OER Digest – June 1st, 2017

From Ethan Senack, Creative Commons USA | Volume 32 | June 1st, 2017
With help from Brady Yano (SPARC) and Katie Steen (SPARC)

THE OER DIGEST

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

OPEN LICENSING RULE: After numerous delays, the Department of Education’s Open Licensing Rule has gone into effect starting on May 22nd. The rule, finalized earlier this year, ensures that educational resources and other copyrightable works created with Department discretionary grant funds are openly licensed. A number of organizations wrote comments in support of implementing the rule, including this coalition letter.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATES: In Connecticut, the Senate passed SB948, which grants the state Office of Higher Education the authority to establish guidelines that encourage public and private colleges and universities to implement programs that reduce the cost of textbooks and other educational resources for students. In Maryland, Governor Hogan signed SB424, which provides a $100,000 grant to the University System of Maryland for their open textbook initiative. In Texas, SB810 – which creates a state OER grant program, establishes protocols for OER course designations in course catalogs, and orders a statewide feasibility study – has been sent to the Governor for his signature.

ACROSS THE POND: More than 60 civil society and trade organizations are calling for the European Union to get copyright reform efforts back on track. From the letter: “Deliver a reform that is fit for purpose in the digital environment and that upholds and strengthens fundamental principles such as the rights of citizens to freedom of communication and access to knowledge”

B&N + UNIZIN: Barnes and Noble recently announced a partnership with the campus education consortium Unizin, to provide LoudCloud – their OER-based learning management system and learning analytics tools – to Unizin’s 22 member schools, including Penn State, Colorado State University, University of Michigan and Ohio State University.

REPORTING BACK: On May 24th-25th BCcampus hosted the 5th Annual Open Textbook Summit at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC. The Summit had more than 25 sessions with participation from a variety of Open Education advocates including faculty, student leaders, university administrators, librarians, government officials, and nonprofit policy staff. Ryan Merkley of Creative Commons and Kory Wilson of Aboriginal Initiatives and Partnerships, British Columbia Institute of Technology keynoted the Summit. Check out #OTSummit17 to see more photos and tweets from the Summit!

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

EVENT: The Rebus Community will be discussing accessibility and open textbooks during their June Office Hours taking place on June 5th at 3pm EDT. To RSVP, click here.

EVENT: The UMass Amherst Libraries will host the Northeast Regional OER Summit June 13-14. Registration is required and can be done here.

OPPORTUNITY: The OER Hub is looking for a few more participants to complete their survey on different models of Open, Online, Flexible and Technology Enhanced Learning in higher education. To participate, click here.

RESOURCE: Recordings from the Alberta OER Summit that took place on May 11th are available here.

 

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

A brief snapshot of those making change on the ground level, and those most impacted

FROM NEW YORK: “The college has an enrollment of almost 27,000 students, half of whom have household incomes under $20,000 and 4,000 of whom have taken one of the classes using OER. Now the school intends to expand the use of no-cost materials and generate cumulative savings of a million dollars.” Read More >

FROM GEORGIA: “Keeping college education affordable is a guiding principle at Dalton State, and one key way faculty members contribute is by collaborating to create open educational resources for their students allowing them to avoid buying costly textbooks for some classes. So far, 10 teams of Dalton State faculty and staff members have sought Affordable Learning Georgia grants to develop course materials, the second most such projects in the University System of Georgia. They have received more than $122 thousand in ALG grant funding to develop materials; cost savings to students over a three-year period could top $1 million.” Read More >

 

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Rajiv Jhangiani‏ @thatpsychprof

Even the commercial publishers predict that use of #OER as primary materials will TRIPLE within 5 years #USNHShare https://assets.cengage.com/pdf/wp_oer-evolving-higher-ed-landscape.pdf

 

SYLLABUS

Interesting Reads Relating to Education and Open

OER Pioneer Predicts Community Colleges Will Dump Traditional Textbooks By 2024 | EdSurge

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-05-23-oer-pioneer-david-wiley-predicts-all-community-colleges-will-dump-traditional-textbooks-by-2024

OER, Vertical and Horizontal | Inside Higher Ed

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/oer-vertical-and-horizontal

Tech and Costs | Inside Higher Ed

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/tech-and-costs

Cengage Continues to Show Strong Digital Growth | MENA Financial Network

http://menafn.com/1095527657/Cengage-Continues-to-Show-Strong-Digital-Growth-Underscoring-Companys-Commitment-to-Affordable-and-Effective-Learning-Options

Why Pearson shares ‘aren’t good value’ | What Investment

http://www.whatinvestment.co.uk/pearson-shares-arent-good-value-2553687/

 

Have suggestions for the next edition?

Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com, or tweet us @OERdigest.

You can subscribe to the OER Digest here.

OER Digest – May 18th, 2017

From Brady Yano (SPARC) | Volume 31 | May 18th, 2017

With help from Apurva Ashok

THE OER DIGEST

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

#GOOPEN BLOG POST: The U.S. Department of Education published a blog post highlighting the momentum behind the #GoOpen movement, and its interest in collaborating with civil society organizations moving forward.

“Openly licensed educational resources can be powerful tools for transforming learning and providing educational opportunities for all students. When implemented strategically, these resources can help states, districts, schools, and students and their families reinvent approaches to learning and collaboration, shrink long-standing equity and accessibility gaps, and adapt learning experiences to meet the needs of all learners.”

#GoOpen is more than just a hashtag and we look forward to seeing its successes continue with support from the community.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OTN: The Open Textbook Network recently celebrated its 5th birthday! There’s a lot to celebrate at the OTN, including the Open Textbook Library being visited an average of 65,000 times per month and the library celebrating its 1,000th textbook review. On behalf of the OER Digest team, happy birthday OTN!

MORE SAVINGS AT OU: The University of Oklahoma Libraries just announced their fourth year of the Alternative Textbook grant. This year 18 full-time faculty members have received grants to adopt an OER for their course. Students at OU are projected to save an additional $116,000 in a single semester!

COLORADO OER COUNCIL: Colorado has passed S.B. 258, a bill which is set to create an OER Council the in the Department of Higher Education. The Department will evaluate the existing use of OER by public institutions of higher education and consider the options for and obstacles to increasing the use of OER.

PEER REVIEW: The Rebus Community recently formed a working group to assess and develop clear, transparent and effective standards for peer review in Open Textbooks. Following the group’s first call, Rebus is now looking for collaborators to join one of five groups that will explore different topic areas including different types of review over the life of a textbook, how to communicate the types of review a textbook has undergone and develop inga system to recognize the contributions of reviewers.

ECAMPUS ONTARIO LAUNCH: eCampus Ontario will be launching their Open Textbook Library in June! Working in partnership with BCcampus, the new library will offer Ontario post-secondary students access to a repository of over 180 OER.

OPENCON 2017: The annual student and early career professional conference, OpenCon will be taking place November 11-13 in Berlin, Germany. Applications open June 27th!

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

EVENT: Education Week will be hosting a webinar today at 1pm EDT entitled Powering Student Engagement With a Successful OER Strategy. Click here to register.

