requirement for prospective grantees. Check it out in the recent call for applications to the Native American Career and Technical Education Program.

IN THE STATES: A bill in Virginia directing public higher education institutions to adopt guidelines for OER has passed the House and is up for a hearing this afternoon in the Senate. Advocates are pushing to remove language that would call for guidelines on “low-cost commercially published materials.” A bill in Hawaii that originally drew concern has been amended to create a statewide task force and grant fund for open education, following the recommendations of stakeholders and advocates across the state. Legislators in New Jersey, California, Ohio, and Iowa also introduced bills that could impact OER.

NEW MICROSOFT PARTNERSHIP: Microsoft announced a partnership with EdGate to supply “links and metadata for carefully curated and vetted OER that have been aligned to national and international K-12 educational standards” through their Educational Resources platform in Office 365. They aim to narrow results so teachers can find resources that are specifically applicable to their own state or regional curricular standards.

ON MACMILLAN: Textbook publishing giant Macmillan announced what they call a new OER-based service last week. The announcement triggered much discussion among OER community members, particularly around how the word ‘open’ is used by industry members when they are charging a fee for the wraparound service. Macmillan has since said that they plan to make any OER used in their courses publicly available on their partner Intellus’ website. Stay tuned for more information as Macmillan launches the courses throughout the spring.

STUDENTS OUT FRONT: Students are increasingly joining the vanguard of on-campus efforts to move away from expensive course materials and support OER. At West Virginia University, students have recruited legislators to introduce an OER-focused bill. At Tufts, students created a textbook exchange to help facilitate the used book market on campus. Students from East Tennessee State University encouraged their institution to join the Open Textbook Network. At Grand Valley State University, students are collaborating with faculty to advocate for campus OER grants.

NEW STAFF: Creative Commons HQ welcomes Jennryn Wetzler as Assistant Director of Open Education. She’s worked on open education for years through the U.S. Department of State.

OPEN ED WEEK: We’re less than two weeks away from the start of Open Education Week 2018. This year, it “is a celebration of the Global Open Education Movement. Its purpose is to raise awareness about the movement and its impact on teaching and learning worldwide.” See the call for participation, and more ideas for hosting events here.

OPEN CONFERENCES

Upcoming Events, Proposal and Registration Deadlines, Report-Backs

SUBMIT PROPOSAL: PressED is a twitter conference (#pressedconf18) looking into how WordPress is used in teaching, pedagogy and research. Submit a proposal by March 2nd here: http://pressedconf.org/

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

IN K-12, FROM NORTH CAROLINA: “One of the biggest values of using the two comprehensive sets of open educational resources, says Kingsley, was that it enabled the district to free up dollars that would have been spent on textbooks for professional learning. The district has invested more than $1.5 million in professional learning this year tied to the new curriculum materials.” Read More >

IN H.E., FROM CALIFORNIA: “It takes 19 hours working a minimum wage job to pay for a $200 book, according to data collected by Hancock, and Scarffe said the college serves a very high percentage of low-income and first generation college students. In a survey of 609 students conducted by Hancock’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness in 2017, 65 percent of students said they had dropped a class due to the price of a required textbook. Sixty-one percent of students surveyed said they spent at least $200 on textbooks each semester, and 45 percent said they had avoided registering for courses with costly required textbooks.” Read More >

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

BCcampus Open Education’s Lauri M. Aesoph released a Self-Publishing Guide for producing open textbooks. The 188-page guide covers everything from early planning to post-publication actions, and is available under CC-BY. See more about the guide and BCcampus’ other helpful docs here, or go straight to the PDF.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

Where OER can (and can’t) close the opportunity gap | OpenStax

https://openstax.org/blog/where-oer-can-and-cant-close-opportunity-gap

Interesting to Consider >>

Services Go Up, Stuff Goes Down (Except Textbooks) | Inside Higher Ed

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/services-go-stuff-goes-down-except-textbooks

5 Insights to Help Prepare Students for the Future of Work | EdWeek Market Brief

https://marketbrief.edweek.org/marketplace-k-12/5-insights-help-prepare-students-future-work-economist-google/

