OER Digest – July 26th, 2018

From Camille Thomas and Mo Nyamweya, SPARC | Volume 62 | July 26th, 2018
With updates from Nicole Allen, Sarah Cohen, Cable Green, and Sara Hare.  

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

FEDERAL UPDATE: This week, the U.S. Congress approved legislation reauthorizing the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, which governs the nation’s career and technical education (CTE) framework. Included in the bill are provisions permitting OER as an allowable use of funds for state and local activities. The Department of Education took its first public step toward implementing the $5 million Open Textbook Pilot funded by Congress in March by issuing a call for peer reviewers. Candidates interested in reviewing applications for the pilot can submit their resume by August 6th. New America has analysis on what to expect as the program rolls out here. Read more “OER Digest – July 26th, 2018” →

OER Digest – July 12th, 2018

From Ethan Senack, Creative Commons USA | Volume 61 | July 12th, 2018

With updates from Walter Butler, Angela Davis, Nicole Allen and Camille Thomas

THE OER DIGEST

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

IMPACT OF OER: A new, large-scale study from the Association of American College and Universities (AAC&U) in the International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education analyzed the impact of OER on student performance, particularly among historically underserved populations. Key facts (from the abstract):

• OER improve end-of-course grades and decrease DFW (D, F, and Withdrawal letter grades) rates for all students.
• OER improve course grades at greater rates and dramatically decrease DFW rates at greater rates for Pell recipient students, part-time students, and populations historically underserved by higher education.

Read more “OER Digest – July 12th, 2018” →

OER Digest – June 28th, 2018

From Camille Thomas, SPARC | Volume 60 | June 28th, 2018

With updates from Nicole Allen and Ethan Senack

THE OER DIGEST

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

STATE POLICY UPDATES: Lawmakers in New Jersey approved approved a measure designed to expand the use of open textbooks.“The ever-increasing prices of college textbooks are simply becoming unreasonable,” Assemblywoman Nancy Pinkin (D-Middlesex) said in a news release. “By implementing open textbooks in college courses, students will save a significant amount of money as well as lower both the amount of and the stresses of debt after college.” California and Michigan both passed appropriations bills that include provisions around OER.

POLICY IN CANADA: Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in Calgary, Alberta, has officially adopted one of the first institutional OER policies in Canada. The policy is part of SAIT’s 2017-2020 Applied Education Plan. SIAT’s policy encourages adopting, creating and adapting OER as well as assigning Creative Commons licenses to all materials at the institution.

ISTE HIGHLIGHTS: OER was a popular topic at this week’s ISTE conference. Multiple sessions addressed the use of OER in K-12 education, and ISTE U announced a new course on OER for educators developed by iLearn Collaborative. Highlights include a panel entitled “The Textbook Is Extinct! Now What?” that led to a lively debate including discussion of OER that was written up in EdWeek, and the launch of #GoOpen Michigan’s OER site.

CONGRATULATIONS: Congratulations are in order!

• The Open Education Group announced OER Research Fellows for 2018-2019, sponsored by the Hewlett Foundation.
• Dr. Barbara Illowsky, Professor of Mathematics & Statistics at De Anza College, was awarded the first ever Michelson OER and Innovation Fellowship
• 2018-2019 OpenStax Institutional Partners are being recognized in their communities, including Santa Monica College and Arkansas State University.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Upcoming Events, Proposal and Registration Deadlines, Report-Backs  

APPLY NOW: Two more weeks to apply for OpenCon 2018. The conference will be held November 2-4 in Toronto, and is by application only. Apply here by July 13.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM OHIO: “We are definitely leading the way among Ohio’s colleges and universities on textbook affordability,” said Dan Krane, a Wright State University professor who also serves as chairman of the university’s affordability and efficiency task force. Read More>

FROM VIRGINIA:  Central Virginia Community College is implementing three new programs to adopt OER. “We want to remove barriers for our students, and one of them is the cost of books,” said Muriel Mickles, CVCC vice president of academic and student affairs. CVCC estimated open educational resources have saved students about $250,000 since 2016.  Read More>

FROM ARIZONA: “At first, the task was daunting—much like my thought of trying to obtain my master’s degree,” David Williams, an educational technology masters student at Northern Arizona University said. “However, once we got started everything just fell into place.” Williams also worked with others in his program to write a book chapter on new developments in online learning, including OER. Read More>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

Rebus Community released the Blueprint for Success series, which includes three books for College Success and First Year Experience. Resources for the series are available via Pressbooks.