EVENT: Future Ready will be hosting a webinar on May 24th at 2pm EDT exploring the topic of knowing if OER materials are of high quality. Registration is required. http://all4ed.org/webinar-event/may-24-2017/

EVENT: The UMass Amherst Libraries will host the Northeast Regional OER Summit June 13-14. Registration is required. https://www.library.umass.edu/services/teaching-and-learning/oer/northeast-oer-summit

EVENT: Saylor Academy will be hosting their Higher Education Summit June 21-22 in Washington D.C. https://summit.saylor.org/

JOB: The San Diego Community College District is looking for an Assistant Professor, Collection Development / Open Educational Resource Librarian. See the job description here. 

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

A brief snapshot of those making change on the ground level, and those most impacted

FROM PENNSYLVANIA: “Professor Serrano is helping to transform education at Penn State,” said Jennifer Sparrow, senior director of TLT. “By providing her students with the OER textbook, she is not only advancing affordability, she is ensuring that all students have access to the course materials the first day of classes. We know that many students will wait to purchase their textbooks until later in the semester. Research has shown that when students have access on day one of their courses, their success in those courses rises dramatically.” Read more>>

FROM UTAH: Ph.D. student Tarah Ikahihifo has been working with BYU’s Open Education Group for a year. Ultimately, she hopes, “OER could revolutionize higher education and provide better opportunities for people who might otherwise drop out. If you can alleviate one source of stress or tension, maybe that’s the relief they need to be motivated to keep going.” Read more>>

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Sharon Leu‏ @thesharonleu

The greatest impact of #GoOpen will come from long-term and transformative impact on systems.  @OfficeofEdTech 

SYLLABUS

Interesting Reads on Education and Open

5 Ways OER Empower Teachers To Choose Their Own Classroom Adventure | Getting Smart

http://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/05/5-ways-oer-empowers-teachers-to-choose-their-own-classroom-adventure/

Fiddler: The Cost of Textbooks Is a Huge Obstacle for Poor Students. Here’s a Solution | The 74

https://www.the74million.org/article/fiddler-the-cost-of-textbooks-are-a-huge-obstacle-for-poor-students-heres-a-solution

Open Season On Learning | Albany Democrat-Herald

http://democratherald.com/news/local/education/open-season-on-learning/article_68026c4a-5a5e-5f2b-9916-b9d64524efa6.html

Say Goodbye to School Textbooks. Wake County Moving To Free Online Materials | The News&Observer

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article148374489.html#storylink=cpy

Strengthening Democracy Through Open Education | University World News

http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20170502124125567

Under Trump, Ed-Tech Leadership Is Big Question Mark | Education Week

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/05/10/under-trump-ed-tech-leadership-is-big-question.html

Have suggestions for the next edition?

Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com, or tweet us @OERdigest.

You can subscribe to the OER Digest here.

OER Digest – May 4th, 2017

From Ethan Senack (Creative Commons USA) | Volume 30 | May 4th, 2017

With help from Brady Yano (SPARC) and Cable Green (Creative Commons)

THE OER DIGEST

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

AUTHOR’S NOTE (ES): As you may have heard, Digest co-author Katie Steen (USPIRG) is moving onto a summer campaign for the next few months and will be away from her email, so I’m temporarily returning to the Digest team to help Brady Yano (SPARC) bring you consistent updates from the OER field. I’m thrilled to come back and see how much the Digest community has grown, and I look forward to sharing your updates and ideas.

REPORTING BACK: This past week saw a ton of OER and open advocates in Toronto, Canada, for the Creative Commons Global Summit. More than 400 practitioners, lawyers, and advocates gathered to discuss the direction of the CC network and licenses. Two major updates – the release of Made with CC, Creative Commons’ kickstarter-funded book on open business models around the world that will be available to the public on May 5th at https://creativecommons.org/made-with-cc/, and the release of the 2016 State of the Commons report, which shows over 1.2 billion CC-licensed works at https://stateof.creativecommons.org/.

STATE LEG UPDATE: A Texas bill (SB810) creating a $200,000 state OER grant program, establishing protocols for “OER course designations” in course catalogs, and ordering a statewide feasibility study has passed the Senate and moved to the House there. In Washington state, the Governor signed legislation (SB5449) that included a provision to “to identify and develop additional open educational resources to support digital citizenship, media literacy, and internet safety in schools.

FINAL COMMENT: A coalition letter signed by 18 organizations urging the Department of Education to move ahead with their Open Licensing Rule, finalized this January but delayed until May 22nd, has been posted. In the weeks ahead, the Department will be reviewing the comments submitted – many of which were positive toward OER – and will make a decision about whether or not to delay the rule any longer. The letter, here>>

PEARSON’S PARTNERSHIP: Publishing giant Pearson announced a partnership with indiCo, a subsidiary of the National Association of College Stores (NACS), to list their digital “rental-only” textbooks in over 1,500 campus bookstores. All of the titles will be rentable for less than $100.

PANOPEN X LEARNOSITY: Last week, panOpen and Learnosity announced that they have partnered to integrate Learnosity’s assessment and homework capabilities into panOpen’s OER-based learning platform. They pitch it as the “First OER Platform with Commercial-Quality Assessments and Homework.” Read more>>

CAMPUS ACTION: University of Arkansas, Fayetteville recently announced that five of their faculty are set to receive up to $33,000 as part of a new grant program encouraging faculty to use OER. The first set of UA grants have been awarded to faculty teaching introductory or core classes and are expected to impact  more than 1,000 students. Houston Community College also announced that they’ve received a $300,000 grant to develop a Z-Degree, or zero-textbook cost degree, in Business Administration and General Studies. They plan to pilot it with 100 students starting this fall.

A DIFFERENT TAKE: The Drexel student newspaper reported these interesting findings from the Green Press Initiative last week: “Each year, approximately 30 million trees are used to make books sold in the United States — 1,153 times the number of trees in New York City’s Central Park. Many of these trees are sourced from endangered forests with devastating impacts on the people and wildlife that rely on them. So, by making the switch to digital, we can minimize the impact our actions have on forests and wildlife.”

 

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

EVENT: bepress will be hosting a webinar entitled Supporting Student Success with Open Educational Resources on May 9th from 11-12 PDT. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4275264429721961986

EVENT: Registration for the Open Textbook Summit 2017, is still open! BCcampus’ annual event will be taking place May 24-25 in Vancouver, BC. https://bccampus.ca/otsummit-2017/

EVENT: The Rebus Community will be hosting their June Office Hour event on June 5th at 3 EDT/ 12 PDT. The topic of the call will be Accessibility in Open Textbooks. RSVP here.