What We Mean When We Say “Ecosystem Coordinator” | The Learning Accelerator

https://learningaccelerator.org/blog/what-we-mean-when-we-say-ecosystem-coordinator

Stories of Sustainability | American Libraries

https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/stories-of-sustainability/

Pearson hit again as weak U.S. demand weighs on education group | Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pearson-outlook/pearson-hit-again-as-weak-u-s-demand-weighs-on-education-group-idUSKBN1F60ZZ

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

OER Digest – February 8th, 2018

From Katie Steen (SPARC) | Volume 50 | February 8, 2018 

With updates from Matt Ruen

THE OER DIGEST

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

WA STUDENTS HAVE SPOKEN: 10,000 students across Washington’s 34 community and technical college were asked about the affordability of course materials. The responses showed that an alarming amount of students do not have access to the required course materials they need. 44% of students indicated that they have sometimes or often taken courses without the required materials due to the cost. Student respondents recommended that institutions use open educational resources to combat expensive materials.

OER APPROVED IN OH: Ohio State surveyed students and instructors in 12 courses across a diverse set of disciplines about their experience with OER and other low-cost materials. The survey found that students and faculty were generally pleased with the quality and experience of using open and affordable digital materials. According to David Mullins, Evaluation and Feedback Lead from ODEE, “The key to making learning affordable is focusing on high-quality OERs that enhance the educational experience for students in their courses.”

GEORGIA HITS MILESTONE: The University System of Georgia’s OER repository hit a milestone! Since its launch in 2016, the repository has clocked 100,000 full-text downloads.

STATE UPDATE: Thus far in 2018, there are 35 active K-12 and higher education bills in 14 states that impact OER or mention it directly. We’ve seen legislation filed that would positively impact OER and others that could have negative consequences. Stay tuned for updates on these bills as legislative sessions progress.

OEC ANNOUNCES NEW ED: On February 6th the Open Education Consortium announced its new Executive Director, Paul Stacey. Paul joins OEC after five years as Associate Director of Global Learning for Creative Commons. Prior to Creative Commons Paul helped found BCcampus in 2003 and led its open education initiative for nine years.

OPEN CONFERENCES

Upcoming Events, Proposal and Registration Deadlines, Report-Backs  

REGISTER: Registration is open for the Open Education Symposium hosted by  Florida State University Libraries on March 8th. Register here: https://www.lib.fsu.edu/events/open-education-symposium

SAVE THE DATE: The 15th Annual Open Education Conference (#OpenEd18) will be October 10-12, 2018 in Niagara Falls, NY.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Participate in Open Education Week (March 5-9) by submitting an event you’re hosting or an open resource to be featured on the OEW website. Submit by February 25th here: https://www.openeducationweek.org/page/call-for-participation

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM QUEBEC: “The OERs offer a way to relieve some of the financial burden of purchasing class materials on students,” Archer said. “It’s hard being a student. Within a single term you may even have $1,200 worth of textbooks, and making even a few of them available as OERs [can be] helpful.” Read more >>

FROM CALIFORNIA: “The main benefit is cost reduction,” said project director Jessica Scarffe. “Hancock has a high percentage of first-generation college students and a high percentage of low-income students. Removing textbook costs makes college more accessible and supports the college’s student equity effort.” Read more >>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

Grand Valley State University has released Innovative Lessons Plans for Active Learning: Teaching Research and Evidence-Based Practice, a guide for instructors to create engaging classes on nursing research. Its sixteen chapters contain ideas for activities to supplement regular classroom instruction and any undergraduate textbook for the course. Watch the introductory video, and access the guide here.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

OER reaches ‘inflection point,’ and states are leading the charge | EdScoop 

http://edscoop.com/oer-reaches-inflection-point-states-leading-charge

Open Education Resources Going Mainstream | MDR Education

https://mdreducation.com/2018/02/02/open-education-resources-going-mainstream/

Interesting to Consider >>

Provosts’ Views on Online Learning and OER | Inside Higher Ed

http://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/data/2018/01/31/provosts-online-learning-and-oer

