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” →

OER Digest – July 25, 2019

From Bilan Jama, Creative Commons USA | Volume 86 | July 25th, 2019

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DIGITAL FIRST:  Pearson announced that it is moving from itsa traditional print-based model to one where a “digital first” publishing model, aiming to address any revisions or changes to textbook content will happen first in the digital version. This new development process goes into effect next year and they say all of their 1,500 higher education titles will follow suit over the next few years. Advocates responded to the news by pointing out that the idea of “digital first” is not new to the OER community, which has been implementing this idea for more than a decade. Read more “OER Digest – July 25, 2019” →

OER Digest – July 11, 2019

From Mo Nyamweya, SPARC | Volume 85 | July 11th, 2019

With updates from Nicole Allen, Hailey Babb, and Ethan Senack

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STATE POLICY UPDATES: The governor of Connecticut recently signed HB 7424 into law, providing funding to establish the Connecticut Open Educational Resource Coordinating Council as part of the Executive Department. Meanwhile, Virginia’s HB 2380 went into effect at the start of July, requiring institutions to provide information about no-cost and low-cost course materials within their course catalogs and/or registration systems. Both bills provide important infrastructure supporting institutions in adopting OER and ensuring transparency for students. Read more “OER Digest – July 11, 2019” →

OER Digest – June 27th, 2019

From Kaitlyn Vitez and Nick Sengstaken (USPIRG) | Volume 84 | June 27th, 2019

With updates from Ariela McCaffrey

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SUPPORTING LGBTQ+ STUDENTS: In celebration of Pride Month and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, we’re highlighting  “Leveraging Open Educational Resources for Queer Students” by Sabia Prescott of the think tank New America. The series of blog posts outlines how OER can be the method in which LGBTQ+ curricula becomes recognized and easily distributed. According to Prescott, OER makes it possible for educators to “easily find the resources they need, tailor them to their students, and find guidance on how to use them.” She continues that “It’s especially critical that queer-inclusive content be updated frequently as our understanding of queer identities changes, and OER would allow teachers to do just that.” Read more “OER Digest – June 27th, 2019” →

OER Digest – June 13th, 2019

From Ethan Senack and Bilan Jama (Creative Commons USA) | Volume 83 | June 13th, 2019

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STATE LEGISLATION: Lawmakers in Connecticut introduced budget bill HB 7424 with an amendment that would establish the Connecticut OER Coordinating Council to identify high-impact courses for OER and create competitive OER grants. SB 117 in Louisiana was signed into law, which would require public institutions to conspicuously highlight courses using low-cost or OER course materials. Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed HB 2653, which requires the state board to contract with a high-quality open educational resource repository. The Governor of Oregon signed a HB 2213 requiring institutions to establish textbook affordability plans incorporating OER. Read more “OER Digest – June 13th, 2019” →

OER Digest – May 30, 2019

From Mo Nyamweya, SPARC | Volume 82 | May 30, 2019

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POLICY UPDATES: Many state legislatures are wrapping up for the year, so there’s lots of action to report. The governor of Minnesota signed bill HF 2544 into law, asking instructors to identify, review, and approve OER for use in their courses, and colleges to offer the opportunity to earn a zero-cost degree. Nebraska’s LB 675, a bill requiring the Education Technology Center to evaluate digital education courses and OER, was sent to the governor for signature, as was Texas bill HB 3652, calling for the development of an OER repository. Louisiana course designation bill SB 117 passed the Senate and is now waiting in the House. Meanwhile, the New York Senate sent S 3661 promoting inclusive access to the Assembly. Read more “OER Digest – May 30, 2019” →

OER Digest- May 16th, 2019

From Kaitlyn Vitez and Nick Sengstaken (USPIRG) | Volume 81 | May 16th, 2019

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PUBLISHER CONSOLIDATION CONTINUES: Shortly after Cengage and McGraw-Hill announced their intention to merge (our top story in the last edition), another textbook publisher, Wiley, finalized the purchase of Knewton. The eleven year old ed tech startup has focused on adaptive learning technology and, recently, lower-cost access codes based on openly licensed content. While this acquisition is giving some advocates more reason to worry about greater consolidation of publishers in an already tight marketplace, it also shows that there are increasing pressures on major players to expand their lower-cost offerings. Read more “OER Digest- May 16th, 2019” →

OER Digest – May 2nd, 2019

From Ethan Senack | Volume 80 | May 2nd, 2019

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MERGER ANNOUNCED: Yesterday morning, Cengage and McGraw-Hill announced their intent to merge, combining the #2 and #3 largest textbook publishers into a $3 billion dollar company controlling over 44,000 titles. The move is planned for 2020, and will be pending approval by regulators. Advocates for students and consumers have expressed significant concern about the impact on pricing and choice in the industry, especially as it relates to inclusive access and online homework platforms. You can read more coverage of it here:

• MarketWatch: McGraw-Hill and Cengage are merging — is that good or bad news for textbook prices?
• Yahoo Finance: ‘The textbook market is broken’ and the latest mega-merger makes it worse
• Chronicle of Higher Ed: Planned Merger of Cengage and McGraw-Hill Could Remake College-Textbook Market

Read more “OER Digest – May 2nd, 2019” →

OER Digest – April 18, 2019

From Mo Nyamweya (SPARC) | Volume 79 | April 18th, 2019

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POLICY UPDATE: Meanwhile, the Illinois Senate passed SB 2096, which would prohibit publishers from offering any institution instructional materials for adoption, sale or exchange until certain requirements are met. Oregon’s HB 2213 passed the House and would require each community college and public university to establish textbook affordability plans with measurable goals. HB 839 was amended in Florida to authorize the adoption of innovative pricing options, a term associated with inclusive access programs. SB 6 was also signed by their governor, deleting an expired requirement that the Florida College System board of trustees examines the cost of materials. Read more “OER Digest – April 18, 2019” →

OER Digest – April 4th, 2019

From Cailyn Nagle (USPIRG) | Volume 78 | April 4th, 2019

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FEDERAL UPDATE: The Affordable Textbook Act was reintroduced Thursday by Senator Durbin, King, Smith, and Senima and Representative Neguse. If passed, the act will provide permanent authorization for an open textbook grant program to support the creation and expansion of open textbook programs. The act also includes language requiring higher education institutions to include information about OER in course schedules, which will allow students to make more informed decisions, and codifies strong definitions of OER and open licensing. Learn more by checking out statements from SPARC and U.S. PIRG, two leading advocacy groups supporting this legislation. Read more “OER Digest – April 4th, 2019” →