OPPORTUNITY: OpenStax announced that they’re accepting a new round of applications for their  Institutional Partnership Program. https://openstax.org/impact

 

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

A brief snapshot of those making change on the ground level, and those most impacted

FROM PENNSYLVANIA: “To keep her course content relevant, Serrano used to spend time making copies, writing exercises, and tailoring resources to her students’ needs. With her digital textbook, she provides current resources that can be continually updated in the online environment. Serrano used her e-book for the first time this semester, and her 25 Spanish I students collectively saved approximately $8,440.” Read More>>

FROM TEXAS: “In fall 2017, the Z-Degree pilot program will start offering an Associate of Arts in business Administration and an Associate of Arts in General Studies. Both degree tracks will be completely free of jaw-dropping textbook price tags.“In these times of increasing educational costs, it’s essential that HCC does everything that it possibly can to help reduce costs for student and help make a college education more affordable for our students,” said Steve Levey, HCC’s Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Instruction.” Read More>>

FROM CANADA: A deep dive on eCampus Ontario, BCcampus, what their leaders are up to, and more. Read the article>>

 

TWEET OF THE WEEK

@LaylaBonnot: @Alanis we rewrote iconic ‘Ironic’ around our open licensing and #oer work! #nerds #oer17 @creativecommons @txtbks

 

SYLLABUS

Interesting Reads on Education and Open

A New Value Proposition for Open Textbooks | Inside Higher Ed

Blackboard Launches K–12 Cloud-Based Digital Learning Environment | THE Journal

eCampusOntario Launches Open Textbook Library to Address Student Affordability | On the Go Toronto

OER, on the Ground | Inside Higher Ed

Open Educational Resources Movement Welcomes Growing Pains | The Chronicle

Open on Whose Terms? | The Chronicle

What Would Happen if Learning Materials Were Available Day One? | Education Week

 

Have suggestions for the next edition?

Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com, or tweet us @OERdigest.

OER Digest – April 20th, 2017

From Brady Yano (SPARC) | Volume 29 | April 20th, 2017

THE OER DIGEST

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

“MEAN AMOUNT OF $$”: The CUNY and SUNY systems are set to receive $8 million to drastically increase the use of OER on their campuses. The funding was announced as part of Governor Cuomo’s historic zero-tuition cost announcement, and has been called “a mean amount of money.” Recognizing that both systems will have an influx of low-income students, the $4 million allotment for each system is aimed at providing open educational resources, including ebooks, to students at SUNY and CUNY colleges. A portion of that funding is set to be directed to SUNY OER Services. Read more>>

Inside Higher Education also published an article featuring a number of leaders from the OER and publisher communities commenting on whether or not this move is a “turning point” for OER. Read more>>

FOLLETT + LUMEN: Earlier this week, the major bookstore company Follett and Lumen Learning announced a partnership, where Follett will offer Lumen Learning’s OER solutions to more than 1,200 colleges and universities where Follett manages course materials delivery. Through the partnership, Lumen Learning’s OER courseware will be made available to institutions through Follett’s infrastructure. Follett has also become one of Lumen Learning’s investors. The partnership has been received with mixed responses from the OER community. Read more>>

To address some of the questions and concerns that have been raised, David Wiley has provided further analysis on his blog. Read more>>

ANOTHER PARTNERSHIP: The California State University (CSU) system and VitalSource Technologies  also announced a collaboration to offer OER content from MERLOT, SkillsCommons and COOL4Ed on VitalSource’s platform, which also serves 1,000 commercial publishers.  Read more>>

MARYLAND’S 21 GRANTS: Twenty-one faculty members from 12 state universities and community colleges are set to receive a mini-grant from the University System of Maryland to help expand OER use and mitigate student fees. The grants ranging in amounts of $500 – $2500 are expected to save students enrolled in these courses $1.3 million in textbook costs for the fall 2017 semester. Read more>>

300 ADOPTIONS: As of today, there are 300 entries on the Open Oregon Resources page. This milestone represents a lot of hard work on the part of Oregon’s community college instructors and support staff, and a tremendous savings for students. Congratulations to all of those involved!

NEW BOOKS AT BCCAMPUS: The BC Open Textbook Collection has five new additions: A First Course in Linear Algebra; Macroeconomics: Theory, Models, and Policy; Microeconomics: Markets, Methods, and Models; Principles of Microeconomics and Principles of Macroeconomics. Two materials in the collection Introduction to Financial Accounting – Second Edition and Calculus: Early Transcendentals have new editions.

#OPENEDUCATIONWK RECAP: The numbers are in! During Open Education Week 2017, there were a total of 156 events hosted around the world! This includes 48 webinars, 86 local events and 22 events that took place outside of the official week. Thank you to everyone that hosted or sponsored an activity during Open Education Week 2017.

ON THE ROAD: The Digest team will be attending the Hewlett OER grantees meeting and Creative Commons Global Summit in Toronto next week. Hope to see many of you there!

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

EVENT: The Rebus Community will be hosting their May Office Hour event on May 1st at 3 EDT/ 12 PDT. The topic of the call will be OER Production Workflows. RSVP here. 

EVENT: SPARC’s next Libraries & OER Monthly Meeting will be taking place on May 2nd at 1 EDT/ 10 PDT. Click here to join e-mail discussion list via Google Groups to receive call-in details.

EVENT: Registration for the Open Textbook Summit 2017, is still open! BCcampus’ annual event will be taking place May 24-25 in Vancouver, BC. 

OPPORTUNITY: The Open Education Group is looking for students and early career researchers in the United States and Canada to become an OER Research Fellow. 

OPPORTUNITY: The Rebus Community is looking for individuals to join a working group aimed at investigating approaches for open textbook peer review. 

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

A brief snapshot of those making change on the ground level, and those most impacted

FROM CALIFORNIA: “It’s not just tuition price that is climbing; it’s transportation, housings, textbooks, all of that are the cost problems that our students are facing” PCC’s spokesperson Alex Boekelheide said. “We are trying our best to help students face the cost of college, and anything that we can do to address that is very helpful.” Read more>>

FROM MASSACHUSETTS: Munroe said textbook prices have increased by 88 percent in the last 10 years. MASSPIRG has launched the Open Textbook Initiative campaign to combat rising prices by encouraging professors to provide an alternative to traditional textbooks and other material for their classes. Read more>>

 

TWEET OF THE WEEK

EdSurge‏ @EdSurge

A helpful FAQ on Open Educational Resources, courtesy of #edtech industry veteran @DougLevin http://bit.ly/2oQRzJA  #OER  

SYLLABUS

Interesting Reads on Education and Open

4 Education Technology Trends That Are Redefining K–12 | T.H.E. Journal

Alt-Textbooks at UAS | Whalesong

Celebrating Open Education Week 2017 | Syracuse University Libraries

District Tech Leaders’ Purchasing Influence Slowly Grows | Education Week Market Brief

New Washington State Bill Seeks to Increase OER Use and Development | EdTech Magazine: Focus on Higher Education

‘Open Educational Resources’ Have Great Potential | Education Week

Piloting Open Learning (podcast) | Sandbox CoLABorative

Survey Ranks 10 Key Trends for K-12 Tech Leaders | EdSurge

 

Have suggestions for the next edition?

Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com, or tweet us @OERdigest.

You can subscribe to the OER Digest here.

OER Digest – April 6th, 2017

From Brady Yano (SPARC) | Volume 28 | April 6th, 2017

THE OER DIGEST

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

THAT’S A WRAP, #OPENEDUCATIONWK: Last week the world celebrated the 5th annual Open Education Week. While the official statistics have not yet been announced, we think participation and engagement were high!