Amazon’s Newest Hire Could Have a Big Impact on Online Open Education Resources | In Cyberdefense

https://incyberdefense.com/featured/amazons-newest-hire-big-impact-online-open-education-resources/

Opinion: Open Resources in an Age of Contingency | Inside Higher Ed

http://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/views/2018/01/31/oer-movement-poses-risks-time-and-resource-starved-contingent

Why Students Are Still Spending So Much for College Textbooks | The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/01/why-students-are-still-spending-so-much-for-college-textbooks/551639/

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 – January 25th, 2018

From Saman Azimi and Kaitlyn Vitez, U.S. PIRG | Volume 49 | January 25th, 2018

With updates from Nicole Allen, Cheryl Cuillier, and Katie Steen

THE OER DIGEST

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

OPEN 101: U.S. PIRG released a new report titled “Open 101: An Action Plan for Affordable Textbooks,” The report investigates the cost of course materials in the ten highest-enrollment courses in the country, zeroing in on how bundled materials prevent students from finding low-cost alternatives. The report also provides a comparison of course materials used for those ten courses across criteria such as availability unbundled, retention, and the cost for new and used books. Key findings include:

• Of the access code bundles (text + access code) examined in the report, 45% were unavailable from any source besides the campus bookstore, forcing students to pay full price. For courses using textbooks only, students could cut costs as much as 58% by buying online.

• Schools that have invested in OER generated significant savings for students, e.g. at Greenfield Community College, where three of six courses investigated used OER, students spent as little as $31 per course versus a national average of $153 per course.

• If the ten highest-enrollment courses nationally switched to using OER, students save up to $1.5 billion each year.

TOP OF THE CLASS: EdReports, an independent education nonprofit that reviews K-12 curricula on a set of three criteria – alignment to Common Core standards, academic rigor, and usability – gave its highest ever rating to Open Up Resources’ Illustrative Mathematics 6-8. The curriculum, which is fully OER, was the only one of fifty-four math curricula reviewed by EdReports to earn a designation of “meets expectations” in all three criteria.

STATE POLICY: SPARC and Creative Commons USA released a pair of companion documents examining state policy on OER and offering recommendations and analysis for lawmakers and advocates:

• SPARC’s OER State Policy Playbook provides a framework of ideas that state legislators can pursue to harness the power of OER to reduce the cost of college for students. The playbook suggests several policy strategies, like establishing a grant program, assembling a statewide task force, issuing a savings challenge, and requiring course designations, and provides real life examples.

• Creative Commons USA’s OER State Legislative Guide looks at seven examples of state legislation supporting OER, each representing a different perspective and legislative language. The guide annotates the bills to highlight strengths, areas for improvement, and unique tactics.

OER IN OR: A new report from Open Oregon Educational Resources covering the cost savings community college students have seen in the two years since Oregon established an OER initiative found that students in three transfer degree programs spent 16% less in 2017 than 2015, for over $1 million in savings. The report also found that the number of hours working at minimum wage it would take to cover materials costs has fallen by ~25% across all three degrees because of lower prices and higher wages.

HBD CAPE TOWN DECLARATION: Happy 10th Anniversary to the Cape Town Open Education Declaration! To celebrate, a small group of open education advocates met in Cape Town in March 2017 to discuss the accomplishments and challenges in the movement over the last decade. At the meeting, advocates identified ten key directions to move open education forward. Check out the conversation on twitter at #CPT10.

OPEN CONFERENCES

Upcoming Events, Proposal and Registration Deadlines, Report-Backs

REGISTER: OpenStax is hosting its first Creator Fest for biology, physics, math, and chemistry instructors in Houston, TX from April 5th-6th. Register here: OpenStax.org/OXCFRegister

REGISTER: The Puget Sound Educational Service District is hosting a summit on the state of OER in K-12 in Washington at their office in Renton, WA on March 26th. Register here: https://s01.123signup.com/servlet/SignUpMember?

