OER Digest – February 7th, 2020

From Kaitlyn Vitez and Cailyn Nagle (USPIRG) | Volume 99 | February 6th, 2020

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AUTOMATIC BILLING LAWSUIT: Major textbook publishers and college bookstore chains are facing a class action lawsuit from independent booksellers. The independent bookstores argue that the automatic textbook billing programs, also known as “inclusive access”, promoted by the defendants amounts to a “conspiracy” that edges independent bookstores out of the market. Last year, an independent bookstore in South Carolina filed a lawsuit on similar grounds against Trident Technical College due to their automatic billing process, claiming it was an anticompetitive practice.  Read more “OER Digest – February 7th, 2020” →

OER Digest – January 23, 2020

From Hailey Babb & Mo Nyamweya (SPARC) | Volume 98 | January 23rd, 2020

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FROM CALIFORNIA: On January 10th, Governor Newsom released his budget proposal that included a $10 million allocation for the Zero-Textbook Cost Degree program. The program seeks to reduce the overall cost of education for students and decrease the time it takes students to complete degree programs offered by community colleges. This year’s proposed funding is twice the amount of the previous $5 million allocation, which allowed twenty-three community colleges across California to develop thirty-three ZTC degrees or Career Technical Education certificates over two years. Read more “OER Digest – January 23, 2020” →

OER Digest – January 9, 2020

From Bilan Jama and Torrey Feldman (CCUSA)  | Volume 97 | January 9, 2020

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

OPEN OREGON STUDY: Open Oregon Educational Resources has released a new draft on the cost of course materials for transfer degrees in Oregon. Over the four years that Oregon has invested statewide funding in textbook affordability, community colleges across the state have succeeded in reducing the cost of course materials for transfer degrees. Commercial textbook prices are dropping in response to market pressures, but the cost of course materials for transfer degrees in Oregon is falling much more steeply, highlighting the impact of faculty and staff efforts to redesign courses around no-cost and low-cost materials. A key finding of the study is that 112,462 students in the 10 highest-enrolled courses statewide saved over $1M compared to materials costs in 2017.  Read more “OER Digest – January 9, 2020” →

OER Digest – December 6, 2019

From  Bilan Jama (CCUSA) | Volume 95 | December 6th, 2019

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UNESCO UPDATE: It’s official! UNESCO’s General Conference adopted a recommendation on OER. The recommendation (which underwent a few last minute changes) will support the development and sharing of openly licensed learning and teaching materials, which benefits students, teachers and researchers worldwide. UNESCO’s assistant director for communication and information, Moez Chakchouk announced the launch of a Dynamic Coalition to expand and consolidate commitments and strategies in the area of OER.  Read more “OER Digest – December 6, 2019” →

OER Digest – November 21st, 2019

From Kaitlyn Vitez and Cailyn Nagle (USPIRG) | Volume 94 | November 21st, 2019

With updates from Paula Crossman, Matthew DeCarlo, and Nicole Allen

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UNESCO ON OER: UNESCO unanimously recommended a new policy on OER in support of achieving the UN’s 2030 Development Agenda. Their recommendations include five objectives: building capacity of stakeholders to create, access, use, adapt, and redistribute OER; developing supportive policy at the national level; encouraging inclusive and equitable quality OER; nurturing the creation of sustainability models for OER; and facilitating international cooperation. The recommendation is expected to be approved next week at the UN General Conference next week. Read more “OER Digest – November 21st, 2019” →

OER Digest – October 17, 2019

From Bilan Jama (CC USA) | Volume 92 | October 17th, 2019 

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COLORADO OER ANNUAL REPORT: A new report titled “Colorado Rises: Transforming Educational Practices through Open Educational Resources” highlights the need for wide-scale implementation of open educational resources (OER). In the first year of implementation, Colorado students are saving $3.4 million thanks to OER developed through the statewide grant program. The OER Council and CDHE also had this to share: “What’s clear is OER saves students money, but this investment matters beyond the financial benefit. OER and open education practices help educators redesign approaches to teaching through innovative methods, ultimately supporting the transformation of education for the future of learning. The work inspired by the OER legislation is important to educators and Coloradans everywhere.”  Read more “OER Digest – October 17, 2019” →

OER Digest – October 3, 2019

From Mo Nyamweya (SPARC) | Volume 91 | October 3, 2019

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MAJOR OER INVESTMENT: The University of Texas at Arlington is investing an impressive $500,000 to fund open educational resources this academic year, marking the largest award by a public academic institution in Texas specifically supporting OER initiatives. Student feedback collected in courses impacted by the UTA CARES Grant Program in spring 2019 demonstrated overwhelming support for the program and expanded OER use at UTA, with 98% of students reporting that the quality of the UTA CARES materials were as good or better than traditional commercial materials. Read more “OER Digest – October 3, 2019” →

OER Digest – September 19, 2019

From Kaitlyn Vitez, Cailyn Nagle, and Andrew Husson (USPIRG) | Volume 90 | September 19th, 2019

With updates from Lana Hall, Erin Fields, and Susan Higgins

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FEDERAL UPDATE: Efforts to renew the U.S. federal Open Textbook Pilot continue to march forward in Congress. After the House approved a bill including $5 million of renewal funding in June, this week the Senate released a proposed bill that would increase funding to $6 million and attach additional instructions for the Department of Education to improve the program’s implementation. Meanwhile, Congress has also announced plans to delay the deadline for passing the federal budget to the end of November, so there is still a long way to go before the bills are finalized and passed into law. For frequently asked questions and background on the Pilot, read more here.  Read more “OER Digest – September 19, 2019” →

OER Digest – September 5, 2019

From Bilan Jama, Creative Commons USA | Volume 89 | September 5, 2019

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OPENSTAX COLLABORATION:  It’s a new school year, and OpenStax has announced their annual partnership with ten higher education institutions across the country to provide major savings for their students in the next academic year. Last year’s OpenStax program cohort saved nearly $17.4 million, and they’re hoping students this year will be able to save again on textbook and instructional materials cost with the use of free learning materials available on OpenStax. This year’s cohort also includes the program’s first HBCU, Prairie View A&M University. Read more “OER Digest – September 5, 2019” →

OER Digest – August 22, 2019

From Mo Nyamweya, SPARC | Volume 88 | August 22, 2019

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MERGER OPPOSITION MOUNTS: Last week, SPARC submitted a detailed filing to the U.S. Department of Justice opposing the proposed merger between Cengage and McGraw-Hill Education. The 49-page document makes the case that the merger would violate federal antitrust guidelines, reduce competition in ways that harm students, and open the door for a new data giant forming in the education sector. Since the release, several news outlets have published articles about the filing. Last edition, the Digest covered how consumer, antitrust, and student organizations are also voicing their concerns regarding the merger, including a letter sent last month by U.S. PIRG on behalf of more than 40 student organizations. Read more “OER Digest – August 22, 2019” →