EXPLORING ENGAGENY: A new study conducted by the Rand Corporation exploring the use of EngageNY sheds light on the ways in which OER can better support teachers and the implementation of state standards. Engage NY is one of the first efforts to create standards-aligned OER curriculum materials. Key findings:

• EngageNY is among the most commonly used curriculum materials for mathematics and English language arts (ELA).
• High use of EngageNY was at least partly driven by educators’ desire to help students meet state standards.
• EngageNY gives students more opportunities to engage in standards-aligned practices compared with other materials.

HOT OFF THE PRESS: Last week a new book entitled “Open: The Philosophy and Practices that are Revolutionizing Education and Science” was launched. Written in collaboration between a number of open leaders, the book covers open education, open access and open science and was published by Ubiquity Press (CC-BY). The material was edited by Rajiv Jhangiani and Robert Biswas-Deiner and is available both online and in print. Congratulations to all those involved!

NEW AUTHORING GUIDE: The Open Textbook Network has created a new guide for faculty authors, librarians, project managers and others who are involved in the production of open textbooks in higher education and at the K-12 level. Content includes a checklist for getting started, publishing program case studies, textbook organization and elements, writing resources and an overview of useful tools.

FUNDING BOOST FOR BCCAMPUS: Last week the province’s Minister of Advanced Education announced $250,000 in funding for BCcampus’ Open Textbook Project. The funding is welcomed by BCcampus who currently boasts a collection of 180 open textbooks and has saved BC students $4 million to date.

RPT CHANGES AT UBC: During a regular revision of the institution’s Guide to Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure Procedures, faculty pursuing the Educational Leadership Stream at UBC can now be evaluated for their contributions to “open education repositories/resources”.

COOL4ED STUDY: A new study exploring the instructor and student experiences of open textbook use at higher education institutions in California was published last month. The study entitled “Instructor and student experiences with open textbooks, from the California open online library for education (Cool4Ed)” was conducted by Ozgur Ozdemir and Christina Hendricks.

MORE MILLIONS SAVED: The Maricopa Millions OER project has saved Maricopa Community College students over 9 million dollars in its first four years. The project which was projected to save students 5 million dollars in five year’s has already surpassed that initial goal and the cost savings are set to continue.

ED OPEN LICENSING POLICY: Two months ago the Department of Education formally adopted its Open Licensing rule for grant programs. Two weeks ago, the Department published a notice that it would be delaying the effective date of the rule by 60 days as an extension of the Administration’s regulatory freeze, and it will now go into effect until May 22. The Department has opened up a public comment period about the delay, and we encourage the community to comment prior to the April 20th deadline.

 

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

EVENT: Registration for the Open Textbook Summit 2017, is now open! BCcampus’ annual event will be taking place May 24-25 in Vancouver, BC. https://bccampus.ca/otsummit-2017/ 

OPPORTUNITY: The Open Textbook Network is seeking your feedback to help their library grow. What is a new open textbook (or two!) that you would like to see in the Open Textbook Library? http://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/Submit.aspx

OPPORTUNITY: The Year of Open is looking for your thoughts on how they can improve this effort! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/yearofopen

OPPORTUNITY: The rightcopyright.eu Campaign for Education could use your help! Sign the petition here www.rightcopyright.eu

OPPORTUNITY: The Rebus Community is looking for individuals interested in taking part in their Peer Review Working Group. https://forum.rebus.community/topic/130/review-peer-review-for-open-textbooks

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

A brief snapshot of those making change on the ground level, and those most impacted

FROM ALBERTA: “The undergraduate Students’ Union has been a strong advocate for OERs, and Alicia Lunz, current vice-president academic of the SU has been a driving force behind this initiative. “This pilot program is the culmination of a lot of hard work between Dr. Lynn Taylor and myself. The program will allow professors to enhance their knowledge of open education resources and in turn, make them more available to students. As I leave my role in the Students’ Union, I look forward to seeing the impact this will have on the student experience and on the financial barriers that persist in post-secondary education,” she says.” Read more>>

FROM WASHINGTON: The goal for faculty, administration and student government is helping students finish their degrees on time and with as little cost as possible. Sacrificing textbooks to pay bills doesn’t help accomplish that. For Troy, the move toward OER is an obvious one, despite the challenges. “Affordable textbooks will increase student success, help students be more engaged in the classroom, and when students have access to the materials they need, they will be more successful overall,” Troy said. “It’s going to be a game-changer.” Read more>>

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Rajiv Jhangiani‏ @thatpsychprof March 27

It’s out!!! Our new edited book (CC-BY) about Open #oep #oer #oa #openscience from @ubiquitypress Pls share widely! http://www.ubiquitypress.com/site/books/10.5334/bbc/ …

 

SYLLABUS

Interesting Reads on Education and Open

A Defender of Impoverished Students, and a Scholar of Their Struggles | The Chronicle of Higher Education

http://www.chronicle.com/article/A-Defender-of-Impoverished/239610?cid=cp102

Annie Gaines | Movers & Shakers 2017 – Advocates | Library Journal

http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2017/03/people/movers-shakers-2017/annie-gaines-movers-shakers-2017-advocates/#_

April Open Perspective: What is Open Pedagogy? | The Year of Open

https://www.yearofopen.org/april-open-perspective-what-is-open-pedagogy/

At SLCC ‘Open Education Resources’ Lowering Cost of College | benzinga

https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/17/03/p9233902/at-slcc-open-education-resources-lowering-cost-of-college

Campaign Spotlights Global Open Education Movement | Campus Technology

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/03/22/campaign-spotlights-global-open-education-movement.aspx

E-ffordability Summit Looks at Textbook Costs | WIproud.com

http://www.wiproud.com/news/e-ffordability-summit-looks-at-textbook-costs/683672724

International Projects Category: Award Winner and Runners Up | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2017/mar/30/international-projects-category-award-winner-and-runners-up

Open Educational Resources Movement Scales Up | Education Week

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/03/29/open-educational-resources-movement-scales-up-oer.html?cmp=eml-eb-sr-curriculum-03292017&M=57878022&U=1607442

‘Open’ Ed. Provider Steps Into English/Language Arts Market | EdWeek Market Brief

https://marketbrief.edweek.org/marketplace-k-12/open-ed-provider-steps-englishlanguage-arts-market/

Proposed Cap On Textbook Costs in Peril After Colleges Object | Columbus Business First

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2017/03/27/proposed-cap-on-textbook-costs-in-peril-after.html

Schools Shift to Free Public Domain Curricula | Wall Street Journal

https://www.wsj.com/articles/schools-shift-to-free-public-domain-textbooks-1490897412

The Open Educational Resources Movement is Redefining the Concept of Online Textbooks | University Affairs

http://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/open-educational-resources-movement-redefining-concept-online-textbooks/

Trial and Error: Cutting Textbook Costs | Inside Higher Ed

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2017/03/29/trial-and-error-cutting-textbook-costs

Vancouver Pilots Comprehensive Open Math Curriculum | Getting Smart

http://www.gettingsmart.com/2016/10/vancouver-pilots-comprehensive-open-math-curriculum/?utm_content=bufferde33f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

What is OER? 5 Questions About Open Educational Resources | Education Week

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/03/29/what-is-oer-5-questions-about-open-oer.html

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OER Digest – March 23rd, 2017

From Katie Steen (USPIRG) and Brady Yano (SPARC) | Volume 27 | March 23rd, 2017

With help from Erika Aparaka (CCSSO)

THE OER DIGEST

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

HAPPY EARLY OPEN ED WEEK: On behalf of the OER Digest team, we wish everyone a happy 5th Open Education Week! Congratulations to everyone on their successes from this past year and we look forward to celebrating the week with you both online and in person. Follow all the events by searching #OpenEducationWk on Twitter.