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Participate in Open Education Week (March 5-9) by submitting an event you’re hosting or an open resource to be featured on the OEW website. Submit by February 25th here: https://www.openeducationweek.org/page/call-for-participation

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM PENNSYLVANIA:  A committee being formed by provost Patricia Beeson is expected to explore options, including a student-developed idea calling for expanded use by faculty of these lower-cost materials, and creation by Pitt of grants and other incentives for professors willing to participate. Read More >

FROM INDIANA: The four-week course will focus on finding educational materials that are both high quality and reviewed, highlighting those available through IU South Bend or IU-subscriptions. “We will also learn about copyright considerations and, finally, creating new, homegrown OERs here at IUSB. Faculty and instructors taking the redesign institute will identify and integrate alternative materials into existing or future courses,” states the syllabus for the course. Read More >

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

From Steven W. Ellingson of Virginia Tech comes a beta of Electromagnetics Volume 1 (CC BY-SA 4.0). The text, which is intended for third-year undergraduates in an electrical engineering program, employs the “transition lines first” approach and is currently being field tested in a Spring 2018 course.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

5 Ways to Get Started with OER | eSchool News

Ehttps://www.eschoolnews.com/2018/01/23/oer-get-started-open-resources/?all

Interesting to Consider >>

Amazon’s Education Hub, Amazon Inspire, Has Quietly Restored “Sharing” Function | EdSurge

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-01-11-amazon-s-education-hub-amazon-inspire-has-quietly-restored-sharing-function?

Administrators Consider Teachers’ Professional Learning Needs Using Digital, OER Resources | Education Dive

https://www.educationdive.com/news/administrators-consider-teachers-professional-learning-needs-in-using-digi/504588/

This 1 Particular Area of Ed Tech is Ripe for Disruption | Entrepreneur

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/307712

Opinion: It’s Time to Rid Ourselves of the Textbook Industrial Complex | Collegiate Times

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/opinion/it-s-time-to-rid-ourselves-of-the-textbook-industrial/article_c66d980e-fe15-11e7-a970-a77a06c48e72.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 – January 11th, 2018

From Ethan Senack, Creative Commons USA | Volume 48 | January 11th, 2018

With updates from Nicole Allen, Cheryl Cuillier, and Karen Lauritsen

THE OER DIGEST

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

CHEERS TO 2018: As we kick off the new year, the Digest team just wants to express a quick word of thanks to our readers. Send us your predictions, blogs, or other reflections for 2018 at oerdigest@gmail.com or @oerdigest and we might include them in the next edition!

HITTING A GROOVE: If the first couple weeks of this month are any indication, the OER community seems to be heading for a banner year. Check out some of the most recent headlines from articles featuring OER:

• Inside Higher Ed: The Truth (About OER) Is Out There

• Chronicle of Higher Education: Use of Free Textbooks Is Rising, but Barriers Remain

• Inside Higher Ed: OER Adoptions on the Rise

• EdSurge: As Campuses Move to Embrace OER, College Libraries Become Key Players

• EdSurge: OER Had Its Breakthrough in 2017. Next Year, It Will Become an Essential Teaching Tool

BREAKING, FROM CA: California Governor Jerry Brown proposed a new, public, online community college for the state as a means to improve economic mobility and prepare the workforce for a changing job market. As part of the proposal, the college will leverage OER and “z-degree courses” to keep the cost of attendance as low as possible. More details are expected in coming weeks.

IN OTHER STATES: A host of legislators in Virginia, Washington, New York, Mississippi, and Indiana introduced bills around access to- and cost of- course materials this past week, including many provisions around OER. The Digest will be following these, and other bills, as they proceed.

BIG NUMBERS: So far in 2018, institutions are putting big numbers on the board – Pierce College announced last week that they crossed the $1 million mark in student savings from OER, and the University System of Maryland’s annual scorecard revealed $1.6 million in savings for their students. In a different vein, UMUC hit record enrollment last year after years of struggling to maintain existing levels – and they credit their switch to OER as a major factor in the improvement. They’ve also seen increased retention, and dropped their average ‘books and supplies’ cost to zero. Additionally, Wiki Education announced that their programs had added more than 7.68 million words of science content to the open online encyclopedia.