Paul Kroeger, faculty at the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics recently released, Analyzing meaning: An introduction to semantics and pragmatics, an open linguistics textbook published by Language Science Press.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

Evolution of Librarians: Open Education Leadership | WCET Frontiers

https://wcetfrontiers.org/2018/06/22/the-evolution-of-librarians-open-education-leadership/

Affordability and Excellence | University of Georgia

https://provost.uga.edu/news-events/news/blog/affordability-and-excellence/

Lakeshore Technical College combats skyrocketing textbook costs | Herald Times Reporter
https://www.htrnews.com/story/opinion/2018/06/22/lakeshore-technical-college-manitowoc-wisconsin-combats-skyrocketing-textbook-costs-paul-carlsen/724900002/

Interesting to Consider >>

Charging for the Free (Op-Ed) | El Paso Herald Post

https://elpasoheraldpost.com/op-ed-charging-for-the-free/

Meet Tennessessee’s New Director of HBCU Success | Education Dive
https://www.educationdive.com/news/meet-tennessees-new-director-of-hbcu-success/525804/

New Chief at the Chief State School Officers | Ed Week

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/on_innovation/2018/06/new_chief_at_the_chief_state_school_officers.html

Online Course Creation for Dummies | Inside Higher Ed

http://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/06/13/open-source-tool-aims-make-online-course-creation-accessible-all

—

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 – June 14th, 2018

From Ethan Senack | Volume 59 | June 14th, 2018

With updates from Prathima Appaji and Rich Hershman

THE OER DIGEST

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

REPORTING BACK: A new report from the Open Government Partnership on the US’ progress toward the commitments in our Third National Action Plan finds that the OER provisions around #GoOpen and the Open Licensing Rule at the Department of Education “substantially opened government with respect to access to information.” The report also concludes that “the #GoOpen campaign represents the clearest example of a change in government practice that has enhanced public access to educational information.”

STATE POLICY UPDATES: The state Senate in New York passed two bills relating to OER, one requiring the CUNY and SUNY systems to gather information and report on the accessibility and availability of alternative course materials, and the other requiring all institutions of higher education to adopt policies allowing the use of innovative pricing techniques for textbooks.

MORE ON STATES: A report from the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) found that the number of states with formal definitions of instructional materials that include open educational resources has increased in recent years, from 9 in 2015 to 17 in 2017.

FACTS AND FIGURES: New data from the National Center for Education Statistics places student spending on textbooks around $550 per year. Important to note – this number reflects student spending on books, which is impacted by the number of students who opt out of purchasing books entirely, students who are assigned OER, and those use other methods to cut costs.

UPDATED RESOURCE: BCcampus released an updated version of their Accessibility Toolkit for open education. The new edition specifically discusses meeting accessibility requirements in Pressbooks, among other new topics.

OPEN CONFERENCES

Upcoming Events, Proposal and Registration Deadlines, Report-Backs  

SAVE THE DATE: OpenCon 2018 will be held November 2-4 in Toronto, Canada. Applications are now open and will close on July 13. Apply here.

REGISTER: The Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA) and Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries joint conference on OER in higher education will take place August 1-2, 2018, in Denver, Colorado. Register here.

REFLECTIONS: Did you share or post your thoughts on the Northeast OER Summit, the Saylor Summit on Credentialing, the Iowa/Nebraska GoOpen Summit, or the BCcampus Festival of Learning? Send them our way (oerdigest@gmail.com) to be included here.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM VIRGINIA: With 30 courses being offered without textbooks, students at Central Virginia Community College have saved $250,000 only in textbook costs in the last two years. “What we’re really doing is providing access to students as much as providing a cost savings,” explained Edward McGee the Instructional Technology Coordinator. Read more >

FROM BRITISH COLUMBIA: “We’re continuing to make education and training as accessible as possible for people,” said Melanie Mark, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training. “Adult Basic Education opens the door for people to advance their opportunities, improve their chances of success and participate in the workforce. Investing in more open textbooks for Adult Basic Education programs builds on our previous step of making Adult Basic Education programs tuition free.” Read More >

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

The UH Mānoa Outreach College released a slew of new open textbooks this past week, including Human Nutrition, Principles of Microeconomics, and Mathematics for Elementary Teachers. From their announcement, “Teams of faculty leads, graduate and undergraduate students, and instructors collaboratively developed content that offers unmatched relevance for our students.” Find the books here.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

How Textbook Rentals Undercut Students | Inside Higher Ed

http://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/views/2018/06/06/textbook-rentals-undercut-students-we-can-do-better-opinion

Interesting to Consider >>

Copyright a growing concern in the digital classroom | Education Dive https://www.educationdive.com/news/copyright-a-growing-concern-in-the-digital-classroom/524864/