ACRL OER PRECONFERNCE: Yesterday SPARC’s Nicole Allen and Open Textbook Network’s Sarah Cohen hosted an ACRL Preconference entitled “Running Effective OER and Open Textbook Initiatives in Your Academic Library.” The event had more than 70 participants in attendance who left the day long workshop ready to take action on their campuses! Check out the highlights on Twitter by searching #LibOER.

RECAP OF OE GLOBAL: OEGlobal 2017 featured over 111 sessions including 80 presentations, 14 action labs, 7 panel discussions, 1 flipped presentation and 9 poster presentations. The conference had a global reach with attendees from 38 countries. Presentations from the event are available here.

CANADIAN COLLABORATION: Recognizing the many benefits of collaboration in this space, Canadian organizations BCcampus and eCampusOntario are coming together to better support faculty and by extension students in the province of Ontario. Read more>>

STATE LEGISLATION UPDATE: A number of bills are moving through state legislatures across the country related to OER. A bill in Virginia was sent to the Governor that creates the Online Virginia Network Authority and requires the reduction of program costs through open access. Another bill was recently introduced in New Jersey requiring institutions of higher education to offer open textbooks.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

EVENT: In recognition of Open Education Week, SPARC is hosting a special webcast entitled “Successful OER Adoption Models: Academic Libraries Leading the Way” on March 29th from 2-3 EDT. https://sparcopen.org/event/successful-oer-adoption-models-academic-libraries-leading-way/

EVENT: BCcampus’ webinar series Open Education Stories from across B.C. continues with its third event, on March 29th, from 10-11 PST. https://open.bccampus.ca/2017/02/28/webinar-series-open-education-stories-from-across-b-c-unbc/

EVENT: Join Northern Virginia Community College’s Extended Learning Institute’s virtual conference NOVA Opens Up, March 27 – 31, 2017. https://www.openeducationweek.org/events/nova-opens-up

EVENT: Registration for #OER17: The Politics of Open closes soon! The conference will take place April 5-6 in London, UK https://oer17.oerconf.org/#gref

JOB: BCcampus is seeking an energetic and collaborative Open Education Advisor. Deadline to apply is March 29th. https://bccampus.ca/advisor-open-education/

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

A brief snapshot of those making change on the ground level, and those most impacted

 

FROM DC: “The costs of textbooks are unreal,” said Sydney Eskin. “GW is already interested in this, but it is our responsibility as student leaders to push it further. A lot of people don’t realize it’s an option.” Eskin added that while it may take some time to adjust, professors will be able to adapt and review textbooks for their students. Read more>>

FROM OKLAHOMA: “This is something I’ve had interest in recently,” SGA President Johnson said. “People at the library are interested in making this happen too, so hopefully a pilot program will be happening next year.” Johnson encouraged senators to contact him if they want to be involved in his meetings at the library because he will graduate before the program becomes a reality. “This really is a great cause, so I don’t just want to see it die when I graduate,” Johnson said. Read more>>

FROM IDAHO: “Advocating for our students is a natural role for librarians,” says Gaines. “In many cases, faculty members are unaware of just how expensive the books they select are…or how much of an impact a $200 book can have on an average student. Open educational resources…[n]ot only alleviate the financial burden on students but…provide flexibility and freedom for faculty.” Gaines’s passion for OER combines her belief in open access (OA) and her commitment to making education more affordable for all. Read more>>

TWEET OF THE WEEK

delonger‏ @delonger  Mar 21

Textbook petting zoo today @NMC_library to show how $$$ books cost.  Using #OER NMC faculty have saved student 481K so far! @OpenStax

SYLLABUS

Interesting Reads on Education and Open

Campaign Spotlights Global Open Education Movement | Campus Technology

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/03/22/campaign-spotlights-global-open-education-movement.aspx?admgarea=new

Considering OER? Here’s What You Need To Know | eSchool News http://www.eschoolnews.com/2017/03/10/oer-6-things-know/

Lessons learned in accessibility through the BC Open Textbook Project | BCcampus

https://open.bccampus.ca/2017/03/08/lessons-learned-in-accessibility-through-the-bc-open-textbook-project/

Open Educational Resources and School Librarians – The Right Fit! | Journal of the American Association of School Librarians

http://knowledgequest.aasl.org/open-educational-resources-school-librarians-right-fit/

Open Source Textbooks Could Save Students a Bundle | Southern Maryland Online

http://somd.com/news/headlines/2017/21753.php

Student Senate: Body will discuss opposing proposed textbook initiative | The Post

http://www.thepostathens.com/article/2017/03/student-senate-propsed-textbook-initiative

Textbooks Could Be History As Schools Switch To Free Online Learning | philly.com

http://www.philly.com/philly/education/History-books-could-soon-be-history-as-schools-switch-to-free-online-learning.html

What Trump’s Budget Outline Would Mean for Higher Ed | The Chronicle of Higher Education

http://www.chronicle.com/article/What-Trump-s-Budget-Outline/239511

USG’s textbook resolution passes in University Senate | thelantern

http://thelantern.com/2017/03/usgs-textbook-resolution-passes-in-university-senate/

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OER Digest – March 9th, 2017

From Brady Yano (SPARC) | Volume 26 | March 9th, 2017

THE OER DIGEST

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

OE GLOBAL 2017: The OE Global Conference is currently underway in Cape Town, South Africa. Each year the conference brings together leaders in open education from across the world and is organized by the Open Education Consortium. Tonight, the winners of the Open Education Awards for Excellence were also announced. Prior to this year’s event, there was also a workshop marking the 10-year anniversary of the Cape Town Declaration. Follow the conference on Twitter using the #OEglobal.

OER + IR: A new article titled Open Educational Resources and Institutional Repositories by Christine L Ferguson explores the ways in which libraries create and store open educational resources (OER) in institutional repositories (IR). The article addresses issues such as  preservation and versioning of OER content, copyright and licensing, funding, and staffing and features interviews and literature from institutions such as the University of Minnesota, the University of Kansas, and Grand Valley State University.