10 YEARS: January 22, 2018 marks the official 10 year anniversary of the publication of the Cape Town Open Education Declaration. Consider marking the occasion on the 22nd with a blog post on your predictions for the next 10 years or join in on social media with #CPT10.

NEW EFFORT: Late last year, the Open Textbook Network announced the creation of The Publishing Cooperative, a group of institutions working together to “establish publishing infrastructure, processes, and community to expand the development of open textbook publishing in higher education.” Their goal is publish two dozen CC-BY textbooks by 2020.

OPEN CONFERENCES

Upcoming Events, Proposal and Registration Deadlines, Report-Backs

REGISTER: Early bird registration is open for the Creative Commons 2018 Global Summit in Toronto, April 13-15th. Register here: https://summit.creativecommons.org/register2018/

REGISTER: The 2018 OE Global Conference take place in Delft, The Netherlands on April 24-26th. Register here: https://conference.oeconsortium.org/2018/registration/

REGISTER, TAKE 2: The Florida OER Summit takes place next month, February 7-8th, after it was postponed due to Hurricane Irma last year. Registration is open now, here: https://www.flvc.org/oersummit-registration

REGISTER: The Library Collective is hosting a conference February 28-March 2nd in Tennessee. Register here by February 1st: http://www.thelibrarycollective.org

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM PENNSYLVANIA K-12: “It really is a grassroots effort,” he says. “It’s not a top-down [situation], where we have to submit resources to the state level or the intermediate unit level to be approved. … Instead, it starts at the district level where teachers, who are the best evaluators of the content that they’re utilizing in the classroom, can begin that process.” Read More >

FROM PENNSYLVANIA HIGHER ED: The resolution cited the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, which recommends students prepare to pay $772 for textbooks for the 2017-2018 school year. “That cost, that’s someone’s rent. That’s someone’s grocery money for the entire semester,” Patel said. “That impacts the students way more than people really see.” Read More >

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

The Public Data Lab released under CC-BY A Field Guide on “Fake News” – exploring the best ways to identify and fake news and verify real stories. The authors are also attempting to build the guide out into a full textbook as well.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

To combat soaring textbook costs, look to an open-source approach | The Globe and Mail

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/to-combat-soaring-textbook-costs-look-to-an-open-source-approach/article37477566/

Interesting to Consider >>

How OER Can Help Low-Income School Districts | Kajeet.net

http://www.kajeet.net/extracurricular/how-oer-can-help-low-income-school-districts

As Textbook Companies Try New Options, Many Students Say Price Is Biggest Factor | EdSurge

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-01-09-as-textbook-companies-try-new-options-many-students-say-price-is-biggest-factor

White Paper on Open Educational Resources | Ontario Council of University Libraries

https://ocul.on.ca/node/6820

Highlights From a Year of Tracking Future Trends in Education | EdSurge

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-12-22-highlights-from-a-year-of-tracking-future-trends-in-education

Districts to watch in 2018 | Education Dive

https://www.educationdive.com/news/districts-to-watch-in-2018/513734/

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

OER Digest – December 7th, 2017

From Saman Azimi and Kaitlyn Vitez, US PIRG | Volume 46 | December 7th, 2017

With updates from Ethan Senack, Katie Steen, and Nicole Allen

THE OER DIGEST

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

STUDENTS SPEAK UP: A new report details student impressions of courses that switched to OER at Reynolds Community College in Virginia. Hundreds of students across 11 courses participated. The data reveal that 74% of students surveyed found the OER content more engaging than a traditional textbook, and 21% specifically mentioned how open materials were more flexible and tailored to their class.

COURSE LABELLING: Four states – California, Texas, Washington and Oregon – as well as individual institutions across the country are requiring a logo or other indicator of cost in their course catalogues. Advocates, oppositions, and faculty weigh in on the challenges of getting their projects off the ground. They detail the technical challenges of posting the essential price information, as well as debating the threshold of affordability for students.