Open Resources Are a Huge Help for Students, but Cost, Quality & Access Can be a Challenge. The Feds Can Help |  The 74

https://www.the74million.org/article/commentary-open-resources-are-a-huge-help-for-students-but-cost-quality-access-can-be-a-challenge-the-feds-can-help/

LearnZillion Going After District Curriculum Business, Aims to Compete With Big Publishers |  EdWeek Market Brief

https://marketbrief.edweek.org/marketplace-k-12/learnzillion-going-district-curriculum-business-aims-compete-big-publishers/

Some Thoughts on OER | e-Literate

https://mfeldstein.com/some-thoughts-on-oer/

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 – May 31st, 2018

From Camille Thomas, SPARC | Volume 58 | May 31st, 2018

With updates from Nicole Allen and Ethan Senack

THE OER DIGEST

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

OER IN STATE CURRICULUM:  New America and CCSSO released Navigating the New Curriculum Landscape: How States are Using and Sharing Open Educational Resources, a report that looks at a range of innovative ways states are using OER to meet curriculum and instructional materials needs, as technology continues permeating through classrooms nationwide.  A few key takeaways:

• Integrate OER Initiatives Within State Curriculum Work
• Adapt, Improve, and Share, Rather Than Start From Scratch
• Identify Sustainable Funding

OPEN POLICY UPDATE: May 22nd marked the one year anniversary of the U.S. Department of Education’s open licensing rule taking effect. The rule was a landmark victory for the U.S. OER community, and is now being implemented in all applicable grant opportunities released by the Department. Meanwhile, Brazil’s OER movement has just achieved a similar landmark victory. The Brazilian Ministry of Education adopted an ordinance requiring K-12 materials funded by the ministry to be OER. Read more here.

HOT TOPIC: Paul Stacey published an op-ed in Edscoop on how traditional textbook publishers can support the OER community. This article has sparked a lot of discussion about the implications of publishers’ roles in OER. Many OER advocates want publishers to prioritize the principles of open moving forward.

ONE-STOP GUIDE: The Ontario College Libraries’ OER Toolkit is a collaboration between Ontario college libraries and learning centres and the Ontario Colleges Library Service (OCLS). The toolkit is a one-stop guide to OER, providing faculty and library staff with tools and information to understand, engage with, create, and sustain OER in their work and practice.

BC 2018 GRANTS: BC Campus announced nine projects that were awarded their 2018 grant for OER.  BCcampus’ Open Education Grants program is supported by both the Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills & Training and the Hewlett Foundation.

OPEN CONFERENCES

Upcoming Events, Proposal and Registration Deadlines, Report-Backs 

SAVE THE DATE: OpenCon 2018 will be held November 2-4 in Toronto, Canada. In-person attendance is by application only, and applications will open on June 12. Sign up for updates here.

REGISTER: The Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA) and Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries (Alliance) joint conference on OER in higher education will take place August 1-2, 2018, in Denver, Colorado. The conference theme is “From Vision to Action”. Register here.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: The Open Education Group seeks early career researchers and/or qualified Masters/PhD candidates in the United States and Canada for a fellowship to research topics related to Open Educational Resources (OER). Deadline is June 1, 2018. Apply here.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM MASS: “In the span of about six months, I went from a nearly unemployed dropout with poor ad-hoc computer science skills to a six-figure technical position at one of the world’s leading technology firms, in large part thanks to the open availability of these materials,” Trent Parker, MIT OpenCourseWare student and creator of open content said.

FROM VIRGINIA: “With the cost of educational materials becoming unaffordable for many students,” Stephen Skripak, Virginia Tech College of Business professor of practice said, “it is extremely gratifying to have contributed to an open source text that saves a student more than $200 every time it is used in a course.” Read More >

FROM MICHIGAN: “This has been a truly cross-campus effort,” Michael Vargo, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Grand Rapids Community College, said. “I appreciate the strong support from everyone at GRCC to make these open educational resources available to students. We want to help students have the materials they need to be successful.” Read More >

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

Open Oregon released Forest Measurements: An Applied Approach, a textbook written for field technicians. It includes applications, illustrations and special technical tips for learners. The creators are still looking for feedback on the new text. Find it here.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

Humans of OER | Open Education Consortium

http://www.oeconsortium.org/humans-of-oer/

Interesting to Consider >>

HAX to revolutionize online course authoring in education technology | Penn State News

http://news.psu.edu/story/522190/2018/05/18/academics/hax-revolutionize-online-course-authoring-education-technology