MOTION DISMISSED: In the litigation of Great Minds and FedEx Office, the court has issued an order granting FedEx Office’s motion to dismiss. This litigation centered around the interpretation of the CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 license, known as BY-NC-SA. In this case, Great Minds claims that FedEx Office violated the terms of the BY-NC-SA license Great Minds applied to educational materials when FedEx Office copied material at the direction of school districts for non commercial use in classrooms. Read more>>

NEW OPINION PIECE: A new article written by nine school district superintendents from nine states explores some common misunderstandings about OER. Published in The Hechinger Report, the article features experiences from #GoOpen districts. Read more>>

IWD 2017: In recognition of International Women’s Day, the OER Digest team congratulates and thanks all of the amazing female OER leaders we are so fortunate to have in this movement. Kudos to you all for your continued dedication in championing open education initiatives around the world!

 

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

EVENT: Open Oregon Educational Resources is hosting a webinar on effective strategies for OER initiatives, featuring Openstax’s Nicole Finkbeiner on March 13th from 12-1pm PST. http://openoregon.org/events/event/effectively-encouraging-the-use-of-oer-on-your-campus/

EVENT: BCcampus is hosting a one-hour Pressbooks Training Webinar on March 14th from 10-11am PST. https://bccampus.ca/event/one-hour-pressbooks-training-march/

EVENT: OpenStax and OER Commons will be hosting a webinar on Additional Faculty OER Resources on March 16th from 3-4 CDT. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2184505684117689345

EVENT: The 14th Annual Open Education Conference will be taking place from October 11-13th.The call for proposals closes March 31st. https://openedconference.org/2017/call/

EVENT: In celebration of Open Education Week, SPARC will be hosting a webcast titled Successful OER Adoption Models: Academic Libraries Leading the Way on March 29, 2-3 EDT. RSVP to attend! https://sparcopen.org/event/successful-oer-adoption-models-academic-libraries-leading-way/

EVENT: Registration for #OER17: The Politics of Open closes soon! The conference will take place April 5-6 in London, UK. https://oer17.oerconf.org/#gref

JOB: Yale University Library is looking for a Digital Scholarship Project Manager. https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGWebHost/jobdetails.aspx?jobId=1006023&partnerid=25053&siteid=5248

JOB: BCcampus is seeking an energetic and collaborative Open Education Advisor. Deadline to apply is March 23rd. https://bccampus.ca/advisor-open-education/

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

A brief snapshot of those making change on the ground level, and those most impacted

FROM BRITISH COLUMBIA: Undergraduate students in Dr. Wyeth Wasserman’s cancer genetics class had a unique assignment: to write their own e-textbook for their course. “Textbooks cost too much and students should have high quality, free materials,” says Dr. Wasserman, who led the project. He is executive director of BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, professor in the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia and a senior scientist with the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics. Read more>>

FROM GEORGIA: The college’s faculty have been working since fall 2015 to expand Open Education Resources courses each semester. Almost half a million dollars’ worth of student savings was yielded the first semester alone. To date, GHC has saved students $3.8 million in textbook costs. OER course conversions are aided by the University System of Georgia’s Affordable Learning Georgia initiative, which promotes student success by providing cost-free alternatives to expensive textbooks. Read more>>

TWEET OF THE WEEK

James GlapaGrossklag‏ @JGlapaGrossklag

Students perceive profs who use #OER as more kind, creative & encouraging. @johnhiltoniii #oeglobal 1/2

SYLLABUS

Interesting Reads on Education and Open

A Growing (But Controversial) Idea in Open-Access Textbooks: Let Students Help Write Them | EdSurge

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-02-08-a-growing-but-controversial-idea-in-open-access-textbooks-let-students-help-write-them

Cashing In On Textbook Rentals | Barron’s Next

http://www.barrons.com/articles/cashing-in-on-textbook-rentals-1488410596

Districts ‘Go Open’ For Instructional Resources | The Dispatch

http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=56503

Education Publisher Pearson Reports Biggest Loss In Its History | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/24/education-publisher-pearson-loss-us-penguin-random-house

Franklin U Expands Digital Textbook Project | Campus Technology

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/02/23/franklin-u-expands-digital-textbook-project.aspx

Free Psychology Textbook Available For Students | Campus Current

http://www.thecampuscurrent.com/3549/showcase/online-textbooks-resourceful-to-students/

Ministers, Experts Urge Inclusive Access And Quality Education Through Open Educational Resources | UNESCO

http://en.unesco.org/news/ministers-experts-urge-inclusive-access-and-quality-education-through-open-educational

New Solutions—Not Just New Winners—In the Curriculum Marketplace | New America

https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/new-solutionsnot-just-new-winners-curriculum-marketplace/

Opinion: Textbooks Are Criminally Overpriced | The Sentinel

http://ksusentinel.com/2017/02/27/opinion-textbooks-are-criminally-overpriced/

Rutgers, NJPIRG Helping to Reduce Textbook Costs | Daily Record

http://www.dailyrecord.com/story/news/2017/02/27/rutgers-njpirg-helping-reduce-textbook-costs/98474304/

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OER Digest – February 23rd, 2017

From Katie Steen (USPIRG) | Volume 25 | February 23rd, 2017

With help from Brady Yano (SPARC)

THE OER DIGEST

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

UMASS SURVEY: The UMass Amherst Libraries’ Scholarly Communication office recently surveyed undergraduate students enrolled in classes participating in the Open Education Initiative (OEI). The survey found that 59% of students do not buy assigned textbooks and want alternatives to high cost textbooks. Read more>>

STATE LEGISLATION UPDATE: A new bill proposed by Maryland state Sen. Jim Rosapepe titled the Textbook Cost Savings Act of 2017 would provide a $100,000 grant to promote the use of OER at the state system’s 12 institutions. The funding would support the Maryland Open Source Textbook Initiative, a program that has saved students over $1 million through the use of OER since 2013. Read more>>

OEC AWARDS: The Open Education Consortium announced the 2017 winners of the Open Education Awards for Excellence, an award recognizing the outstanding contributions in the Open Education community. These awards recognize distinctive Open Educational Resources, Open Projects & Initiatives, as well as exemplary leaders in Open Education worldwide.To see the full list of OER & Project Award winners, click here.