CENGAGE UNLIMITED: Cengage announced the release of a new subscription service that gives subscribers access to the entirety of Cengage’s digital portfolio for a set price. The Netflix-style service doesn’t include any OER, but represents another new model that OER advocates may encounter on campus. It is available at the cost of $119.99 for a semester’s access to more than 20,000 Cengage resources.

OTN GOING GLOBAL: The University of Southern Queensland became the first non-U.S. university to join the Open Textbook Network. The Open Textbook Network, based out of the University of Minnesota, maintains the Open Textbook Library and helps higher education institutions and systems advance the use of open textbooks and practices on their campuses. SQU is currently planning on developing Australian editions of Open Textbook Library resources.

OPEN CITATIONS: Scientometrics researchers are calling on scholarly publishers to provide open citation data in an open letter with more than 200 signatories. Proponents claim that citations, which the letter says “provide essential information for studying science and making decisions about the future of research,” should not be limited to scholars with access to expensive database subscriptions. The letter builds on the Initiative for Open Citations (I4OC), which aims to establish a global, public web of linked scholarly subscription data.

THE OA EFFECT: Research group Springer Nature released a report comparing the performance of open access and non-open access academic books, measured by usage, citations, and online mentions. Key findings, including that open access book see seven times more chapter downloads, 50% more citations, and ten times more online mentions than non-open access books, conclude that there are tangible benefits to publishing using open access models.

THE NEW KNEWTON: Knewton announced that it will be releasing its own line of online courseware in January. This marks a major pivot for the company, which gained publicity over the last year by marketing its services as offering artificial intelligence to help major textbook companies make their content more adaptive. The announcement places Knewton as a competitor to the major publishers, but the company claims that its mix of OER and adaptive learning will set it apart.

OPPORTUNITY: SPARC is seeking OER leaders to serve as mentors for its Open Education Leadership Program pilot. Learn more and sign up by December 11th here.

OPEN CONFERENCES

Upcoming Events, Proposal and Registration Deadlines, Report-Backs  

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: Festival of Learning 2018 is accepting session proposals until December 11th. The theme this year is “Handle with Care” and proposals can be submitted here: https://bccampus.ca/festival-of-learning-2018/call-for-proposals/

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: Submit proposals for the Southern Regional Faculty & Instructional Development Consortium’s Annual Conference, this year titled “Creative Connections: Teaching, Learning, Open Educational Resources,” due December 17th. http://srfidc.weebly.com/conference-information.html

CALL FOR PROPOSALS EXTENDED: The Utah OER Forum has extended the call for proposals until December 17th. Registration opens January 1st. http://oerutah.org/index.php/oer-forum/

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM TEXAS: “In the process of complying with the state mandate to identify potential for low- and no-cost textbooks, we are demonstrating the value of partnerships between departmental faculty and subject librarians. Faculty have more control over what and how the material is covered, and the savings to students are estimated at greater than $600,000 per year. I think that’s a story worth shouting about!” Read More >

FROM NEW JERSEY: “I participated in the [Open and Affordable Textbook] project because of my belief that the university education now, more than ever, should not be restricted to textbooks in many cases. Students should browse and learn from available resources on the internet. With so much emphasis on research, this project sends the message that teaching/learning is still important.” Read More >

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

Professor Ellen C. Carillo of the University of Connecticut partnered with the University Press of Colorado and the Colorado State WAC Clearinghouse to release A Writer’s Guide to Mindful Reading. As part of the openly licensed “Practice and Pedagogy” series, it offers “a comprehensive approach to literacy instruction by focusing on reading and writing.”

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

Why Should Institutions Consider Publishing Open Access Textbooks | Jisc

https://etextbook.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2017/12/04/why-should-institutions-consider-publishing-open-access-textbooks/

Interesting to Consider >>

Exploring the Use of E-Textbooks in Higher Education | EDUCAUSE

https://er.educause.edu/articles/2017/10/exploring-the-use-of-e-textbooks-in-higher-education-a-multiyear-study

Carlsbad Plan Would Put Technology in the Hands of Students | San Diego Union-Tribune

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/communities/north-county/sd-no-carlsbad-devices-20171129-story.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.