OER Digest - September 29, 2022
Michael Basmajian (PIRG) | Volume 162 | September 29, 2022
THE OER DIGEST
Your bi-weekly newsletter for open education updates, opportunities, and reminders
MARK YOUR CALENDARS: We’re less than one month away from International Open Access Week, October 24 - 30, 2022! This year’s theme seeks to encourage connection and collaboration among the climate movement and the international open community. Sharing knowledge is a human right, and tackling the climate crisis requires the rapid exchange of knowledge across geographic, economic, and disciplinary boundaries. Learn more and submit an event.
OPEN CONNECTIONS
Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities
REGISTER NOW: Join PIJIP and New America for the Creating Culturally Responsive Materials with Open Educational Resources: Beyond Commercial Publishing II webinar on October 6th at 6 pm ET. Learn more and register here.
CALL FOR AUTHORS: The DOERS3 Collaborative is seeking authors for a book-length project centered around valuing open education work in the tenure, promotion, and reappointment process. To that end, they are interested in case studies written by faculty, staff, and administrators detailing their experiences trying to appropriately value OER and open educational work in that process. Abstracts of case studies (250 words or less) are due on October 24, 2022. Learn more and submit a proposal here.
SURVEY: The ENCORE+ project has launched a new survey to collect data around OER innovation. The survey hopes to build a world-leading collection of cases of OER implementation, amplify interesting and important work being done in the OER world, and to form and structure their upcoming OER Innovation Evaluation Framework publication. The survey runs through November, 2022. Take the survey here.
SAVE THE DATE: The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) has announced that their Open Educational Resources and Dual Enrollment Conference will be on March 1-2, 2023 in Atlanta, GA. More information will be announced soon.
STORIES FROM THE FIELD
Quick snapshots of those making change on the ground level, and those impacted
FROM TEXAS: The library at the University of Texas at San Antonio awarded 13 Adopt-a-Free-Textbook grants to UTSA faculty for the 2022-23 academic year that will save students nearly $206,000. These grants will support and enable faculty to adopt or create free or Open Educational Resources textbooks as the primary textbooks in their courses. "It is our pleasure to provide faculty with an opportunity to integrate free textbooks into their courses,” said Dean Hendrix, UTSA vice provost and University Librarian. “Our collaborative work has an impact on thousands of UTSA students by helping them overcome cost hurdles so that they may focus on learning. This boosts course completion rates and makes graduation more attainable.” Read More >>
FROM MASSACHUSETTS: The University of Massachusetts Amherst has been selected as one of 73 institutions to participate in the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) 2022-23 Institute on Open Educational Resources. This yearlong institute supports educators in launching, expanding, or hastening campus adoption of free and affordable instructional materials. “The institute provides a framework for shifting our Open Education initiative to a more strategic and collaborative approach,” says Theresa Dooley, UMass Amherst Open Education Librarian. “I’m proud of the team we’ve created and the goals we’ve set. Through the combined efforts of students, faculty, and campus partners, we will be creating a sustainable infrastructure to support long term change and the constant evolution of the open education movement.” Read More >>
HOT OFF THE PRESS
Each edition, we highlight an interesting, new, openly-licensed resource
Open Education Content Librarian Nikki Andersen of University of Southern Queensland in Australia recently published a guide. This practical guide provides a framework and tips to enhance inclusion, diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in Open Educational Resources.
WEIGH IN
Great reads to repost or share and interesting discussions to consider
Great to Share >>
Let's help struggling students rather than benefiting textbook publishers | EdSource
Let's call college textbooks what they are: a scam | The Hofstra Chronicle
Interesting to Consider >>
How Creative Commons Is Empowering Open Educational Resources Advocates in the California Community College System | Michelson 20MM
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. Subscribe here.