OER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: K12 educators now have access to professional development OER, aimed at training educators to better deliver a STEM education. The “Advancing Coherent and Equitable Systems of Science Education” (ACESSE) project is a partnership between the Council of State Science Supervisors and the University of Colorado Boulder and University of Washington schools of education and has been funded by a three-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The training is aimed at increasing diversity in STEM fields by improving access to a quality K-12 STEM education that is more coherent and nationally aligned. Read more>>

GROWING COLLECTION: BCcampus has added five new open textbooks to their collection, bringing the Open Textbook Project collection to 173 materials. Read more>>

 

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

EVENT: Apply to attend the Open Education Ontario Summit taking place on March 27th. Deadline to apply is February 28th. http://onoersummit.com/

EVENT: OpenStax will be hosting an American Government webinar on Monday, February 27, 11-12 pm CST. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5351275093797681410

EVENT: Registration for #OER17: The Politics of Open is now open! The conference will take place April 5-6 in London, UK https://oer17.oerconf.org/#gref

JOB: Penn State Libraries are looking for an Open Education Librarian. Reviewal of applications will begin on February 28th. https://libraries.psu.edu/openeducationlibr

JOB: CU Boulder Libraries are looking for a Scholarly Communication Librarian. Applications are due March 5th. http://www.colorado.edu/libraries/jobs-opportunities/scholarly-communication-librarian

SURVEY: Please consider taking part in a new research collaboration between the Open Education Research Hub (OER Hub) and Forschungsinstitut für Bildungs- und Sozialökonomie (FIBS) funded by the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE).  https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/OOFATOERDIGEST

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

A brief snapshot of those making change on the ground level, and those most impacted

FROM CONNECTICUT: “Undergraduate Student Government has worked extensively to expand access to open educational resources as well, according to Student Body President Daniel Byrd. USG financially supported the development of an open access chemistry textbook, he said. “USG paid and got credit for it in the book,” Byrd said. “About 2,000 students between last semester and this semester have used it.”” Read more>>

FROM BRITISH COLUMBIA: “Open textbooks not only help alleviate financial stress for students, but also often improve the quality of course content,” said Doering. “Since open textbooks allow instructors to customize materials for their course, they can move away from the more traditional method of teaching chapter-by-chapter, which results in a more engaging classroom experience.” Read more>>

FROM NEW JERSEY: “I am excited to report that the pilot phase of the Open and Affordable Textbook (OAT) grants has concluded,” said Lily Todorinova, the director of the OAT program and the school’s Undergraduate Experience Librarian. “Thanks to the generosity of the Office of Information Technology and the library, we were able to award 32 individual grants.” Read more>>

 

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Elise Bordeau @MrsBordeau

Students engaging and talking about how to make textbooks more affordable on our campuses #mnstate #OER #februarydelegates @Students7United

SYLLABUS

Interesting Reads on Education and Open

7 Musts For Digital and OER Course Materials | eCampus News

http://www.ecampusnews.com/curriculum/musts-digital-course-materials/

7 Trends To Expect From Social Learning In 2017 | eLearning Industry

https://elearningindustry.com/7-trends-expect-social-learning-in-2017

Are Elite Universities Committed to Openness? | New America

https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/are-elite-universities-committed-openness/

Are Textbooks In Or Out? The State of Open Educational Resources | opensource.com

https://opensource.com/article/17/2/future-textbooks-cable-green-creative-commons

Fewer text books = less expense for students at SLCC | KATC.com

http://www.katc.com/story/34489394/fewer-text-books-less-expense-for-students-at-slcc

Is the Average Cost of a Textbook $100? | Open Oregon

http://openoregon.org/is-the-average-cost-of-a-textbook-100/

OER’s Road Ahead is Paved with Publisher Platforms | From the Bell Tower | LibraryJournal

http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2017/02/opinion/steven-bell/oers-road-ahead-is-paved-with-publisher-platforms-from-the-bell-tower/#_

SBCC Launches Textbook Affordability Program | The Channels

http://www.thechannels.org/news/2017/02/13/sbcc-launches-textbook-affordability-program/

What Students Can Learn By Writing For Wikipedia | nprEd

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/02/22/515244025/what-students-can-learn-by-writing-for-wikipedia?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social

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You can subscribe to the OER Digest here.

 

OER Digest – February 9th, 2017

From Brady Yano (SPARC) | Volume 24 | February 9th, 2017

THE OER DIGEST

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

OPEN ONTARIO: Last month, eCampus Ontario announced funding for 24 open content projects. Of the projects that have received funding, nine are new OER, one is a university readiness resource, and 14 are course modules or full courses. All resources developed will be openly licensed and are intended to support both undergraduate and graduate level education. Read more>>

CONNECTICUT REPORT: Last month a Connecticut General Assembly Task Force released the Open Source Textbook Report. The Task Force (made up of faculty, student, and administrator representation from two and four year, public and private institutions) was established to study best practices with regard to Open Educational Resources (OER). The report provides an update of OER activities across the state and presents the findings of a statewide faculty survey. Key excerpts:

• When compared to the national data collected by the Babson Survey Research Group, Connecticut faculty rank much higher in awareness with only 22% of the respondents indicating that they were not aware of OERs vs. the national percentage of 65%.
• 92% of the respondents indicated a willingness to consider OER adoption over the next three years.
• OER resources were viewed as equal or superior to traditional educational resources by 70% of respondents.

PUBLISHER WATCH: Inside Higher Ed recently reported on how textbook publishers are increasingly pushing for all inclusive access deals for college textbooks. In this model, students pay a course fee that provides access to all digital course materials (unless students pay extra for a print-on-demand copy), which is automatically included in tuition or deducted from student accounts. While publishers promote this model as a cost-saving solution, OER advocates argue that it gives publishers an even greater stranglehold over prices and access to content. Read more>>

STATE LEGISLATION UPDATE: Washington State Representative Melanie Stambaugh, R-Puyallup, a member of the House Higher Education Committee has sponsored House Bill 1768 aimed to build upon and expand existing support for open educational resources. With the desire to replicate the model used at UMass Amherst, Stambaugh aims to save students at 4-year institutions in Washington $70,000 for every $10,000 invested. Read more>>

SECRETARY OF EDUCATION UPDATE: Earlier this week Betsy DeVos was sworn in as U.S. Secretary of Education, after a contentious confirmation battle in the Senate. DeVos did not discuss OER during her confirmation hearing, however she did respond to a written question from Senator Patty Murray concerning college textbook costs and OER. DeVos’ response: “I will work with you and your colleagues to explore any remaining issues, including the question about the proliferation of ‘open textbooks’ during the HEA reauthorization.” Read more>>

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

EVENT: OpenStax and OER Commons will be hosting a webinar on Additional Faculty OER Resources on February 10th from 3-4 CST. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6611168084846144769

EVENT: Lansing Community College will be hosting their 2nd OER Summit on February 24th from 8:30-4. The event is free for all Michigan educators. http://www.lcc.edu/provost/senate/oer-summit.aspx

EVENT: Apply to attend the Open Education Ontario Summit taking place on March 27th. Deadline to apply is February 28th. http://onoersummit.com/

EVENT: Registration for #OER17: The Politics of Open is now open! The conference will take place April 5-6 in London, UK https://oer17.oerconf.org/#gref

OPPORTUNITY: Interested in contributing a chapter to the upcoming OA book, OER: A Field Guide for Academic Librarians? Proposals are due February 13th. https://docs.google.com/document/d/166POxN4vmdlz-Mb91qNMhdgdSNqavexQph_wGIWl8Hg/edit

JOB: The University of Washington is looking for a Scholarly Publishing Outreach Librarian. Applications are due February 17th. http://www.lib.washington.edu/about/employment/librarians/spol2017-01-09

JOB: The Ontario Colleges Library Services is seeking a consultant to build an OER toolkit for Ontario college faculty and library staff. Applications are due February 10th. https://www.ocls.ca/sites/default/files/attachments/RFQ-%20Consultant%20for%20Ontario%20College%20Libraries%20Open%20Educational%20Resources%20%28OER%29%20Toolkit_19Jan2017.pdf