College of the Canyons credits student success to fewer barriers | The Signal

https://signalscv.com/2018/05/college-of-the-canyons-credits-student-success-to-fewer-barriers/

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 – May 17th, 2018

From Ethan Senack, Creative Commons USA | Volume 57 | May 17th, 2018

With help from Nicole Allen and Camille Thomas

THE OER DIGEST

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

START SPREADING THE NEWS: Governor Cuomo of New York announced yesterday that an additional $8 million has been allocated for OER programs at SUNY and CUNY. This comes on top of an $8 million investment last year to jump start the process. The programs already report over $12 million in savings, and their expectation new is “by the end of the Spring 2019 semester, the initiative will have covered 260,000 students for a total savings of more than $28 million.”

MORE STATE UPDATES: Texas issued their first grant RFP for K-12 textbooks, as established under SB 1784. The new education appropriations bill HF 4328 in Minnesota would require Boards of Trustees at state schools to develop plans to increase affordable textbook options on campus and set goals for how widely they’re used. Virginia has started implementing HB 454, which requires that institutions develop guidelines for OER.

FEDS MOVING FORWARD: The Department of Education has responded to a request from Congress affirming that it’s on track to invite applications for the newly-funded federal OER grant program early this summer. Grants will be available to institutions of higher education for programs that create or expand the use of open textbooks to achieve savings for students, although many of the details of the program still remain to be seen. In the words of Congressional champion Senator Durbin, “I’m encouraged by what we’ve heard from the department so far, but I’ll be watching and so will students across America.”

NEW PUBLISHING TOOL: Rebus Community unveiled their new “Rebus Projects” this week – a platform that facilitates OER publishing. The platform is a space to manage different open textbook projects, coordinate contributors, and work through editing and collaborations. Head here to try out the Beta.

STATE OF THE COMMONS: Creative Commons published their annual “State of the Commons” report this month. The report profiles a variety of aspects in the field of open, but the biggest highlight is that there are now at least 1.4 billion CC-licensed works available worldwide.

OPEN CONFERENCES

Upcoming Events, Proposal and Registration Deadlines, Report-Backs  

LAST CALL: Northeast OER Summit is a multi-state collaborative event for new and experienced OER advocates to share effective practices on May 31 – June 1. Register by May 24 here.

LAST CALL: The BCcampus Festival of Learning is coming up on May 28-30. Registration is still open here.

REGISTER: Iowa and Nebraska are co-hosting a multi-site #GoOpen Summit on June 11. Find more information and registration here.

REGISTER: Saylor Academy is hosting a Summit on the Credentialing Economy in Washington, DC, on June 7-8. Register here.

JOB: SPARC is hiring an Assistant Director of Open Education. The job posting seeks a recent graduate or early career professional who is passionate about Open to be based in Washington, DC or remotely. Details here.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM MASSACHUSETTS (IN K-12): “Teachers know that talking about equity issues is important, but don’t always know how to start and end up not doing it. Having openly available curricular materials on equity is a good way to have that first step about equity is one thing and making it more accessible. Teacher capacity and teacher time are also important;” an interview with Teacher of the Year Sydney Chafee. (This posting was delayed from it’s authoring date). Read More >

FROM KANSAS (IN HIGHER ED): “The initiative to reduce the costs for instructional materials is one of the most important efforts the libraries are involved in,” said Kevin L. Smith, dean of libraries. “These grants allow us to put the value we place on open access into practice in a way that also supports another core library value — student success — and we are able to develop partnerships across campus with those who share these goals.” Read More >

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

Check out the Texas Toolkit for OER Course Markings, a guide developed by UT Arlington librarian Michelle Reed to support implementation of marking OER in course catalogs, which became a statewide requirement in Texas last year through SB 810. The toolkit was originally Michelle’s capstone project in the SPARC Open Education Leadership Program, and is now being expanded to include case studies.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

Textbook Alternatives Take Hold at Community Colleges | Inside Higher Ed

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/05/09/two-year-institutions-report-significant-savings-oer-initiatives

Interesting to Consider >>

Where Are All the Faculty in the Open Education Movement? | EdSurge

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-05-16-where-are-all-the-faculty-in-the-open-education-movement

OER and Dual Enrollment | Inside Higher Ed

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/oer-and-dual-enrollment

Textbook Authors Sue Cengage Over Subscription Model | Inside Higher Ed

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2018/05/16/textbook-authors-sue-cengage-over-subscription-model

How Much Should You Pay for a Free Curriculum? | Open Up Resources

http://openupresources.org/how-much-should-you-pay-free-curriculum/

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- 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.