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

A brief snapshot of those making change on the ground level, and those most impacted

FROM VIRGINIA: “The cost of textbooks has outpaced just about every other consumer good, and it’s outpaced even the price of tuition [nationwide],” said Hillary Miller, scholarly communications outreach librarian with VCU Libraries. “We recognize that the cost of education is going up, and there’s not a lot that we can do about that. But one of the most direct ways that libraries and faculty can affect cost for students is through textbooks and course materials.” Read more>>

FROM MISSISSIPPI: “In his first board meeting, Hickman killed an expensive textbook adoption and made a commitment to #GoOpen. With savings from open educational resources, CMSD was able to invest in a digital learning ecosystem across the district–1:1 in high school with Macbooks, 2:1 in middle school, and 2:1 iPads in elementary.” Read more>>

TWEET OF THE WEEK

TJ Bliss‏ @tjbliss

What do #educators like about #OER? The #open content and up-to-date materials. Watch this video for more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX0K0hb_xKE&feature=youtu.be

SYLLABUS

Interesting Reads on Education and Open

Letter: Addressing High Textbook Costs | The Cavalier Daily

http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2017/02/addressing-high-text-book-costs

Of OER and Platforms: Five Years Later | EdSurge

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-01-26-of-oer-and-platforms-five-years-later

More Colleges Use Open Educational Resources | Community College Daily

http://www.ccdaily.com/Pages/Academic-Programs/More-colleges-adopt-OER-degrees.aspx

Top Fears Shutting the Door on Open Education | Campus Technology

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/02/01/top-fears-shutting-the-door-on-open-education.aspx

Digital And Open-source Options Have Advantages Over Books | La Crosse Tribune

http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/digital-and-open-source-resources-open-la-crosse-classrooms-to/article_b986af61-2435-5900-9ed7-e15004aca51b.html

Textbook Costs Are Up, Pushing Academic Progress Down | Pensacola News Journal

http://www.pnj.com/story/news/education/2017/01/27/textbook-costs-up-pushing-academic-progress-down/97058418/

How The University of Hawaii Is Solving Today’s Higher Ed Problems | Opensource.com

https://opensource.com/article/17/2/interview-education-billy-meinke

When The Textbook You Need Hasn’t Been Written Yet | NCSU Libraries

https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stories/when-the-textbook-you-need-hasn%E2%80%99t-been-written-yet

Extreme Makeover: Pedagogy Edition | actualham

http://robinderosa.net/higher-ed/extreme-makeover-pedagogy-edition/

New Tool Arrives for Refining The OER Vetting Process | CCSSO

http://www.ccsso.org/Resources/Programs/OER_Home_/OER_Fellow_Blog.html

 

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Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com, or tweet us @OERdigest.

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OER Digest – January 26th, 2017

From Katie Steen (US PIRG) | Volume 23 | January 26th, 2017

With help from Brady Yano and Nicole Allen (SPARC)

THE OER DIGEST

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

PEARSON PROBLEMS: Stock prices for textbook publisher Pearson plummeted 30% last week, following information released by the company about poorer than expected 2016 results. Pearson cites lower performance in the North American higher education market as the major culprit, and has announced new steps including a cut to the price of e-books and a new print rental program. While Pearson has acknowledged OER as a player in the marketplace, it points to lower enrollments, inventory backlog and unpredictability in the market as the source of falling profits. This time last year, Pearson announced a major restructuring that eliminated 4,000 jobs. Read more>>

“Whereas we had previously anticipated a broadly stable North American higher         education courseware market in 2017, we now assume that many of these downward pressures will continue.”  — Pearson’s statement

OPEN LICENSING PLAYBOOK: The U.S. Department of State has published a new government “playbook” for federal programs to adopt open licensing policies for grant-funded resources. The playbook provides guidance to federal agencies and other funders interested in expanding the impact of their investments through open licensing of educational resources. While the playbook is primarily intended for the U.S. government, many of the topics and suggestions are applicable to grants at all levels. The playbook has been released into the public domain and can be downloaded here.

YEAR OF OPEN: Last week, the OE Consortium announced the Year of Open, an initiative aimed at celebrating openness in the fields of open access, open education, open data, open government and open source software. 2017 marks three important anniversaries for the open education movement, including the term open educational resources, the Cape Town Open Education Declaration and the Paris OER Declaration.

ONTARIO E-LEARNING FORUM: Last week eCampusOntario hosted the 2017 eLearning Seminar + Showcase in Downtown Toronto. In attendance was an array of elearning professionals from eCampusOntario member institutions, with guest speakers and industry experts on the agenda. The event provided college and university level faculty, instructional designers and administrators with a unique opportunity to network with their peers, showcase their latest achievements and work together to create the best online programs.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

EVENT: The Rebus Community is hosting an Office Hours Webinar on January 31 at 2pm EST on Making Open Textbooks With Students. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1CWGoZzcjikgRsYpxq7OODcPj4IuLH7JcTifCr-14C7A/viewform?edit_requested=true

EVENT: Registration for #OER17: The Politics of Open is now open! The conference will be taking place April 5-6 in London, UK https://oer17.oerconf.org/#gref

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

A brief snapshot of those making change on the ground level, and those most impacted

FROM CALIFORNIA: ““UCR students come from less-privileged backgrounds, which means textbooks are a burden,” said Chikako Takeshita, a professor of gender and sexuality studies who organized the task force. “Students skip buying books because they can’t afford it. It’s harder to do well without textbooks.” The initiative is part of a trend among American colleges and universities. At UCR, the project has saved students an estimated $507,250 since fall 2015. Read more>>

FROM GEORGIA: “We knew from our first day that we wanted to focus on making college more affordable. It’s a huge objective, so we’ve found two key ways to tackle this issue: textbooks and student fees,” Gaines said. “Our goal is to transition large lecture classrooms that currently use expensive textbooks to Online Educational Resources.” Online Education Resources are typically at a free or reduced cost. Read more>>

FROM BRITISH COLUMBIA: “This semester, all of my profs have all of their resources online — I don’t have to buy one textbook,” said Fischer. “My back isn’t breaking as I’m walking to class and it’s also much more liberating because you feel like you aren’t spending an excessive amount of money on a course.” Read more>>

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Will Cross @tceles_B_hsup

“When the Txtbook You Need Hasn’t Been Written Yet” going frm #textbookbroke to #openpedagogy w/ #OER @ncsulibraries https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stories/when-the-textbook-you-need-hasn%E2%80%99t-been-written-yet

https://twitter.com/tceles_B_hsup/status/824628420378292224

SYLLABUS

Of OER and Platforms: Five Years Later | David Wiley

https://opencontent.org/blog/archives/4892

U.S. Dept. of Ed Launches Supplement to Technology Plan Focused on Higher Education | MIT

http://news.mit.edu/2017/department-of-education-launches-supplement-to-technology-plan-focused-on-higher-ed-0119

Students’ No. #1 Higher Education Obstacle May Surprise You | New America

https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/students-no-1-higher-education-obstacle-may-surprise-you/

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